From the Chair of Governors - March 2026
Dear Parents and carers,
I am writing to share with you that Mr Chris Bayliss has decided to retire as Headteacher of The Bridge effective from the 31st of August 2026.
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Mr Bayliss has been part of the Bridge for over 20 years, serving as Headteacher for the last 12. Leading a Pupil Referral Unit requires a unique level of dedication and Mr Bayliss has been a tireless advocate for all our students over the years offering them a fresh start in education while supporting all their social, emotional, and mental health needs, so they can experience a happy and well balance school life.
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Under his leadership the Bridge has maintained an excellent reputation and a consistent rating of “good” by Ofsted; he has built strong partnerships with 12 of our local mainstream secondary schools and worked with many schools to improve practice for vulnerable children. He restructured the Bridge to enable all children to receive 25 hours of fulltime education. Increasing the academic offer from 5 to 11 subjects. He created an Active Curriculum to support the childrens’ physical, emotional and mental health needs, a Therapeutic team to cater for the diverse social emotional and mental health of often vulnerable children and an Academic team whose focus is meeting the needs of children. He instigated the intervention unit at the Y-zone for our most vulnerable children and recently expanded this provision to increase hours giving these pupils access to Active and thrive.
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His pupil centred approach where the core
principals of the school are designed to
support childrens’ learning and the clear
vision for staff to create an environment in
which vulnerable children can thrive.
The values he has instilled in staff are Unconditional Positive Regard, Academic Excellence, High Expectations, Therapeutic Understanding, Restorative Teaching Approach to Behaviour and Cross Team Collaboration.
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We understand that any period of change can be unsettling for both parents and children, especially within a specialised environment like ours. We would like to reassure you that the Governing Body top priority is to maintain the stability and consistency of the children’ education and wellbeing. We are already starting, in partnership with the local authority, the recruitment process to find a successor who shares our vision of education, engagement and inspiration.
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In the meantime, the school life will continue as usual under Mr Bayliss’ guidance until the end of August.
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The Governing Body would like to thank Mr Bayliss for his extraordinary service, and we would like to wish him every happiness in his retirement.
Your sincerely
Elisa Campos-Millan, Chair of Governors
Ofsted continues to praise The Bridge for its relentless dedication in supporting pupils
We are delighted to report that we have once again been
praised by Ofsted for providing pupils with an ‘exceptionally
broad and rich’ education provision in their latest inspection
report.
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We provide an educational provision for both disadvantaged
pupils and those children who struggle with mainstream
school. This is the second consecutive time that The Bridge
has been identified as a ‘Good’ school by an Ofsted inspection.
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Writing in the inspection report, Ofsted praises the school for
providing a positive and trusting environment. “This school
gives pupils a fresh start in education. Pupils form positive
and trusting relationships with staff who listen to them and
understand their needs. They are made to feel safe and
secure. This means that pupils have many opportunities to have a fresh start in education and a strive for success in both their personal and academic goals’.
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The report highlighted that the carefully designed curriculum compromising of academic, active and therapeutic provision “For all pupils the offer is exceptionally broad and rich. Importantly, pupils’ social, emotional and mental health needs are well provided for throughout their daily lessons.”
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Headteacher, Chris Bayliss, said:
“I’m delighted that the Ofsted report validates the work our team provide children every day to ensure that they feel safe and valued in school. We know that school can be challenging for some children and we have worked really hard over the years to provide a full range of subjects alongside therapeutic support to help our students not just achieve academic results but provide support for them to face the future.
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Our last Ofsted inspection was in 2018 found that we were a ‘Good’ school and to not only maintain but improve on the inspection findings is testament to our team in providing engaging and supportive educational provision for our children.”
To read the full report, download the report below or visit the Ofsted website www.gov.uk
