Good Ofsted Outcome for Burleigh

Ofsted Inspectors have praised the good progress made by Burleigh Community College at a monitoring visit made during May.

The College had been placed in special measures at the previous visit in September 2009 but the Inspectors have now judged that good progress has been made towards achieving the standards necessary to remove the college form special measures and that the improvements made by the College are making a real difference for students.

The areas that had been identified for attention included procedures for safeguarding students where it had been recognised that administrative processes were not robust enough and also the lack of a written equalities policy. The judgement has now been made that these issues have been fully addressed and are no longer a cause for concern.

Inspectors were also impressed with the way the other areas have been dealt with. In September 2009 the inspection team raised concerns about standards and rates of progress for students. The inspectors agreed with the College that this year’s exam results are very likely to show a clear improvement on last year. They also observed an increase in the amount of good or outstanding teaching.

Burleigh Preschool Playgroup was also inspected in September 2009 when it was judged as being good. The areas for improvement that were recommended at that stage which included upgrading the accommodation have also now been put in place.

College Principal Christine Horsfall said "We are of course very pleased that Ofsted has acknowledged the hard work that everyone at the College is putting in to make sure that students are receiving the very best education to meet their needs. We also are aware that our job isn’t finished and we will continue to strive to maintain the momentum and improve further."

Executive Principal John Smith said "We were especially pleased with the comments made by the inspectors about the contribution of students to the College. They were particularly impressed by their good behaviour, mature attitude and the warm and genuine welcome they were given."

He continued "The inspectors also spoke very highly about the excellent work being undertaken within the College’s sport specialism and the positive impact this is having across many areas of the curriculum and in building external links."

The Team has highlighted areas where further development is needed in the consistency of feedback to students about how they can improve their work and also how work is adapted to meet the needs of students of different ability within a group. A further monitoring visit will take place during the Autumn Term.