Newport High School, in Bettws, has been placed in special measures by Estyn

Newport High School, in Bettws, has been found to need improvement in all areas – including “urgent improvement” in standards, leadership and management.

Its Estyn report, published this month, says “special measures are required” under the Education Act 2005, with the school ordered to create an action plan for future improvements.

Although pupils show “positive attitudes” to learning and make “suitable progress in many lessons,” the report states performance at key stage four is “weak”.

This includes the proportion of pupils gaining five A* or A grades at GCSE being below similar schools.

It adds that pupils eligible for free school meals “perform consistently below these groups of pupils in similar schools in most indicators” and that the school has designed a “transition” curriculum for key stage three that enables pupils to “settle in well”. 

However, the curriculum does not incorporate a “sufficiently coordinated approach” to the development of pupils’ skills, and teaching across the school “does not challenge all groups of pupils well enough”.

The report adds the school fails to provide effective support for all pupils with additional learning needs while “monitoring is particularly weak at key stage four, within the off-site provision and the inclusion centre”.

“Senior leaders have a vision of their school where every individual is important and valued, and will be supported to achieve their very best," it also says.

“However, line management is not secure enough to ensure that all areas of the school’s work are carried out sufficiently well. 

“In addition, the lack of frank evaluation, secure planning and robust monitoring means that the pace of improvement is too slow.”

Together with its leadership and management, Newport High School’s standards are “unsatisfactory and need urgent improvement”, the report found. 

Wellbeing and attitudes to learning, teaching and learning experience as well as care, support and guidance were “adequate” – but in need of improvement. 

Inspectors have provided recommendations in the report from strengthening leadership at “all levels”, to improving the “rigour and consistency” of self-evaluation and improvement planning.

This includes standards, particularly at key stage four and in the sixth form, the quality of teaching/assessment, co-ordination and planning in developing  literacy and numeracy skills and the coordination of provision for pupils with additional learning needs.

Estyn will now monitor the school’s progress on a termly basis. 

To view the report, visit here.