Downend School
Catchment Area, Reviews and Key Information

Secondary
Post 16
PUPILS
1361
AGES
11 - 18
GENDER
Mixed
TYPE
Academy converter
SCHOOL GUIDE RATING
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Can I Get My Child Into This School?

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This pupil heat map shows where pupils currently attending the school live.
The concentration of pupils shows likelihood of admission based on distance criteria

Source: All attending pupils National School Census Data, ONS
01454 868008

This School Guide heat map has been plotted using official pupil data taken from the last School Census collected by the Department for Education. It is a visualisation of where pupils lived at the time of the annual School Census.

Our heat maps use groups of postcodes, not individual postcodes, and have naturally soft edges. All pupils are included in the mapping (i.e. children with siblings already at the school, high priority pupils and selective and/or religious admissions) but we may have removed statistical ‘outliers’ with more remote postcodes that do not reflect majority admissions.

For some schools, the heat map may be a useful indicator of the catchment area but our heat maps are not the same as catchment area maps. Catchment area maps, published by the school or local authority, are based on geographical admissions criteria and show actual cut-off distances and pre-defined catchment areas for a single admission year.

This information is provided as a guide only. The criteria in which schools use to allocate places in the event that they are oversubscribed can and do vary between schools and over time. These criteria can include distance from the school and sometimes specific catchment areas but can also include, amongst others, priority for siblings, children of a particular faith or specific feeder schools. Living in an area where children have previously attended a school does not guarantee admission to the school in future years. Always check with the school’s own admission authority for the current admission arrangements.

3 steps to help parents gather catchment information for a school:

  1. Look at our school catchment area guide for more information on heat maps. They give a useful indicator of the general areas that admit pupils to the school. This visualisation is based on all attending pupils present at the time of the annual School Census.
  2. Use the link to the Local Authority Contact (above) to find catchment area information based on a single admission year. This is very important if you are considering applying to a school.
  3. On each school page, use the link to visit the school website and find information on individual school admissions criteria. Geographical criteria are only applied after pupils have been admitted on higher priority criteria such as Looked After Children, SEN, siblings, etc.

How Does The School Perform?

Good
NATIONAL AVG. 2.09
Ofsted Inspection
(09/01/2019)
Full Report - All Reports
71%
NATIONAL AVG. 38%
5+ GCSEs grade 9-4 (standard pass or above) including English and maths



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Progress Compared With All Other Schools

UNLOCK Well Below Average (About 15% of schools in England) Below Average (About 18% of schools in England) Average (About 35% of schools in England) Above Average (About 16% of schools in England) Well Above Average (About 16% of schools in England)

School Results Over Time

2019 2022 2023 2020 Covid-19 2021 Covid-19 UNLOCK

% of pupils who achieved 5+ GCSEs grade 9-4
2019 2022 2023 2020 Covid-19 2021 Covid-19 UNLOCK

% of pupils who achieved GCSE grade 5 or above in both English and maths
2019 2022 2023 2020 Covid-19 2021 Covid-19 UNLOCK

% of pupils who achieved 3 A levels at AAB or higher
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Westerleigh Road
Downend
Bristol
BS16 6XA
01454862300

School Description

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. There have been a significant number of changes since the previous inspection, including your appointment as headteacher in September 2017. You, supported by trust leaders, trustees and local governors, have strengthened the leadership capacity of the school. You have clearly defined the responsibilities of each member of the leadership team. Governors hold leaders to account tightly. The school provides a calm and orderly environment. Standards of behaviour have improved significantly, as seen in the substantial reduction in the number of exclusions. Inspectors found pupils to be polite and to have positive attitudes towards their learning. The number on roll has increased in recent years, with the school consistently being oversubscribed in Year 7. The amalgamation of the sixth form with Mangotsfield School has ensured the long-term viability of the sixth form, which is now solely located at Downend School. At the previous inspection, you were asked to improve the quality of teaching by ensuring that pupils are sufficiently challenged. Although you have made some improvements, you are aware that there is more work to do. Teaching staff are now keenly aware of the needs of pupils and are making better use of information about what pupils know, understand and can do when planning learning. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders, particularly those with specific responsibility for safeguarding, are tenacious in keeping children safe and ensuring that pupils know how to keep themselves safe. A strong culture of safeguarding has been created. Staff apply their training about a wide range of risks locally and online. Leaders regularly update staff on the particular risks that are more prevalent locally. This ensures that all staff remain vigilant to the signs and symptoms of harm. Leaders ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. The checks required to be undertaken prior to making staff appointments are carried out, and induction training is in place. This ensures that new colleagues quickly understand the importance of this aspect of their role. Governors and trust staff provide additional support to ensure that the arrangements for safeguarding continue to be strong. Inspection findings The first area of the school’s work we reviewed was the impact of pupil premium funding in ensuring that disadvantaged pupils make strong progress. This has been an area that staff have been working on for several years. The standards achieved by these pupils have been below those of their classmates and other pupils nationally for the last three years. You have appointed a senior leader to oversee the school’s approach to improving outcomes for this group of pupils. He has a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the current approach. All staff are aware of the importance of raising standards. Your leadership team is clear about the main barriers to disadvantaged pupils making the progress they should. Teaching staff are aware of the pupils in their classes who are entitled to pupil premium funding and actively engage them in learning. They provide additional support to help pupils overcome the barriers they face in their learning, particularly concerning pupils’ lower literacy skills. Staff are available to help pupils with their homework. Disadvantaged pupils and their families benefit from additional advice when making course choices for key stage 4 and when considering their options at the end of Year 11. You have asked staff to tackle the low attendance of disadvantaged pupils. The school’s attendance officer is closely monitoring the attendance of this group of pupils and works with the pupils and their families to reduce absence levels. However, these efforts have had limited impact. The school has a small number of children who are looked after. Suitable personal education plans are in place for these pupils. Over the last three years, the achievement of disadvantaged pupils by the end of Year 11 has improved from a very low base. In 2016, disadvantaged pupils achieved, on average, almost two grades lower than other pupils. The difference reduced in 2017, although the progress made by this group was still in the lowest 20% of schools in the country. In 2018, the picture improved further. The second aspect of the school’s work that inspectors reviewed concerned the progress of the most able pupils, including those in the sixth form. In both 2017 and 2018, this group of pupils did not achieve as well as their counterparts in other schools at the end of key stage 4. A similar difference was seen in the outcomes for students in the sixth form in 2017. However, this has returned to a stronger position in the most recent set of results for Year 13 students. Your team is acutely aware of the need to ensure that the quality of teaching and learning challenges the most able pupils fully. You have strived to achieve better outcomes but recognise that there is still considerable work to be done. Inspectors found pupils’ attitudes to learning to be very positive and, in many subjects, there are good examples of pupils being challenged. Pupils show a secure understanding of their learning verbally. However, their written work is not as sophisticated and so does not demonstrate their understanding to the same degree. The development of middle leaders is a trust-wide priority. Many training programmes have been provided within the trust and as part of the school’s involvement with the North Avon Teaching School Alliance. These have enabled middle leaders to actively work with colleagues to ensure raised expectations. Middle leaders, often working with their counterparts in other trust schools, are redesigning key stage 3 curriculum plans so that they better challenge the most able. Inspectors saw some strong progress by pupils in subjects such as English, mathematics and music. However, this progress is not consistently evident across other subjects. Not all leaders are using available information effectively to identify pupils who should be working at the highest standards. This limits the progress of the most able pupils. Aspirations in the sixth form are not consistently high, although there are some indicators of improvement, with successful applications to some of the most prestigious universities this year. Governors acknowledge that standards are not as high as they should be. They comment that leaders have not provided them with the depth of analysis of progress in the sixth form in the past as they have done for the other year groups. This is being rectified this academic year. The standards achieved by boys by the end of key stage 4 have declined in recent years. Leaders have reviewed the quality of teaching of boys and identified some of the shortcomings. They are determined to improve boys’ literacy and have raised staff awareness of strategies to improve this. This will be followed up by further training planned for February 2019. Leaders have initiated a curriculum review to ensure that there is a greater potential for boys to achieve more highly. The school is also working with a national network of schools to develop strategies to improve outcomes for boys and learn from others’ successes. Consequently, leaders have reviewed the courses that are followed in some subjects, such as those offered in modern foreign languages and the ‘open’ element of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc).

Downend School Parent Reviews



unlock % Parents Recommend This School
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>49, "agree"=>46, "disagree"=>4, "strongly_disagree"=>2, "dont_know"=>0} UNLOCK Figures based on 261 responses up to 26-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>35, "agree"=>59, "disagree"=>2, "strongly_disagree"=>2, "dont_know"=>2} UNLOCK Figures based on 261 responses up to 26-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>27, "agree"=>59, "disagree"=>7, "strongly_disagree"=>2, "dont_know"=>5} UNLOCK Figures based on 261 responses up to 26-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>36, "agree"=>56, "disagree"=>5, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>2} UNLOCK Figures based on 261 responses up to 26-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>25, "agree"=>62, "disagree"=>5, "strongly_disagree"=>2, "dont_know"=>7} UNLOCK Figures based on 261 responses up to 26-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>21, "agree"=>66, "disagree"=>10, "strongly_disagree"=>1, "dont_know"=>3} UNLOCK Figures based on 261 responses up to 26-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>21, "agree"=>59, "disagree"=>10, "strongly_disagree"=>3, "dont_know"=>7} UNLOCK Figures based on 261 responses up to 26-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>20, "agree"=>39, "disagree"=>6, "strongly_disagree"=>3, "dont_know"=>33} UNLOCK Figures based on 261 responses up to 26-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>30, "agree"=>56, "disagree"=>6, "strongly_disagree"=>2, "dont_know"=>6} UNLOCK Figures based on 261 responses up to 26-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>36, "agree"=>40, "disagree"=>9, "strongly_disagree"=>2, "dont_know"=>13} UNLOCK Figures based on 261 responses up to 26-03-2019
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Don't Know {"strongly_agree"=>23, "agree"=>49, "disagree"=>23, "strongly_disagree"=>3, "dont_know"=>3} UNLOCK Figures based on 261 responses up to 26-03-2019
Yes No {"yes"=>94, "no"=>6} UNLOCK Figures based on 261 responses up to 26-03-2019

Responses taken from Ofsted Parent View

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