Ysgol Cedewain is a school for pupils with a wide range of complex educational, sensory, and physical needs and is situated in Newtown in the county of Powys. Many pupils attending the school have a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). All pupils have a statement of special educational needs (SEN). The school has 120 pupils on roll aged from three to nineteen years. English is the predominant language of nearly all pupils. A very few pupils are eligible for support for English as an additional language. There are a very few pupils with looked-after child status. Approximately 36% of pupils are entitled to free school meals. There is considerable variation in pupils’ learning abilities and needs across the school. It is therefore not appropriate to compare standards of achievement in the school with national averages or to analyse performance trends over time due to the wide range of SEN of pupils attending the school. The school is a curriculum pioneer school. The headteacher has been in post since September 2017. The school was last inspected in January 2013. 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 Ysgol Cedewain January 2020 Summary Across the school, nearly all pupils make appropriate progress from their starting points. A majority of pupils make suitable progress in line with their targets identified in their individual education plans (IEPs). Most pupils behave well across the school and are positive about their learning. Nearly all pupils develop constructive working relationships with staff and peers, which support pupils’ wellbeing strongly. The school has a suitably broad curriculum for most pupils. For older pupils, the curriculum on offer provides effective opportunities to achieve both recognised academic and vocational qualifications. However, for pupils with more complex physical needs there are limited planned learning experiences outside of the classroom environment. All pupils gain valuable work experience activities, which support them well in their post-school destinations. The recently established senior leadership team has a clear vision for the school, which is shared with all staff well. Leaders are beginning to establish systems and processes to support staff to improve standards across the school. However, these are at the very early stages of development and it is too early to comment on the impact of many of these systems and processes. Inspection area Judgement Standards Adequate and needs improvement Wellbeing and attitudes to learning Good 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 Ysgol Cedewain January 2020 Recommendations R1 Address the shortcomings in the management of safeguarding identified during the inspection R2 Improve learning areas to meet the individual needs of all pupils R3 Improve pupils’ standards across the school, particularly for those pupils with more complex physical needs R4 Improve the consistency in teaching and assessment of pupils’ skills R5 Develop the strategic roles and responsibilities of curriculum and subject leaders across the school R6 Strengthen self-evaluation processes to provide consistency in school improvement planning What happens next The school will draw up an action plan, which shows how it is going to address the recommendations. Estyn will review the progress.