As the longest serving independent school in the city Bristol Grammar School continues to develop young adults of integrity and character, rigorous in their application, compassionate in their outlook, and ready to make a real and lasting difference in the world that awaits them. We are delighted that the results of the latest ISI inspection report found that our purpose remains as strong today as it did at our school’s foundation almost 500 years ago, summed up in the inspectors’ final comments: “[Pupils] reflect the school’s focus on a holistic approach to education and the crucial importance of kindness as a key value for all to respect.”
ISI inspectors ranked BGS as ‘Excellent’ in both areas inspected during the Educational Quality part of the inspection: the quality of pupils’ academic and other achievements, and the quality of pupils’ personal development.
ISI – the Independent Schools Inspectorate – is the inspectorate appointed by the Department for Education to inspect independent schools in England.
As well as passing the two headline judgements above, the full report reflects with huge positivity on all aspects of BGS life. Some highlights can be found below, themed by the school’s core values of Kindness, Integrity and Rigour.
Kindness and compassion
- [Pupils] reflect the school’s focus on a holistic approach to education and the crucial importance of kindness as a key value for all to respect.
- Pupils have a strong awareness of the diversity of their community both in school and beyond the school gates. They show clear respect for each other.
- The peer mentor system has had a positive effect on pupils who seek mental health support and has given the mentors themselves valuable skills in working with people.
- Junior pupils are friendship prefects and help with the youngest pupils in the school.
- Pupils are aware of their advantages and of the importance of supporting the needs of other people both within the school community and in the wider world beyond the school gates.
- Pupils are highly confident individuals and display a positive attitude towards their life in school but without any trace of egotistical behaviour.
Integrity and character
- Pupils have an excellent sense of right and wrong and take responsibility for their own behaviour.
- Pupils are well behaved, mature for their age, support each other, respect their environment, and embrace extra responsibility.
- Pupils are highly confident and resilient individuals, well grounded and modest in their manner.
- Pupils are enabled to build their self-confidence through the strong pastoral support from the school and the non-judgemental atmosphere created. Parents express their appreciation for the school’s inclusive approach in this regard.
Rigour and application
- Parents comment positively on the culture of achievement within the school. The success of pupils reflects the commitment of the teaching they receive and the effective use of systems for monitoring progress by senior leaders and staff.
- The positive attitude to learning starts in Reception where pupils are full of energy and show a willingness to learn. Pupils throughout the school are always ready to learn and demonstrate a commitment and focus with their work. They are helped in this by the strong working relationship between staff and pupils, facilitating and enhancing the learning process.
- Pupils with SEND and EAL achieve above expectations and in line with the main cohort.
- Pupils display excellent levels of knowledge, skills and understanding across the subject areas and throughout the year-groups.
The inspectors’ sole recommendation was for us to enhance further our pupil voice mechanisms, something which was already in our strategic planning for 2023–24.
The full findings of the May 2023 ISI Inspection are available here: Results and Reports