Comprehensive School Cardinal Newman Catholic Comprehensive School is located in Rhondda Cynon Taf local authority. The school is an English-medium 11-18 mixed school serving Catholic and other communities of the central valleys of south east Wales. It has a very wide catchment area that extends from Gilfach Goch in the west to Bargoed in the east and includes Rhondda, Cynon, Ely and much of the Taff and Rhymney valleys. In 2017, the school reintroduced onsite provision for the sixth form after the termination of previous partnership arrangements. There are currently 773 pupils on roll, including 79 pupils who are in the sixth form. Around 14% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is below the Welsh average of 17% for secondary schools. Approximately 24% of pupils live in the 20% most deprived areas in Wales. Around 19% of pupils have a special educational need, and of these around 1% have statements of special educational needs. Both are lower than the average figures for Wales, which are 21.5% and 2% respectively. Around 85% of pupils are from a white, British background. A very few pupils speak English as an additional language and a very few pupils are fluent Welsh speakers. The headteacher has been in post since 2011. The leadership team consists of the headteacher, one deputy headteacher, four assistant headteachers, one acting assistant headteacher and one temporary associate assistant headteacher. The school was last inspected in November 2011. The school is currently a pioneer school and is working with the Welsh Government and other schools to take forward developments relating to professional learning. 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 Cardinal Newman R.C. Comprehensive School May 2018 Summary Leaders’ ambitious vision of securing high quality provision, management and professional learning has led to outstanding teaching, strong provision and wellbeing and consistently high standards at Cardinal Newman Catholic Comprehensive School. These successes are a result of rigorous self-evaluation processes and an extensive range of stimulating and challenging professional learning opportunities. Very strong partnerships with local primary schools and highly effective and engaging teaching contribute successfully to the very strong progress that pupils make in their knowledge, understanding and skills from previous key stages. Beneficial provision for pupils’ personal development supports them successfully to develop as ethical, informed citizens. Staff at all levels promote well the school’s Catholic ethos ‘heart to heart speaks’ and this leads to an exceptional sense of community, teamwork and a common purpose in which pupils thrive. Inspection area Judgement Standards Good Wellbeing and attitudes to learning Good Teaching and learning experiences Good Care, support and guidance Good Leadership and management Good 2 A report on Cardinal Newman R.C. Comprehensive School May 2018 Recommendations R1 Improve the achievement of more able pupils at key stage 4 R2 Strengthen provision to enable pupils to develop higher-order information and communication technology (ICT) skills across the curriculum R3 Eliminate the budget deficit What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to address the recommendations from the inspection. Estyn will invite the school to prepare a case study on its work in relation to self-evaluation to improve the quality of teaching, for dissemination on Estyn’s website.