Willows High School is an English-medium 11-16 mixed community school maintained by Cardiff local authority. It serves the areas of Splott, Adamsdown and Tremorfa in the East of Cardiff. There are currently 586 pupils on roll, which is lower than at the time of the last inspection in 2012. Around 44% of the pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is well above the national average of 17%. Around 68% of pupils live in the 20% most deprived areas in Wales. Around 33% of pupils have English as an additional language. Only a very few are fluent in Welsh. The school receives pupils from the full ability range. The percentage of pupils with special educational needs is around 41%, which is higher than the national average of 21.5%. The percentage of pupils who have a statement of special educational needs is 3% compared to 2% for Wales. The current headteacher was appointed in September 2015. In addition to the headteacher, the senior leadership team includes a deputy headteacher, four assistant headteachers, business manager and two lead practitioners. 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 Willows High School April 2018 Summary Willows High School has a caring and inclusive ethos, which supports pupils’ wellbeing appropriately. Most pupils behave well in lessons and around the school and many show respect and are courteous towards their peers, teachers and other adults. They make appropriate progress in gaining factual knowledge in the majority of lessons. However, a minority of pupils do not show suitable resilience and independence in their learning. In the majority of cases, teachers plan suitably to include a range of activities that build appropriately on pupils’ prior learning. In a minority of lessons, learning activities do not always meet the needs and abilities of all pupils, including those who are more able. The headteacher and extended leadership team work well together and share a sense of purpose and a commitment to the school’s values and ambitions of raising pupils’ aspirations and helping them to achieve. However, there are a few important areas of the school’s work where leaders are not having enough impact, such as the quality of teaching and assessment and the progressive development of pupils’ literacy skills. Inspection area Judgement Standards Adequate and needs improvement Wellbeing and attitudes to learning Adequate and needs improvement Teaching and learning experiences Adequate and needs improvement Care, support and guidance Good Leadership and management Adequate and needs improvement 2 A report on Willows High School April 2018 Recommendations R1 Improve the progressive development of pupils’ literacy skills through more effective cross curricular provision R2 Improve the quality of teaching to ensure improvement in pupils’ resilience, independent learning and engagement R3 Improve the quality and impact of leadership at all levels, particularly in selfevaluation and planning for improvement R4 Manage finances robustly to address the deficit budget What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to show how it is going to address the recommendations. Estyn will review the school’s progress.