An independent special school in Newport is ‘welcoming’, 'caring' and offers a wide range of learning experiences but provides ‘inconsistent teaching’ according to inspectors.

A team from Welsh inspection agency Estyn visited Catch22 Include Wales School, an independent special school on Godfrey Road, in June and have now published a report on their findings.

The school caters for up to 18 pupils and focuses on those with additional behavioural or educational needs. 

Inspectors praised the leaders and staff for providing "high levels of commitment to the school and its pupils".

"Pupils are happy to come to school, feel safe and have strong working relationships with the staff team," they said.

However, "around half of the pupils do not attend consistently, which impacts on the progress they are able to make with their learning".

Inspectors also noted: "The quality of teaching across the school is inconsistent. Formal teaching time at the school ‘is limited due to the relatively short school day."

The school was praised for providing "a beneficial wide range of learning experiences that appropriately reflect pupils’ needs, abilities and interests".

The learning environment provides limited accommodation to support teaching. However, "areas of the building are not used and not well maintained. The restricted outdoor space impacts on the school’s ability to meet pupils’ needs suitably."

"Leaders promote a strong caring ethos across the school, which reflects the wider Catch22 ethos well" and have a clear vision to develop the school. "They have established strong working relationships with external partners which offer valuable support for staff and pupils."

However, "quality assurance and improvement planning processes are not self-critical enough and do not focus well enough on the quality of teaching and learning. Professional learning opportunities for staff do not link well enough to raising standards and improving teaching."

Inspectors also criticised that ‘staff do not have opportunities to observe high quality teaching for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs in other similar settings.’

Independent school inspections are governed by the Education Act 2002 and related regulations: the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2003. These regulations require an independent school to meet an appropriate standard in certain areas.

Catch22 met the regulatory requirements for all necessary areas.

Estyn recommendatiosn for Catch22:

  • Develop the learning environment to better meet the needs of all pupils.
  • Improve the quality and consistency of teaching.
  •  Formalise professional learning opportunities for all staff with a suitable focus on teaching and learning.
  •  Strengthen arrangements for self-evaluation and improvement planning.