Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre Warden Hill Road, Cheltenham GL51 3EF Main School Office (01242) 235555 Sixth Form Office (01242) 229511 Fax (01242) 226742 Email admin@bournside.gloucs.sch.uk www.bournside.gloucs.sch.uk Headteacher: Allan Foulds, B.Sc., P.G.Dip.Ed. Chair of Governors: Neil Spurrier, B.A. M5 junction 11 and Gloucester HATHERLEY ROAD GLOUCESTER ROAD SHELBURNE ROAD LANSDOWN ROAD (A40) HATHERLEY ROAD HATHERLEY ROAD Cheltenham town centre and Oxford Cheltenham Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre Prospectus 2017 2018 WARDEN HILL ROAD
1 CHELTENHAM BOURNSIDE SCHOOL CHELTENHAM BOURNSIDE SCHOOL 2 A warm welcome A message from the Headteacher Students learn well because they work closely with teachers, one another and independently. Allan Foulds, Headteacher Consistently good behaviour ensures a highly positive atmosphere in lessons. We offer you a very warm welcome to our school. We are intensely proud of our vibrant and forward looking school community and believe we offer a superb standard of education. Our core belief is that every student develops the knowledge, skills and self-confidence to become the best they can be. Bournside is a popular and successful 11 18 Academy with approximately 1700 students, approaching 400 of whom are in our Sixth Form. Every person who belongs to our school is unique. We strive to secure the highest standards of achievement for all, based on a secure and deep understanding of each individual and his or her capacity to excel. This is enabled by providing outstanding resources for all learners and professionals. The pursuit of excellence across the school s activity is demonstrated by a constant drive to improve or maintain high levels of achievement and personal development for all. We support and value a well ordered and caring environment. Everything we do is underpinned by tolerance, honesty, co-operation and mutual respect. We want our students to feel that this is their school and that it exists to serve their best interests. Our students and staff are clear that Bournside is an exciting and rewarding place in which to learn and teach. Students and staff are supported well and challenged appropriately and know what is expected of them. We hope you will find this prospectus helpful as an introduction to the school. Our website also offers a wealth of information: www.bournside.gloucs.sch.uk We hope too that you will come and visit us and see the school in action on a normal working day. Please telephone the school office (01242 235555) if you wish to arrange an appointment. Aims and values Our commitment to every student at Bournside School and Sixth Form Centre We aim for every student to develop the knowledge, skills and self-confidence to become the best they can be. This underpins all we do and is achieved through a superb standard of education, resulting in the school being a vibrant, exciting and memorable place to learn. by offering outstanding resources, which ensure that education at the school is brought alive and that our students are supported and challenged appropriately. by understanding each individual, and ensuring that they are safe, happy and well-supported. This support enables students to make excellent academic progress and to fully develop as well-rounded individuals leading healthy lifestyles.
3 CHELTENHAM BOURNSIDE SCHOOL CHELTENHAM BOURNSIDE SCHOOL 4 Learning How creativity, independent learning and personalisation are central to our teaching and learning We are committed to pedagogical approaches that support our learners in equipping them for a 21st century society where knowing what is less important than knowing how to. Our Learning Centre and library aims to suit the needs of all learners, giving them opportunities for group or private study. The Centre works as a formal and informal study space. It encourages conversation and social interaction that embraces mobile technology. Many opportunities are provided for our students to work on collaborative projects using knowledge and skills from all curriculum areas. These enable the students to make connections across subject areas and learn a range of additional skills. Teachers use their well-developed subject knowledge to plan and deliver interesting and relevant learning for students. Technology enhanced learning Preparing students for a world beyond Bournside Described as a school of the future (Gloucestershire Echo, November 2015), we encourage our students to bring a tablet computer to lessons, to use for their learning. As a forward thinking school, we believe in preparing young people for the world they will encounter beyond Bournside. We take seriously our responsibility for educating young people both in the potential, and appropriate use of technology. Through appropriate use, we aim to: enhance learning by embracing new opportunities that only modern technology can provide; engage learners with innovative and fun ways of teaching; enable a more personalised learning experience where students can make choices for themselves about how to demonstrate their learning. At our school, students create animations explaining mathematical and scientific concepts. They make video clips re-enacting a historical event, a play in English, and news reports for Geography. On the field, students record each other performing techniques and compare themselves to professionals in the sport. In classrooms, e-text books provide students with interactivity: built in quizzes, animations and videos. They include spoken text, dictionary, thesaurus and annotation tools. Teachers provide written and recorded oral feedback that students receive instantly and can be played back any time, anywhere. Increasingly students make choices about how they will show their teacher, and each other, what they have learned using a variety of apps. We offer a parental donation programme supported by the Birmingham e-learning foundation that is both sustainable and inclusive to support parents in providing their child with an ipad to use at school, and at home. Scan this code to read more on our website Students may also bring into school any type of tablet device they already own. The school community A caring, disciplined and supportive environment for all our students Students at Bournside are members of a caring, disciplined and supportive community, based on warm relationships and clearly understood values. Our pastoral system allows youngsters to feel secure and be known. Students stay in their tutor group from Year 7 to Year 11, meeting at the start of every day. The Heads of Year, Assistant Heads of Year and their teams of tutors monitor and guide the progress of students. Each student knows that there is a trusted adult who will listen and try to help. The positive atmosphere supports students, whilst setting high expectations and challenging them to do their best. Each tutor group belongs to a House, the focus for extra-curricular activities and competitions. Students are proud to represent their House in sporting and musical activities and to be part of charity work and other group events. We encourage high standards of courtesy and co-operation, fostering teamwork based on honesty, mutual respect and tolerance. Tutor groups elect representatives each year to sit on the Year Council. Year Councils meet regularly to discuss student issues and proposals. Two representatives from each Year Council sit on the Junior Leadership Council. Achievement and improvement are recognised and celebrated. Any problems are identified quickly and addressed firmly in partnership with parents. In the Sixth Form, students join us from many other schools and new tutor groups are created.
5 CHELTENHAM BOURNSIDE SCHOOL CHELTENHAM BOURNSIDE SCHOOL 6 Expectations and achievement We challenge, inspire and encourage students to commit themselves to exceeding goals Lessons are often a hive of focused activity. At Bournside, we are very proud of our students and of the way that they commit themselves to their work. We challenge, encourage and inspire them to achieve more than their initial expectations. Students at Bournside respond by achieving well beyond national standards at 14, 16 and 18. Skills development is a vital aspect of our work. We foster skills that will not only help our students to learn and achieve academic success, but also to develop into confident individuals who can co-operate happily and productively with others. We are committed to the principle of inclusion, of providing the best education for students of differing needs and abilities. Over a hundred specialist teachers have experience in preparing and delivering lessons that are stimulating and challenging for all students, from the Year 7 student who is struggling with reading to the Year 13 student being prepared for Oxbridge entrance. Our grouping of students and the guidance they receive reflect this attention to the individual. We expect our students to maintain the highest standards of behaviour. We ask them to treat everyone with courtesy, warmth and consideration, building skills of teamwork and co-operation. We encourage them to show common sense and respect for property, and to understand their responsibility for the creation of an orderly, safe and positive environment. We tell our students what we expect of them, both individually and in tutor groups and assemblies. We expect our students to be smartly and correctly dressed for school and ask for the full support of parents in ensuring this. We reward effort, social contribution and positive attitudes as well as academic achievement. Students who find our standards difficult to meet can expect individual target setting and monitoring. We will meet parents and offer extra support, if needed, in school or from external agencies. Sanctions such as detentions, extra work or community service can help students to re-establish more positive trends of behaviour. Serious breaches of school discipline or a persistent unwillingness to accept school guidelines may lead to exclusion from school on a temporary or permanent basis. Students can-do attitude to learning makes a very positive contribution to their progress.
7 CHELTENHAM BOURNSIDE SCHOOL CHELTENHAM BOURNSIDE SCHOOL 8 Partnership with parents We believe in a close partnership with our parents Being a member of Bournside is a three-way partnership between students, parents and staff. We recognise the importance of a happy relationship between home and school, based on mutual trust. Good communication between home and school is at the heart of a successful relationship and we aim to achieve this in many ways. We contact our parents to raise concerns, celebrate achievement, set targets for improvement, and to recognise progress. We encourage all of our parents to contact the school to share information, express concerns or seek advice. Special information evenings are held at key times of change or choice, and the parents/teacher consultation evening enables you to meet subject teachers to discuss your son/daughter s progress. Our website provides a wealth of information about the school, including course content for the subjects your child is studying, and the stages of progression. We share email addresses of all staff via the website, whom you can contact directly. The parents bulletin is emailed to parents and carers every week, and we also email academic progress reports to you directly. We have a smartphone and Apple Watch app for parents called, School Gateway to which we push notifications, and messages. Parents are also able to top-up dining accounts, get snapshot data reports, report absences, and pay for school trips via the app. As a parent at the school you will have access to our learning platform Frog. Your unique login details will allow you to have continuous access to your son/daughter s academic progress, achievement, and attendance. Constructive relationships are evident at all levels. From student to adult Our range of enrichment opportunities helps students prepare for adult life Studying is important but there is much more to school life. Taking part in activities outside the classroom is the best possible preparation for adult life. We want our students to take responsibility, learn the skills of leadership, work with other people and accept new challenges. Extra-curricular activities encourage them to develop social, creative, scientific, artistic and physical skills. Students have the opportunity to perform and entertain in concerts, musicals and plays. They may play for a House or school team, or simply learn a new sport. They visit new places and meet new people. Teachers enthusiasm and a collaborative learning atmosphere promote effective learning.
9 CHELTENHAM BOURNSIDE SCHOOL CHELTENHAM BOURNSIDE SCHOOL 10 International school Students are encouraged to view themselves as part of a global world We want our students to be prepared for their role as global citizens in an ever changing world. We want them to learn about and respect other cultures in the United Kingdom and overseas. In recent years, groups from Bournside have visited the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Nepal, South Africa, Spain, Vietnam and the United States of America. Partnerships have been developed with schools in France, Nepal, Spain and South Africa. Bournside Sixth Form Further challenges and opportunities await Year 12 and 13 students Our Sixth Form is well established, having been opened as a Centre over 25 years ago. It serves students from a wide variety of schools in the area and currently offers 32 A level subject choices. Most students study four subjects in Year 12 and take 3 through to Year 13. Alongside their subjects, students choose from a wide range of extracurricular opportunities and can participate in a growing range of enrichment activities. Most of our students go on to study at university or secure higher level apprenticeships. All of our Sixth Form students are supported by a strong pastoral team and there are strong links between the Sixth Form and the main school, with students in the Sixth Form acting as mentors for younger students. For more information please see our Sixth Form prospectus. Be the best you can be