Queen Elizabeth High

Highlights from Latest Inspection

A group of people in uniformDescription automatically generatedA group of girls playing footballDescription automatically generatedA person standing in front of a whiteboardDescription automatically generatedIn Queen Elizabeth High School, pupils and staff embrace the headteacher's clearly communicated vision and its key themes of respect, relationships and responsibility. In the short time since his appointment, the headteacher has prioritised well-being for pupils and staff to good effect, and as a result the school community works well together to realise their shared ambitions.

A notable strength of the school is practice in the Canolfan Elfed inclusion centre, which caters for pupils with a wide range of needs. Its leaders and... staff have created a highly inclusive and nurturing environment where nearly all pupils flourish and make strong progress in relation to their individual targets. Professional learning for staff has contributed well to improving well-being and strong care, support and guidance.

As yet it has not focused closely enough on the impact of teaching on pupils' learning. Although many pupils make sound progress in lessons, in a minority of instances teachers' planning does not consider learning or progress well enough, and, in general, feedback is not sufficiently precise to support pupils to improve their work. Following a recent reorganisation of roles, senior and middle leaders have assumed their respective roles with enthusiasm.

Despite this positive start, further work is required to ensure that leadership roles and their associated responsibilities are all sufficiently clear. Leaders at all levels are beginning to gather information about the school's work using suitable processes. Overall, the evidence they gather is not sufficiently evaluative regarding learning and teaching.

The well-being, inclusion and additional learning needs teams across the school ensure that all pupils benefit from a range of well-considered personalised provision and support. Although attendance has improved since the time of the pandemic, leaders recognise the need to continue to encourage pupils to attend school regularly, particularly those who remain persistently absent, or those eligible for free school meals. The school works effectively with a broad range of outside agencies to support vulnerable pupils well.

Recommendations R1 Improve teaching so that it makes a consistent impact on pupils' learning R2 Ensure that leadership responsibilities are clearly defined and equitably distributed R3 Strengthen improvement planning processes R4 Strengthen provision to reduce persistent absence and improve the attendance of pupils eligible for free school meals