High School to remain in follow up category

Newtown High School will remain in an Estyn follow up category following an inspection in October, but has shown progress in making improvements.

The school was previously placed in special measures by Estyn but was taken out of that category two years ago after making significant improvements in areas such as bullying, teaching quality, and attendance.

The current Estyn review category is the "lightest touch" of follow up under the inspection regime, and the school has been given three recommendations to address.

The report acknowledges that since being removed from special measures, the headteacher and his staff have worked diligently to further improve key aspects of the school's work.

One issue highlighted in the report is the challenge of having one school with campuses approximately 27 miles apart.

Estyn suggests that while the school provides a balanced curriculum that meets the needs of most pupils well, those at the John Beddoes campus have a restricted choice of courses at key stage four.

The report also states that skills provision for the John Beddoes campus is not as well developed compared to the Newtown campus.

Headteacher Rob Edwards expressed his pride in Estyn acknowledging the strong progress made by the school. However, he acknowledged that there is still work to be done.

Mr highlighted the hard work of both the staff and students at Newtown High School and emphasized that the report reflects their dedication.

The three recommendations given by Estyn include refining leadership responsibilities to ensure consistent improvement across both campuses, improving communication between staff, pupils, and parents to foster cohesion and collaboration, and refining evaluation and improvement processes to consider the impact of leadership on all pupils' outcomes.

The school is expected to develop an action plan to address these recommendations, and Estyn will collaborate with Powys County Council to review the school's progress.

The full report can be found here: Inspection report Newtown High School 2023 (gov.wales)