Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni is a homely and caring community where a strong emphasis is placed on supporting pupils’ emotional and social needs. The well-being team works tirelessly to provide excellent support and pastoral assistance for pupils. The ‘Hwb’, ‘Hafan’, ‘Y Ganolfan’ and the well-being rooms on both sites provide refuge, care and support to develop pupils’ confidence and help them to make progress in their learning. The comprehensive programme of valuable interventions and personal and social education provision supports pupils’ educational progress and well-being effectively. Pupils are offered valuable opportunities to share their views and influence aspects of school life through the school council and its subcommittees. Arrangements for safeguarding pupils are sound. A strong feature is the way in which staff promote the importance of good attendance by responding actively to any obstacles that affect pupils’ attendance. As a result, attendance rates, including those of pupils who are eligible for free school meals, are higher than in similar schools and the rate of persistent absences is significantly lower than the national average. Since the monitoring visit in September 2021, leaders have continued to strengthen and improve the school’s provision. The headteacher and his team work tirelessly to ensure that teaching and learning and well-being are at the heart of the school’s work. In most cases, teachers foster a supportive and close working relationship with their classes. They manage pupils’ behaviour and engagement effectively. As a result, most pupils behave well in lessons and listen attentively to their teachers’ instructions and explanations. Over time, many pupils, including those with additional learning needs, make sound progress in their subject knowledge and understanding. Many pupils also make sound progress in their oral skills and their reading and writing skills develop appropriately. A majority have secure number skills and, overall, pupils make appropriate progress in their digital skills. In many lessons, teachers have suitable expectations in terms of what pupils can achieve and they plan activities that provide appropriate challenge. They explain concepts effectively and question regularly to test pupils’ knowledge. These teachers introduce new vocabulary to pupils and correct the use of English vocabulary sensitively. However, in a small minority of lessons, there are some shortcomings in teaching which mean that pupils do not make as much progress as they could. These include teachers talking for too long, using only closed questions and instances when they are too willing to accept brief answers from pupils. Even when teaching is sound, teachers do not always take advantage of every opportunity to stretch pupils to achieve the best of their ability. There is a strong culture of evaluation and self-criticism among leaders. They use a comprehensive calendar of self-evaluation activities effectively to gather evidence about the quality of teaching and learning, well-being provision and other aspects, such as the effect of professional learning. A strong feature of the work of leaders is the way in which they evaluate the quality of teaching in light of its effect on learning. As a result, leaders have a clear understanding of the main strengths and areas for improvement and the school development plan focuses carefully on the school’s 2 A report on Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni May 2024 main priorities, including the aspects of teaching and learning that need to be further improved. Leaders have succeeded in creating a culture where professional learning and receiving feedback on how to improve the quality of teaching are at the heart of the staff’s work. The governing body is passionate about ensuring Welsh-medium education for pupils in the area, but they do not always challenge leaders’ decisions sufficiently. The finance committee has recently worked with the headteacher and the business officer to monitor the school’s budget in more detail. However, leaders have not been successful enough in making savings and there is a significant deficit in the budget. Due to the timing of the inspection, we were unable to observe lessons or evaluate the work of sixth-form pupils.