A £33.8m new high school where all pupils can get a free evening meal has been put in special measures after a damning report from inspectors. Estyn said high rates of persistent absence and low attendance at Pencoedtre High in Barry are a “significant concern”.
Inspectors found that “across all subjects, pupils produce relatively little written work”. The Barry school’s “general approach to assessment” doesn’t help pupils or teachers understand what is needed to improve.
Teachers make positive working relationships with pupils but their expectations of the amount and quality of work pupils should complete are too low, the report adds. “Across all subjects, pupils produce relatively little written work” and “the majority of pupils make frequent spelling errors”.
