Newport High School is an English-medium 11 to 18 school in Newport. There are 1,080 pupils on roll including 141 pupils in the sixth form, compared with 1,092 pupils and 178 in the sixth form at the time of the last inspection. The school is situated on the outskirts of the city of Newport. Most pupils come from the Bettws, Malpas, Crindau and Brynglas areas. Around 21% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. This is higher than the national average of 17% for secondary schools in Wales. Around 45% of pupils live in the 20% most deprived areas in Wales. Pupils at the school represent the full range of ability. Around 3% of pupils have statements of special educational needs compared with 2.8% for Wales as a whole. Around 30% of pupils have a special educational need, which is higher than the national average of 22.7%. Most pupils speak English as their first language and come from a white, British background. No pupils speak Welsh at home. The headteacher has been in post since September 2010. The leadership team is made up of two deputy headteachers, four assistant headteachers, a business manager and an achievement manager. 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 Newport High School November 2017 Summary In Newport High School, many pupils demonstrate a positive attitude towards their learning. These pupils make suitable progress in many lessons. Despite this, performance at key stage 4 is weak and is well below that in similar schools over the last three years. Most staff develop positive working relationships with pupils, which enables them to participate purposefully in their learning. The school has designed a ‘transition’ curriculum for key stage 3 that enables pupils to settle in well. However, the curriculum does not incorporate a sufficiently co-ordinated approach to the development of pupils’ skills, and teaching across the school does not challenge all groups of pupils well enough. Senior leaders have a vision of their school where every individual is important and valued, and will be supported to achieve their very best. However, line management is not secure enough to ensure that all areas of the school’s work are carried out sufficiently well. In addition, the lack of frank evaluation, secure planning and robust monitoring means that the pace of improvement is too slow. Inspection area Judgement Standards Unsatisfactory and needs urgent improvement Wellbeing and attitudes to learning Adequate and needs improvement Teaching and learning experiences Adequate and needs improvement Care, support and guidance Adequate and needs improvement Leadership and management Unsatisfactory and needs urgent improvement 2 A report on Newport High School November 2017 Recommendations R1 Raise standards, particularly at key stage 4 and in the sixth form R2 Improve the quality of teaching and assessment R3 Improve the co-ordination and planning for progression in developing pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills and ensure that curriculum arrangements meet the needs of all pupils R4 Strengthen the co-ordination of provision for pupils with additional learning needs R5 Strengthen leadership at all levels and improve the rigour and consistency of self-evaluation and improvement planning What happens next In accordance with the Education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion that special measures are required in relation to this school. The school will draw up an action plan showing how it is going to address the recommendations. Estyn will monitor the school’s progress on a termly basis.