Newtown High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Since the school was removed from special measures in October 2021, the headteacher and his staff have worked diligently to continue to improve key aspects of the school's work.

Strengthened arrangements for self-evaluation and improvement planning have enable leaders at all levels to make beneficial improvements to teaching and arrangements for care, support and guidance. As a result, many pupils, including those with additional learning needs (ALN), make sound progress in lessons. Attendance, including that of pupils eligible for free school meals, has also improved well.

In many lessons, effective teaching helps pupils to progress in their knowledge, understanding and skills. Most pupils behave well and engage positivel...y in their learning. Many feel safe in school, but a few feel that the school does not deal with issues quickly or effectively enough.

This is often because the school does not communicate to pupils and parents the actions it has taken clearly enough. Senior and middle leaders carry out many aspects of their roles enthusiastically and effectively. This has a positive impact on, for example, how well teacher feedback supports pupil progress.

However, although in general leaders evaluate teaching and learning robustly in order to identify areas for development, they do not always evaluate the impact of leadership thoroughly enough. As a result, whole-school improvement strategies are not always carried out consistently across both campuses. In addition, senior leaders do not ensure that middle leaders collaborate with their counterparts on the other campus to strengthen provision across the whole school.

Recommendations R Refine leadership responsibilities so that the school's improvement work has a consistent impact across the two campuses, in particular provision for the development of pupils' literacy, numeracy and Welsh skills R2 Improve communication between staff, and with pupils and parents, to develop cohesion, effective collaboration and a consistent sense of community across the whole school R3 Continue to refine evaluation and improvement processes so that they take full account of the impact of leadership on the outcomes of all pupils

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