Aberdare Community School is an English-medium 11-18 school maintained by Rhondda Cynon Taf local authority. There are currently 1,133 pupils on roll, including 154 in the sixth form. Aberdare Community School was opened in September 2014 as a result of the closure of Aberdare Girls' School, Aberdare High School, and Blaengwawr Comprehensive School. These schools were inspected in 2011 or earlier. Around 29% of the pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is above the national average of 17.0%. Over 39% of pupils live in the 20% most deprived areas in Wales. Most pupils speak English as their first language and come from a white, British background. The percentage of pupils with special educational needs is around 24%. This is higher than the Welsh average of 21.5%. The percentage of pupils who have a statement of special educational need is 2% which is the average for Wales. There are two support classes at the school, with 20 pupils attending at present. The classes are for learners with communication and autistic spectrum disorders. The current headteacher took up post in April 2017. The senior leadership team consists of the headteacher and one deputy headteacher, five assistant headteachers, a director of pupil progress and an associate senior leader. Further information is available from the Welsh Government My Local School website at the link below. http://mylocalschool.wales.gov.uk/Schools/SchoolSearch?lang=en 1 A report on Aberdare Community School March 2018 Summary Aberdare Community School sets out clearly the ambition for its pupils in the school motto ‘Strive, Believe, Achieve’. As pupils progress through the school, many gain confidence and develop valuable skills by taking part in a range of beneficial opportunities including engaging extra-curricular activities at the co-located leisure centre. Many pupils behave well in lessons, and a majority participate and engage suitably with classroom tasks. Despite these positive attributes, over the past three years attendance rates have declined and do not compare well with similar schools. Across the school, a majority of aspects of teaching enable pupils to make suitable progress. However, teaching generally lacks challenge and assessment practices are too variable and do not enable pupils to improve their work. Senior leaders share a well-understood vision for developing the school. They have a sound knowledge of the school's strengths and areas for development, although tend to be overly positive in their evaluations. In addition, there is too much variation in how effectively senior colleagues hold middle leaders to account. This has limited the school's ability to secure suitable improvement in important areas of its work. Pupil standards and progress do not compare suitably to similar schools. In addition, significant shortcomings in the rate of attendance and exclusions, and in the quality of teaching have not been addressed well enough. Inspection area Judgement Standards Adequate and needs improvement Wellbeing and attitudes to learning Unsatisfactory and needs urgent improvement Teaching and learning experiences Adequate and needs improvement Care, support and guidance Adequate and needs improvement Leadership and management Adequate and needs improvement 2 A report on Aberdare Community School March 2018 Recommendations R1 Improve attendance and behaviour R2 Improve the quality and consistency of teaching and assessment R3 Improve pupil standards and progress R4 Improve the rigour and effectiveness of self-evaluation and improvement planning What happens next In accordance with the Education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion that this school is in need of significant improvement. The school will draw up an action plan that shows how it is going to address the recommendations. Estyn will monitor the school’s progress about 12 months after the publication of this report.