St Julian’s School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

St Julian's School holds true to its mission 'A school for all, where everyone succeeds'. It is a highly inclusive community where staff focus wholeheartedly on pupils' personal and academic development.

There is a strong sense of teamwork and mutual respect in the school. Staff and pupils are proud to be part of the school community. Most pupils are welcoming and friendly, while many enjoy school and feel safe.

Many demonstrate positive attitudes to learning and respond maturely to challenge and questions. Pupils' attendance rates are improving well, but this remains a priority for the school. Teaching is effective in many lessons and, as a result, pupils make at least secure progress.

In a minority of these less...ons, teaching is particularly effective. A few pupils do not make enough progress, mainly because of shortcomings in the quality of teaching. The broad and varied curriculum reflects the inclusive ethos of the school and responds well to pupils' individual needs as well as issues affecting the general school community.

However, despite the variety within the curriculum there is insufficient focus on developing pupils' understanding and appreciation of their Cynefin, their local area and Welsh language, history and culture. The provision to develop pupils' literacy skills is well established. Many pupils' literacy skills are generally secure, and their strong oracy skills are of particular note.

The provision to develop pupils' numeracy skills is also developing well, though that to develop their digital skills is at an early stage of development. As with all aspects of the school's work, the approach to developing its provision to support pupils' well-being is a strategic one that is underpinned by heartfelt care for the pupils and their families. For example, leaders have established additional support centres and services over recent years as a result of findings from self-evaluation activities such as seeking the views of parents and pupils.

Support for pupils with additional learning needs (ALN) is strong, enabling these pupils to make secure progress. Leadership at all levels is a notable strength. This has led to sustained improvements in many important areas including the quality of teaching and learning and pupils' attendance.

Effective internal and external communication is appreciated by all stakeholders. There is a mature culture of self-evaluation and collective responsibility, which is embraced by staff, who understand that they have autonomy with accountability. This is underpinned by a rigorous process for monitoring, review and evaluation (MRE), which ensures that there is a consistent and effective focus on school improvement in all areas.

The school hosts a local authority resource base centre, the Learning Development Centre (LDC), for pupils with moderate to severe learning difficulties. The centre provides a nurturing and caring environment and a stimulating curriculum that is tailored carefully to the needs of pupils. This enables them to make good progress from their starting points.

Due to the timing of the inspection, we did not observe lessons in the sixth form or scrutinise pupils' work. Recommendations R1 Improve the provision to develop pupils' understanding and appreciation of their Cynefin, the local area and Welsh culture and heritage R2 Improve the provision to develop pupils' digital skills What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to address the recommendations from the inspection. Estyn will invite the school to prepare case studies on its work in relation to self-evaluation and developing pupils' oracy skills, for dissemination on Estyn's website.