Peterborough school celebrates another good Ofsted report

Ormiston Bushfield Academy in Orton was given the rating after the inspectors visited the school in December.

The school was rated as ‘good’ in it’s previous inspection, which was the first undertaken since it opened.

Principal Dennis Kirwan said: “We are truly delighted that Ofsted has once again recognised the ongoing brilliant work here at Ormiston Bushfield Academy, and in particular our determination to ensure that all students are treated equally and are given the best possible opportunities to succeed.

“We are incredibly proud of the report which demonstrates how happy, welcoming and high-achieving our school is. This culture that we all foster, and today’s report, is testament to all our staff, students and the wider school community who work so hard to make Ormiston Bushfield Academy the excellent education provider that it is today.”

As part of the report, inspectors described how students at the school are happy, enjoy learning and are “proud to be part of a school community where pupils and staff actively support one another”. Inspectors also recognised this positive culture reflected amongst senior leaders, who have “high expectations for every student, regardless of their background.”

Ofsted highlighted the strength of teaching and learning at the academy, with leaders placing great importance on what students learn, and the order in which they learn new knowledge. Senior leaders, governors and subject leaders at the school are well supported by OAT in this area, and progress has subsequently been very strong in English, in particular, amongst other key subjects. This praise follows the academy celebrating significant increases in attainment in English at GCSE this summer, for example, with the number of students achieving at least a Grade 4 or higher increasing by 5 percent on the previous year.

The report gave particular praise to Ormiston Bushfield Academy’s sixth form, which is “becoming increasingly popular” with Year 11 pupils and well-known across the city for being a high-quality post-16 education provider. Inspectors highlighted how leaders support the students well with their learning, with an increasing proportion going on to study at world-leading universities, such as Oxbridge.

Nick Hudson, Chief Executive Officer of Ormiston Academies Trust, said: “We’re very pleased to see that Ormiston Bushfield Academy’s sustained excellence has been recognised by Ofsted in today’s report. Ormiston Bushfield has long been the school of choice in the local area, and it is excellent to see it continue to go from strength to strength. We’re looking forward to continuing to support the academy as it goes on to build on today’s great achievement.”

The school was given a number of areas to work on by the inspectors, who said: “Leaders should consider carefully the curriculum content for pupils who will be in Year 9 next year. As the proportion of pupils following the EBacc route is well below the government’s ambition, leaders should also consider how they might increase the uptake of modern foreign languages in key stage 4, particularly as pupils who sit GCSEs in languages achieve highly.”