Headlands School and Community Science College
‘Working Together’
Welcome to Headlands School and Community Science College. I hope you find our new website informative. It is still in an embryonic stage but is intended to provide a flavour of what our school is like.
We are a large, 11 – 19 comprehensive school, located in the seaside town of Bridlington
in the East Riding of Yorkshire. There are approximately 1250 students on roll, including over 150 in a thriving and rapidly growing sixth form. As a designated Science College we provide a broad and balanced curriculum, working in partnership to provide for the needs of all our students.
Headlands has undergone a period of rapid change and improvement over the last 18 months. We were visited by Her Majesty’s Inspectors on 14th and 15th October 2009 for our fourth monitoring visit. Due to the rapid progress made, the school was deemed to no longer require special measures, stating that “Headlands School and Community Science College provides a satisfactory and improving standard of education for its students.” They found the school “calm and welcoming”, judging the school’s capacity for sustained improvement to be “good”.
Below are some of the other comments made by the Inspectors:
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Since the last inspection behaviour and teaching quality have improved considerably; leaders and managers are effective in their roles; and standards are rising across the school
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The school has avoided quick fixes and introduced a well thought out curriculum that now adequately meets students’ broad range of abilities and interests
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Better teaching and more effective use of assessment combined with improved behaviour and attitudes to learning have accelerated students’ progress
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[In 2009] The most able girls and boys made rapid gains and closed the gap with their peers nationally; the proportion of A and A* grades awarded doubled
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Higher expectations from senior leaders and greater accountability have been crucial in achieving a significant cultural change
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The school takes students’ well-being very seriously. Procedures for child protection are robust, reviewed regularly and meet all requirements. The arrangements for safeguarding students are strong features of the school’s work
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Staff and students are rightly proud of their collective achievements in making their school a better place.
They also highlight areas for further improvement and we recognise these and now strive to become good and then outstanding. This was recognised by the lead inspector who comments that “The school firmly views the removal of special measures not as an end in itself, but as a point on a journey to excellence.”
In 2009 the exam results continued to improve. The number of students achieving 5 or more A*-C at GCSE increased by 5 percent to 54% and the A-Level pass rate now stands at 98%
We have the highest expectations of all students in every area of the school life and our uniform and behaviour policy are strongly supported by students, parents and staff. We place a strong emphasis on the pastoral care we provide. Students comment that they feel safe in the school and we believe that healthy, happy students will make better progress. The high profile of adults around the school site has created a calm and purposeful atmosphere.
The Peer Mentoring programme has been running for the past 18 months and throughout this time Headlands has been recognised nationally as a leading school for Peer Mentoring - this was confirmed recently when the school gained the Approved Provider Standard that recognises outstanding achievement in Peer Mentoring. There is more information about the Peer Mentors on the website.
We will keep the website up-to-date with the latest letters, Headteacher’s updates and important events. If you have other suggestions for the website then please email the school at: admin@headlands.eril.net
Scott Ratheram
Headteacher