At Bishop Young Academy it is our fundamental belief that all children have an entitlement to high-quality education in a supportive and caring environment. We are committed to providing excellent teaching and learning, pastoral care and additional opportunities for our students to enable them to flourish academically, socially, spiritually and emotionally. This was highlighted in our 2024 Ofsted inspection at which we were awarded good in all areas. The inspectors noted that ‘Pupils recognise the school as an inclusive and accepting environment. One pupil captured this when describing the school as ‘united’.
So much of what we do well at Bishop Young Academy stems from our Christian vision - which we like to think of as the roots and trunk of a tree. The branches that grow out from the tree are our Christian values and affirmations, our Character Curriculum, our pastoral care, our academic aspirations for our students and our approach to inclusion and support through The Ark and Dovecote.
Through a bespoke and tailored Character Education Programme, “The BISHOP Character”, we are committed to ensuring that our students are given opportunities to develop ‘soft skills’ such as perseverance and integrity, so that they are able to sustain success when they leave us and move on to Higher Education or work. Timetabled lessons run alongside a full and broad range of extra-curricular clubs and societies.
Our school’s ‘BISHOP character’ curriculum helps to promote our Christian ethos through linking each character trait to a Christian value and affirmation. Our students and staff gather for collective worship, enabling them to explore what worship means for themself and others, and to foster an attitude characterised by feelings such as humility, awe, wonder, hope and joy.
Many of our students have tremendous abilities and we are passionate about ensuring that we nurture and empower them to reach their full potential. At Bishop Young we have provided young people and their families with a nurturing and academically rigorous learning environment. We have established an outstanding pastoral team which includes Counsellors, Family Support Workers, and an SEMH and Wellbeing Lead, who work alongside our Heads of Year to ensure that individual student needs are met. Our students thrive as a result of our innovative and forward thinking approach to therapeutic support, particularly around social, emotional and mental health (SEMH). This was recognised in 2020 when we became one of the first schools in the country to achieve the Carnegie Mental Health Award at Gold standard.
Bishop Young is a caring, calm, disciplined, inspiring and purposeful environment. One of the greatest strengths of the Academy is our focus on quality teaching and we are committed to ensuring that all our students achieve excellent results. We have high expectations of all our students and aim to equip them with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence they need to achieve life-long success. Our dedicated and forward-thinking staff focus on our culture of challenging and inspiring students, in an environment of mutual respect, where each child is recognised as unique and special.
Bishop Young is proud to be an ‘articulate academy’. Students can speak eloquently, articulate their ideas and thoughts, influence through talking, listen to others and have the confidence to express their views. We have been accredited as a Centre of Excellence for Oracy due to the exceptional work we do with our young people.
I look forward to welcoming you to Bishop Young C of E Academy.
