Ysgol Awel y Mynydd

Overview

This is the school’s first inspection, which found that leadership and management were “unsatisfactory and needs urgent improvement” due to ineffective strategic action and unreliable assessment procedures. Consequently, standards were also judged “unsatisfactory and needs urgent improvement,” with a significant minority of pupils, particularly those who are more able, failing to make expected progress. The report places the school in special measures, noting that while leadership is beginning to improve under new acting staff, the long-term situation remains uncertain.

Strengths

• Nearly all pupils are “polite and behave well,” showing “enthusiasm and perseverance” in their tasks.
• Staff promote the Welsh language appropriately and act as “skilful language models” for pupils.
• A majority of pupils make consistent progress in literacy and numeracy, with those in specialist units making “sound progress against their targets.”
• Pupils feel “completely safe” and know whom to approach for advice if they have concerns.
• Teachers provide “positive and caring” support, including effective intervention programmes for pupils with additional learning needs.

Areas to improve

• Establish “robust and effective leadership” and strengthen self-evaluation and planning for improvement processes.
• Establish and make effective use of “pupil progress-tracking processes” to ensure targeted support for all groups.
• Ensure teachers plan purposefully to develop “challenging opportunities” for pupils to apply literacy, numeracy, and ICT skills across all areas of learning.

Safeguarding

The report states that the school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils “meet requirements and are not a cause for concern.”