Estyn Inspection – West Monmouth School
A recent inspection conducted by Estyn, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales, on West Monmouth School during March 2016, provided an overall judgement on the school’s current performance and on its prospects for improvement.
The report has judged the school’s current performance as ‘adequate’ and its prospects for improvement as ‘adequate’.
Inspectors found:
• Performance in nearly all key stage 4 indicators has shown an upward trend
• The majority of pupils demonstrate consistently good literacy and numeracy skills
• Most pupils behave well in lessons and around the school, show respect to each other and to their teachers and are courteous and respectful
• Most pupils have positive attitudes towards their work and contribute well in lessons
• In lessons and over time, the majority of pupils make at least expected progress and a few make better than expected progress
• Attendance levels over the last four years have improved and have placed the school in the upper 50% of similar schools based on eligibility for free school meals for three of the last four years
• The attendance of pupils eligible for free school meals has improved at a faster rate than that of other pupils in the school
• In many lessons, teachers set clear learning objectives, plan beneficial activities to make sure that pupils make progress in their learning, and meet the needs of learners well
However:
• Performance in nearly all key stage 4 indicators places the school in the lower 50% of similar schools based on eligibility for free school meals
• In nearly all indicators, boys and pupils eligible for free school meals consistently perform less well compared to these pupils in the family of similar schools
• The attendance of pupils eligible for free school meals remains below the average for the family and Wales
• In a minority of lessons, the teachers plan activities that keep pupils busy but do not secure appropriate progress
The prospects for improvement are adequate because:
• The headteacher provides firm direction and sets out clear expectations for many areas of the school’s work
• The majority of middle leaders are providing effective leadership
• The school development plan is a well-focused document that highlights appropriate key priorities
• The senior leadership has provided useful guidance to middle leaders on how to conduct self-evaluation and improvement planning activities
However:
• In a minority of subject areas, leadership is not contributing effectively to improvement
• Line management arrangements are not sufficiently robust and have not ensured appropriate level of support and challenge in all areas of the school’s work
• Senior leadership has not secured sufficient consistency in departmental self-evaluation and improvement planning
Head teacher, Mr Whitcombe said: ‘There are many positives in this inspection report but there is always room for improvement. We will continue to work with the education authority to work on the inspector’s recommendations and we draw up an action plan, which will outline how they’ll be addressed.’
The recommendations are improve standards in key stage 4, improve the quality of teaching and assessment, improve the quality of leadership at all levels and improve the quality of self-evaluation and improvement planning .
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