Comprehensive School Birchgrove Comprehensive School is an 11 to 16 co-educational community school maintained by Swansea local authority. There are currently 428 pupils on roll, compared with 648 pupils at the time of the last inspection in 2013. The school serves a suburban area between Neath and Swansea on the eastern side of Swansea. Around 29% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is much higher than the national average of 16.4% and around 40% live in the 20% most deprived areas of Wales. Nearly 33% have a special educational need, including close to 13% who have a statement for that need. Both figures are much higher than the national averages. The school has two specialist teaching facilities catering for pupils with both specific and moderate learning difficulties. No pupils speak Welsh as a first language or to an equivalent standard. The senior leadership team consists of the headteacher, who took up post in September 2016, a deputy headteacher, two assistant headteachers and a finance officer. 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 Birchgrove Comprehensive School October 2019 Summary Birchgrove Comprehensive School provides outstanding care, support and guidance. As a result, pupils enjoy high levels of wellbeing and their positive attitudes make a significant contribution to the inclusive ethos of the school. Teachers know their pupils well and develop positive working relationships with their classes. This creates a calm and purposeful learning environment that supports successfully the progress and wellbeing of pupils. The headteacher provides calm and assured leadership. His vision of a fully inclusive school is shared successfully with staff, parents and pupils. The school’s ethos, based on maximising every child’s potential and preparing them well for their future lives, pervades all aspects of its work. Inspection area Judgement Standards Good Wellbeing and attitudes to learning Excellent Teaching and learning experiences Good Care, support and guidance Excellent Leadership and management Good 2 A report on Birchgrove Comprehensive School October 2019 Recommendations R1 Strengthen the co-ordination of literacy to ensure a worthwhile range of activities across the curriculum to secure the progressive development of pupils’ skills, in particular their reading R2 Improve the impact that teachers’ feedback has on pupils’ progress R3 Improve standards in Welsh, particularly at key stage 4 What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to show how it is going to address the recommendations. Estyn will invite the school to prepare a case study on its work in relation to the support provided for the most vulnerable learners, for dissemination on Estyn’s website.