Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Following a challenging period in the school's history, the headteacher's strong leadership, with the support of the governors and her management team, has ensured a number of important improvements. The school has a familial, Welsh ethos and pupils take pride in their Welshness and believe that there is 'Nowhere like Nantlle'.

There is now a strong ethos of teamwork among the staff and, over the last eighteen months, clear line management structures have been put in place. Since September, levels of accountability have increased and leaders and staff are now held accountable for the quality of provision that they offer to pupils. The care, support and guidance that the school provides for pupils are a strength.

As a resul...t, pupils have high levels of well-being. They feel safe at school and appreciate that they have someone to turn to if they need support. There are a host of opportunities for pupils to take part in extra-curricular activities that enrich their education.

Sixth-form pupils make a valuable contribution to school life by supporting younger pupils in a variety of ways. The senior management team has a good understanding of the main strengths and areas for improvement and has prioritised wisely. There are purposeful plans to address these priorities and a number of the actions have already borne fruit.

For example, there are clear processes to improve pupils' behaviour. As a result, most pupils now behave well in their lessons and around the site. However, there is inconsistency in leaders' understanding of the exact areas that need to be improved in pupils' learning and the quality of teaching.

The school plans purposefully to develop pupils' literacy skills. There are valuable opportunities within language subjects and across the curriculum for pupils to develop their reading skills, write at length and discuss orally. Most teachers are caring and succeed in creating a productive environment for learning.

In lessons and over time, many pupils make suitable progress. However, in around half of lessons, there are shortcomings in teaching, which means that pupils do not make as much progress as they could. There are not enough high-quality opportunities for pupils to develop their numeracy skills, digital skills and their ability to work independently.

Recommendations R1 Improve the quality of teaching and ensure that strong practices are disseminated R2 Reinforce leaders' ability to identify specifically the strengths and areas for improvement in learning and provision R3 Improve provision to develop pupils' numeracy skills, digital skills and independent learning skills