Two schools in Merthyr Tydfil have been put into special measures following inspections from the education watchdog. Estyn carried out inspections at Ty Dysgu Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) on Alexandra Avenue and Goetre Primary School on Rowan Way in Gurnos in September.
The Ty Dysgu inspection found that only a minority of pupils who attend regularly make suitable progress from their individual starting points in line with their needs and ability. The report also said that overall most pupils respond appropriately in lessons but that pupils’ literacy development is limited and too slow due to the lack of opportunities for them to use these skills across the curriculum.
It added that only a minority of pupils develop their numeracy skills suitably. And it added that across all ages, there are limited opportunities for pupils to develop their ICT skills progressively over time. The report went on to say that during their time at the PRU, most pupils develop strong working relationships with staff, and this helps them to feel safe and secure.
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It said that a few pupils with challenging behaviour which include mental health issues are on part time bespoke timetables and only attend the PRU briefly during the week and that plans for these pupils to transition back to the PRU on a full time basis are in place. But it added that very few have begun this transition process and as a result, this limits their progress.
The report said: “Around half of the pupils with a poor record of attendance from their previous school make limited progress during their time at the PRU. Overall, the PRU does not provide a sufficiently broad and balanced curriculum to meet the wide and diverse needs of the pupils.
“The PRU is in the early stages of preparing for Curriculum for Wales. The range of learning experiences for all pupils is too narrow across the PRU. Staff collect a suitable range of pupil assessment information. These assessments focus on pupils literacy, numeracy and well-being skills. However, this is not well established, and staff do not use these assessments effectively enough to track and monitor pupil progress.
“These assessments do not inform future planning well enough to deliver appropriate interventions to meet the needs of individual pupils.” The report said that the PRU does not currently have robust processes in place to track and monitor pupils’ progress and well-being, including attendance and behaviour, as they move through the PRU.
It said that as a result they do not reliably identify and respond to relevant issues and challenges early enough. The report said that leaders do not have a strategic and clear enough vision that is shared with the remainder of the staff for developing the PRU and raising standards.
It said: “Self-evaluation process are ineffective and underdeveloped by leaders. Most staff are unclear what the priorities for improvement planning are at the PRU. Processes for assuring the quality of provision for pupils’ progress are ineffective.”
It added that the safeguarding policy is detailed and provides useful referral information but that the implementation of the policy is inconsistent across the PRU and leaders have failed to identify and address many safeguarding concerns at the PRU. The school has pupils from the ages of 5-16 with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.
It operates on two sites including one for pupils aged five to eleven, Ty Dysgu Dowlais, the other Ty Dysgu Homfray for pupils from eleven up to the age of 16. The report said pupils at Ty Dysgu PRU have a wide range of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.
Many pupils arrive at the PRU with a history of poor attendance and have frequently missed a considerable amount of education prior to starting at the PRU. As a result, they have gaps in their learning, and may present as having little confidence in their own ability as learners and managing their own behaviour acts as an additional barrier to their learning.
The recommendations from Estyn are that the school strengthens the management of safeguarding and address the shortcomings identified during the inspection, strengthens the quality of strategic leadership to ensure that the PRU’s self evaluation systems identify priorities for improvement that are aligned to raising standards of learning and well-being, develops effective processes to track, monitor and evaluate pupil progress, strengthens the curriculum offer for all pupils and improves pupil attendance.
Goetre Primary School
The inspection of Goetre Primary School in Gurnos found that over the past year, the school has seen a period of major turbulence at senior leadership level with five different headteachers and that this has had a significant impact on the school’s ability to address important shortcomings in their provision. But it said that Goetre Primary School provides pupils with a nurturing learning environment in which they feel safe and secure.
The report said that ensuring the well-being of pupils is a high priority for all members of the school community and that as a result, pupils feel cared for and valued by staff. It said most pupils behave well both in classrooms and when moving around the school.
The report said that leaders have started to make improvements, including increasing the provision for reading and information and communication technology (ICT) but that there are still shortcomings in the way that they identify and address other important weaknesses in the school’s work. The report said that in around half of classes, teaching does not ensure that pupils have the opportunity to make strong progress and as a result pupils do not always achieve standards of which they are capable, particularly in literacy.
It said that staff do not always ensure that they provide pupils with stimulating and authentic learning experiences and that they do not take into account the views of pupils about what they would like to learn well enough. The report said that pupils have too few opportunities to take on leadership roles at the school but added that the provision to support pupils with additional learning needs (ALN), particularly those in mainstream classes, is generally effective.
The report said that staff identify pupils’ needs at an early stage in their education and put suitable plans in place to help address the needs of individual pupils. It said that the provision for pupils in the two learning resource bases has recently improved but that there are still inconsistencies in how well staff support pupils’ learning.
The recommendations in the report said that the school should address the safeguarding and health and safety shortcomings identified during the inspection. It also said it should improve the quality of teaching and feedback so that pupils develop as independent learners and have the opportunity to achieve to the best of their ability.
The report said that the school should improve standards of pupils’ literacy and ICT and further strengthen monitoring and evaluation to enable leaders to accurately identify and address important shortcomings in the school’s work and to judge the impact of teaching and provision on improving pupils’ outcomes It added that the school should further develop approaches to curriculum planning so staff have a shared understanding of progression, and all teachers consult with pupils to plan authentic learning experiences
And it said it should improve the quality of resources to support pupils’ learning both indoors and outdoors.
The response of the council
Councillor Michelle Jones, cabinet member for education, said: “The outcome of these inspections is disappointing. However, the local authority were already working with these settings to improve concerns that have previously been raised. Both settings had identified health and safety shortcomings which were outlined at the time of the inspections and followed by correspondence received by the local authority towards the end of October. Immediately following each inspection plans were drawn up with each setting and nearly all the health and safety issues have been addressed, the outstanding ones are due to be completed before the end of this school term.
"Each setting will produce a Post Inspection Action Plan (PIAP) before the end of this term and LA officers and regional officers are working with the leadership teams to produce these documents. The LA will produce a statement of action to demonstrate to the inspectorate how we will monitor the progress of the PIAP and elected members will also have the opportunity to scrutinise progress whilst these settings remain in special measures.”
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