Wales High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. As a result of good and sometimes outstanding teaching, the majority of students make good progress to reach standards that are well above average by the end of Year 11.

Over time, students have made exceptional progress in history, geography and religious studies. Achievement in the sixth form has improved over time and is now good. The sixth form is well led and this makes a good contribution to improvements in achievement.

Students are asked probing questions to deepen their understanding of what they are learning. They are set interesting tasks that relate to 'real life' situations. Sixth-form students make an exceptional contributio...n to the life of the school and particularly to the good behaviour and safety of students in school.

The curriculum provides a wealth of exciting opportunities that broaden students' experiences and prepares them well for the next stage of their education, employment or training. Leaders and managers have developed a strong sense of purpose amongst staff to drive forward sustained improvement. This contributes well to ensuring good teaching and achievement.

Governors use their skills well to support and challenge the leadership team in order to achieve their high ambitions for the school. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Boys are not yet making enough progress to match the high standards achieved by girls. The quality of marking is inconsistent across the school.

Senior leaders have not yet ensured that all middle leaders are sufficiently well skilled to determine what is required to make teaching outstanding. In the sixth form, not enough students are attaining the very highest standards in their chosen subjects. When planning for improvement, leaders and managers are not always clear about how they will know whether their actions have been successful or not.

Information about this school

This school is much larger than the average-sized secondary school. There are more girls than boys in the school. The proportion of students known to be eligible for the pupil premium is average.

The pupil premium is additional funding for those students who are known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children who are looked after by the local authority. Almost all students are White British. There are very few students whose first language is believed not to be English.

The proportion of students supported through school action is well below average. The proportion of students supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational need is below average. The alternative provision used by the school is 'Vector 31'.

A small number of students attend this provision to study construction, motor vehicle maintenance, engineering and hairdressing. The school holds the International School Award and Artsmark Gold status. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are minimum expectations for students' attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

Since the last inspection there have been significant changes to staffing in science. Wales High School converted to academy status on 1 October 2010. When it was inspected in November 2012 it was judged to require improvement.