The Bradley Stoke Journal

Bradley Stoke Community School (BSCS) is celebrating another set of excellent GCSE grades – obtained by the second year of students to pass through the school.

Headteacher Dave Baker said:

“We are delighted to share the successful outcomes for our second cohort of students at Bradley Stoke Community School; they have surpassed the high standards set for the school in last year’s first GCSE results, exceeding targets in the process – congratulations to all students.”

86% of students achieved at least 5 A*-C grades or equivalent and 67% achieved at least 5 A*-C grades including English and Maths.  Unlike last year, girls outperformed boys.

Individual successes highlighted by Mr Baker include:

• Sushmita Ramanujam – 10A* and 2A grades
• Nainesha Kulkarni – 9A* and 2A grades
• Sam Wells – 8A* and 2A grades
• Charlotte Murray – 7A* and 4A grades
• Ross Startin – 7A* and 3A grades
• Alex Turnbull – 6A* and 4A grades
• Uttam Sharma – 5A* and 5A grades
• Jack Kewley – 4A* and 5A grades
• Alex Martin – 3A* and 8A grades

Mr Baker added:

“We are now looking forward to many of our students progressing to post 16 study with us as we will have a full school with years 7 – 13 for the first time when term starts next week.”

Read on for the South Gloucestershire GCSE statistics »

The Governors of Bradley Stoke Community School (BSCS) have decided to plough on with plans to convert the school to academy status despite its two proposed partner schools deciding to drop out of the process in recent months.

BSCS, Brimsham Green School (BGS) and Patchway Community College (PCC) had collectively applied to the Department for Education to become a chain (federation) academy and each school began its own stakeholder consultation process in early May.

News that all was not well in the partnership first surfaced on Bradley Stoke Radio’s Big Issues programme on Thursday 9th June, when BSCS Headteacher Dave Baker revealed that Brimsham Green School had withdrawn from the process.

Research shows that the news had already been made public by BGS Headteacher Alun Williams in a newsletter published on 27th May, in which he wrote:

“Feedback from this consultation has been discussed and the Governors and I have decided that at this point, we do not wish to move to academy status. This decision was taken because of the feedback from parents, staff and students. Additionally, after much research we felt that there would be no short term gains educationally or financially. Therefore, Brimsham Green will remain as a LA [Local Authority] school in the short term.”

The setback was compounded earlier this week when a BSCS letter dated 14th July revealed that “the Governors of Patchway Community College have … decided they will remain as a Local Authority Community School”.

Read on to find out why Patchway Community College has dropped out of the proposed federation »

Bradley Stoke’s Holy Trinity Primary School has been rated “good” by Ofsted inspectors, who visited the school earlier this month.

The team of three inspectors observed approximately seven hours of lessons at the 201-pupil school, which is located in Broad Croft, off Pear Tree Road.

Questionnaire responses from 70 parents and carers, 95 pupils and 12 staff were also evaluated as part of the inspection.

The report begins:

“Holy Trinity Primary a good school because the staff team know each pupil well and consequently youngsters enjoy their education.”

The school’s values, such as patience and gentleness, are said to underpin all aspects of school life. Consequently:

“Pupils are, and feel, safe, and work and play well together.”

Behaviour at the voluntary aided faith school is said to be “good”.

Inspectors say the school needs to further develop the consistency of challenge in lessons, with mathematics and literacy identified as requiring attention in this regard.

Read on to see how Holy Trinity compares with other schools in the Bradley Stoke area »

Bradley Stoke Community School (BSCS) has begun a formal consultation on the possibility of converting to academy status.

The two week consultation was originally planned for earlier in the year but was delayed until potential partner schools Patchway Community College and Brimsham Green School were ready to run simultaneous consultations with their respective stakeholders.

Information available on the BSCS website includes a formal consultation and comment document together with separate question and answer compilations for students, staff and parents.

Speaking to Wednesday’s Annual Town Meeting at the Jubilee Centre, BSCS headteacher Dave Baker said converting to academy would give the school “more freedom and responsibility about the curriculum and how we provide and purchase services”, adding:

“By working in partnership with other schools, we can run as one business and have greater efficiencies in times of financial austerity, enabling us to put more resources into teaching and learning.”

Read on for details of the expected timescale for conversion »

A group of students at Bradley Stoke Community School have been staging a campaign to “raise awareness” of the rise in university tuition fees.

Year 10 students Georgina Jones, Jess Hicks, Abbie Head and Jess Morgan have been running a ‘Fight the Fees’ campaign as part of their Citizenship studies.

The girls explained to The Journal:

“In our Citizenship lessons we have been asked to create a campaign about an issue that matters to us. We have chosen to concentrate on the rise in student tuition fees, as we feel they will affect many people in the years to come.”

Over the past few weeks, the students have designed a campaign logo (see above), created a publicity brochure and formed a Facebook group, which has attracted around a hundred members.

Local MP Jack Lopresti (Conservative) visited the school last Friday (11th March) and spent time talking with year 10 students on a variety of subjects including that of university tuition fees.

In a letter to The Journal written after his visit, Mr Lopresti says he is “passionate about social mobility” and believes “we should do all we can to ensure that those from the humblest of backgrounds can fulfil their potential” but adds that “we just cannot afford to keep funding students to the same level that we were previously”.

Read on for facts and figures about the new student loan system »