YSGOL Harri Tudur – Henry Tudor School – has been told that three of five areas need urgent improvement following an Estyn report.

The inspection, carried out in November, found that standards; wellbeing and attitudes to learning; and care, support and guidance were all found to be unsatisfactory and in need of urgent improvement.

Teaching and learning experiences; and leadership and management were both found to be adequate but needing improvement.

The Estyn report said: “Ysgol Harri Tudur / Henry Tudor School provides a caring and supportive environment that has a positive impact on the majority of its pupils.

“The school has recently undergone a period of significant change, with the appointment of a new headteacher in 2017 and the move to a new building in 2018.

“The headteacher has managed the transition from the old school premises to the new building successfully and has a clear vision for moving the school forward based on high expectations for both standards and behaviour.”

Pupils were found largely to concentrate and behave well in lessons, but that “a very few pupils are disrespectful and defiant towards staff” with poor behaviour having a detrimental impact on the learning experiences of other pupils.

The inspector found that there were some pupils who reported aggressive behaviour from other pupils, especially during break times. 

"A few pupils say that they experience bullying and a minority feel that the school does not deal effectively with this," the report said.

While many teachers foster productive relationships with pupils, the inspector found that few teachers “have high expectations of what pupils can achieve”.

The report added: “A majority of pupils make at least suitable progress in lessons, although, performance at the end of key stage 4 has been weak and below the average for similar schools in recent years.”

While attendance has “improved marginally” over the last three years the inspector found it remains significantly below that in similar schools.

“Overall, leaders do not monitor standards of achievement and wellbeing closely enough and do not evaluate the quality of provision in these areas effectively enough to bring about improvement,” the report added.

It also says that in the majority of cases, teachers do not plan lessons sufficiently well to enable pupils to make strong progress and in general, the quality of teachers’ written feedback to pupils is too variable.

Key recommendations from the report are:

  • Raise standards, particularly at key stage 4 and in the sixth form
  • Improve pupils’ behaviour and attendance
  • Improve the quality of teaching and assessment
  • Improve monitoring and provision of support for standards of achievement and wellbeing
  • Strengthen the effectiveness and accountability of leaders at all levels

Mrs Fiona Kite, Headteacher of Ysgol Harri Tudur/ Henry Tudor School said governors and staff are working hard to address the recommendations in the report, and to ensure that the school is rated at least good by Estyn in the future.

“We look forward to welcoming them back for a monitoring visit in 12 to 18 months’ time, and to show them the impact of the range of new initiatives which have already been implemented at the school,” said Mrs Kite.

“We are very proud of our pupils and all of their many academic, creative and sporting achievements.”

The report can be found here.