Borden Grammar School

Overview

Borden Grammar School is described as a place where pupils “aim high” and demonstrate “dedication to learning.” The report highlights a school with “strong standard” outcomes in achievement, attendance, behaviour, inclusion, leadership, and personal development, alongside an “expected standard” in curriculum and post-16 provision. Leaders are praised for their “moral purpose” and for ensuring inclusivity is “at the centre of all decision-making.”

Strengths

• Pupils develop “deep and secure knowledge,” with GCSE results “consistently above the national average.”
• Attendance is “extremely well” supported by leaders who ensure pupils “feel safe and that they belong.”
• Behaviour is “impressive,” with “almost no low-level disruption” and bullying being “very rare.”
• Inclusion is “at the heart of this school,” with “quick and precise” identification of needs and “highly effective provision.”
• Staff feel “extremely well supported and highly valued,” and parents are “exceedingly happy” with the support provided.

Areas to improve

• Leaders should “continue to embed consistent approaches to teaching and assessment” to help higher attaining pupils and sixth-form students improve achievement further.
• Assessment is “not used as precisely as it should be” in some lessons, meaning gaps in learning are not always addressed timely.

Safeguarding

The safeguarding standards are met, with leaders establishing an “open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility” and concerns are “actively identified, acted upon and managed.”