Admissions

The school follows South Gloucestershire’s admissions policy, which is based on:

• Special educational needs
• Local siblings
• Geographical considerations (those living within a school’s area of prime responsibility)
• Geographical considerations (those living outside a school’s area of prime responsibility)

Appeals process

If a place is not offered at a parent’s/carer’s preferred choice of school there is the right of appeal to an independent body under the School Standards and Framework Act of 1998 – Section 94 and Schedule 24. See the process of appeals for more information.

More information

If you require general information about admissions and transfer arrangements then this is available from South Gloucestershire schools admissions. Or alternatively contact the local education authority directly:

Department for Children, Adults and Health
PO Box 298
Civic Centre
High Street
Kingswood
Bristol BS15 0DQ

email: cis@southglos.gov.uk
tel: 01454 868008

• Latest Ofsted report (Pdf)
• School prospectus (Pdf)

Robin Bassford: Headteacher
Term of office: ex officio

John Artus: Parent Governor
Term of office: 19 April 2021 - 18 April 2025

Amanda Heath: Parent Governor
Term of office: 16 March 2023 - 17 March 2027

Peter Langton: Co-opted Governor
Term of office: 19 April 2021 - 18 April 2025

Jane Lewis: Parent Governor
Term of office: 19 April 2021 - 18 April 2025

Susan Robbins: Community Governor
Term of office: 1 February 2024 - 31 January 2028

Jane Ware: Chair of Governors
Term of office: 19 April 2021 - 18 April 2025

Sarah Wattley: Community Governor
Term of office: 23 March 2023 - 22 March 2027

Tom Winchester: Staff Governor
Term of office: 24 May 2022 - 23 May 2026

Former members

With our sincere thanks for their service

Claire Banks
Term of office: 11 December 2023 - 10 June 2024

Claire Mansri 
Term of office: 6 July 2022 - 6 January 2024

Stephen Skidmore
Term of office: 19 April 2021 - 16 January 2024

Matt Shiells
Term of office: 24 June 2021 - 23 July 2024

Clerk to Governors 

To contact the local governing committee please email the Clerk to Governors.

More information

• Governor attendance (Pdf)
• Pecuniary interests (Pdf)
• Annual reports and financial statement
• Articles of association
• Scheme of delegation
• Terms of reference
• Governance structure

For more information please see our curriculum overview section.

How to apply

Parents and carers can now apply for free school meals via the Citizen Portal. Your eligibility will be checked online, and the portal will let you know whether your child is eligible for free school meals. If your child is eligible you will receive a confirmation message, and the school will be notified directly. If you are not eligible you will be presented with a message stating this.

Please note, if you have already completed a secondary school place application for the next academic year via the portal, you do not need to re-register to apply for free school meals. Please use the login details that you have already set up.

Apply for free school meals

• Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND): Miss Connor and Mrs Morris
• Academy access plan (Pdf)
• Inclusion policy
• Parent and carer guide to SEND (Pdf)
• Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) information report (Pdf)
• Special educational needs and disability (SEND) policy

• Pupil premium: Mrs Hart
• Pupil premium strategy statement (Pdf)

• Catch up funding
• Catch-up premium spending (Pdf)
• SBL Academy Summer School 2021 (Pdf)

• Looked after children: Mr Lyle 
• For more information see the inclusion policy

• Medical conditions: Deputy Heads of House

• Although Child protection/safeguarding does not strictly form part of Inclusion, please contact Mr G Lyle and Mrs Morris
• Safeguarding and child protection policy

Joint area SEND revisit in South Gloucestershire

Ofsted have published their findings following the Ofsted/CQC SEND joint area SEND revisit in South Gloucestershire which took place from 10 to 12 February 2020, please also see the letter from Ofsted.

The improvements recognised in the findings have been delivered as a consequence of effective collaboration and collective ownership across our local education, health and social care system. We are committed to driving improvement across the system, to enable children and young people to achieve the best outcomes possible. 

Hilary Smith - Head of Education, Learning and Skills, South Gloucestershire Council

More information

Supportive Parents provide advice and support about special educational needs or disabilities (SEND). They are the statutory special educational needs and disability information, advice and support (SENDIAS) service for Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. The service they provide is free, confidential and impartial.

If you require more information on the work of the local authority please refer to South Gloucestershire Council.

For further information please refer to the Department for Education.

Should you require a paper copy of the information on our website, please contact the school office t: 0117 456 5900 or email: enquiries@sblacademy.org.uk where we will take details of your request and provide copies as soon as possible.

We were pleased to be able to welcome the Ofsted inspectors in to the school on 4 and 5 November 2021. The section 5 inspection resulted in the school being judged as ‘good’ in all areas.

The inspectors said, ‘Pupils value and appreciate the subjects they learn. They like coming to school. Staff have high expectations and pupils work hard to meet them. Leaders and staff have planned a well sequenced curriculum that enables most pupils to learn well.’

Chief Executive Andrea Arlidge said, ‘I am delighted with the fantastic news that SBL Academy has been judged by Ofsted to be a Good school. This is significant achievement for the school and a milestone for our trust, having taken on the school in 2014/15 when it was in special measures. Huge congratulations to Principal, Dean Anderson, and all the staff at SBL who have worked tirelessly to achieve this transformation’.

For more information please see the full Ofsted report (Pdf).

Government advice suggests that school and college performance data for the 2022/2023 academic year should be used with caution:

• In 2022/23, qualifications returned to pre-pandemic standards. Performance measures that are based on qualification results will reflect this and cannot be directly compared to measures from 2021/2022.
• There are ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected individual schools, colleges and pupils differently.

SBL Key stage 4 (Year 11)

• English 4+: 81%
• English 5+: 64%  
• Maths 4+: 78%
• Maths 5+: 63%
• Basics (English and Maths) at grade 4+: 73%
• Basics (English and Maths) at grade 5+: 54%
• Five passes including English and Maths: 68%
• Progress 8: +0.37
• Year 11 estimated attainment 8 score (2023): 45.5
• Percentage of students staying in education or employment after key stage 4: 96%

Key stage 5 (Sixth Form)

• Average A-Level grade: C
• Best 3 A-Level Grade average: C+

For more information about our historical KS4 results please see DfE school performance.

• 16-19 tuition fund statement
• Complaints procedure
• Latest Ofsted report 2021 (Pdf)
• Pupil premium strategy
• School performance tables
• School policies
• Privacy notice
• School prospectus (Pdf)

16 to 19 tuition fund statement

How Academy will use the 16-19 tuition fund

The purpose of this statement is to set out how SBL Academy will use its 16 to 19 tuition fund allocation to support students who have been academically disadvantaged due to coronavirus (Covid-19).

The 16 to 19 tuition fund will be used to provide tuition for students aged 16 to 19 who have not yet achieved grade 4 or above in English and/or maths. The provision will not be limited to tuition for English and maths, but will also be used to provide support for students to complete vocational courses where learning has been disrupted by coronavirus. Students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) – including those aged 19 to 24 who require additional tuition to help them catch up with their studies – will also be supported

Tuition groups will be no larger than three students and tuition sessions will be scheduled in addition to the planned programme of study hours already timetabled for the academic year 2020/21. Tuition and additional support will be delivered using a blend of online and face to face delivery. Tuition offered will be based on an individual needs assessment.

Tuition support will be used for:

• GCSE exam preparation using the National Tutoring Program with small groups of students
• Individual and small group support for completion of vocational courses where learning has been disrupted by coronavirus

Our commitment

The Academy is committed to ensuring the tuition fund is used in accordance with the Government's guidance on the 16 to 19 tuition fund by:

• Producing this statement setting out how the fund will be used to support the most disadvantaged students
• Publishing this guidance on the Academy website
• Recording the use of the fund
• Deliver the extra tuition and spend the allocated funds in the academic year 2020/1
• Notify the Education Skills Funding Agency (EFSA) of any underspend from the fund for it to be reclaimed.

Teaching and learning policy (Pdf, 1.3Mb

“Building aspiration through great learning”

Our Vision

At SBL, each young person will be encouraged and supported to aim high and achieve her/his ambitions.  High quality teaching, a well-ordered environment and a rich curriculum will ensure that each individual enjoys a positive and fulfilling experience that will set them up for success in life. Their progress will be enhanced further through the wide range of enrichment opportunities they will experience and from the personalised and effective support they will receive.

‘Through cooperation, honesty and effort, all SBL students will learn and develop positivity and resilience that will help them to grow in confidence and achieve the highest possible aspirations for their futures’

Our Values

At the heart of our community lie the fundamental values of respect and tolerance. Sir Bernard Lovell Academy is a community where each person is valued as a unique individual and where individual difference is celebrated. We will work together to challenge discrimination and to promote the importance of respecting the beliefs and practices of others.

Building on this firm foundation, all governors, parents, students and staff believe the following behaviours and qualities will help us to achieve our vision. We value:

• Cooperation
  • Working together
  • Showing kindness
  • Developing strong relationships
• Effort
  • In our academic work at home as well as in school
  • In wider academy activities
• Honesty
  • With each other
  • With ourselves
• Resilience
  • Keeping our efforts up even when things are tough
  • Supporting others to be resilient
  • Developing emotional strength and well-being
• Positivity
  • Taking a ‘can-do’ attitude into every task
  • Making the most of every opportunity
  • Enriching our own experiences and those of others
• Confidence
  • Reflecting on and celebrating our successes
  • To try new things
  • To believe we can achieve anything

As a member of the SBL community, we will endeavour to demonstrate these values in everything we do.

Sir Bernard Lovell Academy converted to academy status on 1 April 2015 and is a Futura Learning Partnership school.

Futura Learning Partnership
Registered office: Chandag Road, Keynsham, Bristol BS31 1PH
Tel: 0117 946 1229
Email: enquiries@futuralearning.co.uk
Website: www.futuralearning.co.uk

Futura Learning Partnership is a charitable company limited by guarantee and registered in England and Wales with company number 07746787.

Further information

• Annual reports and financial statements
• Articles of association
• Higher paid staff
• Governance
• Master funding agreement

Ofsted

Items that may be of interest to the lead inspector:

• Attendance (Pdf)
• Behaviour and exclusions (Pdf)
• Teaching and learning, expectations policy
• Summary of expectations (Pdf)
• Assessment and feedback expectations (Pdf)
• QA schedule (Pdf)
• Catch-up premium spending (Pdf)
• Curriculum
• Curriculum overview
• Curriculum and assessment rationale (Pdf)
• Our subjects
• Outcomes 2019
• KS4 outcomes headlines: three year summary (Pdf)
• Pupil premium strategy
• Careers
• Our progress over time (Pdf)
• Our current Gatsby benchmarks (Pdf)
• Our careers website