Leadership of change was weak, says Beaucamps report

It is the first of the island’s secondary schools to be gauged against an updated and more rigorous inspection framework.

The report concluded that when it came to strategic planning for continuous improvement, too many initiatives had been introduced too quickly.

The report found also that:

n Communication with staff had been weak.

n Relationships between management and staff had been strained and as a consequence, the morale and well-being of staff had suffered.

n There had been high levels of staff absence and the retention of staff had been poor.

n Parents, staff and students felt the instability had impacted on student achievement.

But the report found that Les Beaucamps was well-placed to manage future change.

‘The acting head teacher [Martin Haimes] and members of the senior leadership team demonstrate a sound knowledge of good practice in education and a mature understanding of managing change,’ it said.

‘They have a good understanding of the context of the school and the social and economic background of students and their families.

‘Senior leaders know the strengths of the school and the areas where further development is required.

‘They are also fully aware of the need to take staff with them, to improve communication and consultation with staff and to introduce a measured and sustainable pace of change which will bring about benefits to students’ learning experiences and outcomes.’

Inspectors found the school’s strengths included student achievements in English and maths and improvement in science.

Also praised was the students’ engagement with, and performance in, vocational subjects along with the skills and commitment of teachers and other members of staff in engaging students in learning and helping them to make progress.

The rationale for the curriculum supported the school’s vision and values and reflected the skills and knowledge which students required for today’s world and it matched the needs for almost all of them.

The school needed to improve when it came to meeting the requirements of students with special educational needs, the use of assessment data, differentiating between the needs of higher and lower attaining students, engaging students in the life of the school, and the use of self evaluation to support teachers.

In August 2018, Les Beaucamps students achieved the best GCSE results in the school’s history.

A spokesman for Education said Les Beaucamps would continue to work with executive head teacher Liz Coffey to ensure it continued on its journey of improvement and it was well prepared for what lay ahead.