Today, Bournemouth School is an over-subscribed grammar school for boys (with girls in the sixth form) serving Bournemouth and the surrounding area.

The School became an academy on 1st September 2011.  Shortly afterwards, we were inspected by Ofsted and judged to be “outstanding”.

Our Goals

• To ensure that all students realise their academic potential and through such high levels of achievement are equipped to further their education at the very best universities or embark upon a rewarding career
• To enable students through a variety of experiences to develop their talents and capabilities to become future leaders and make a valuable contribution to society
• To establish the school as the leading centre of educational excellence within the region, principally serving academically gifted students from the locality
• To secure the school’s financial and political sustainability, and its place within the local community
• We treat one another and our environment with respect

We have the highest expectations of each student’s learning, respect for self and others, sense of community, dress, behaviour and discipline.  We enjoy the support of students, parents and our community in helping to fulfil these expectations.  Our students benefit from working in an atmosphere that is characterised by high expectations, fairness, transparency and mutual respect.  Our community’s ethos is based upon the traditional values of:

• Hard work 
• Discipline 
• Smart Appearance 
• Respect

We always challenge students to do their best while, at the same time, offering them the support that they need to do really well.  Older students are asked to take leadership responsibilities and operate as role models and mentors for those in lower years.  We place great importance on delivering an all-round education for all of our students.  Every student is given the opportunity to participate in a host of extra-curricular academic, sporting, and cultural events and activities.

As you would expect, academic standards are high, both at GCSE and A level.  The vast majority of our students go on to study degree courses at universities and colleges (with an increasing proportion securing places at Russell Group universities), taking the good name of Bournemouth School into the professional and industrial world beyond.

We are committed to a meritocracy where the best academic education is available to all regardless of their background.

We are working to improve our entrance tests and our relationships with local primary schools and the local community, and to secure the funding to expand our provision to benefit a larger proportion of young people.

We want our entry examinations to be a fair reflection of a student’s innate ability.  Through the Grammar School Heads Association, we have worked closely with the main test providers for several years to make tests far less susceptible to coaching.  New types of questions are regularly introduced.  A broad range of areas are covered by the tests we use: numeric, and verbal reasoning as well as maths and English based on the KS2 curriculum.  Test materials are not made commercially available whilst standardised familiarisation materials are made available free of charge on school and test provider websites.

Through recent changes to our Admissions Policy we have clearly signalled our intention to serve principally the Borough of Bournemouth and prioritise developing relationships with the Borough’s primary schools to encourage all able students, but especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to apply for a place at the school.  We believe that in so doing our aim of increasing social mobility would be fulfilled.  Consequently, we are developing ever closer ties with local primary schools to clearly demonstrate that we are socially inclusive and accessible to all regardless of their background.  We visit a number of local primary schools every year to explain the admissions process and answer any parental queries.  We have also supported curriculum delivery in a number of local primary schools, with many students visiting our school to use our facilities.

In time, the governing body will consider the possibility of increasing our Year 7 intake.  This will, by no means, be an easy decision; we would not wish our expansion to be to the detriment of our current or future students.  We believe that schools that are too large can be perceived as impersonal.  Successful schools, like ours have always been towards the bottom of the list of priorities for investment.  The main part of building dates from 1939.  Any improvements that have been made have been as a result of careful budgeting, fundraising or successfully applying for grants from charitable foundations.  If we were to expand we would also need significant investment in extending and improving our accommodation.

We believe that Bournemouth School is a very special school, with not only its examination results, but also its ethos and traditional values setting it apart from other schools.  We are proud of our history and past achievements, and are well-placed to face the challenges of the future.