Large Welsh school plunges into special measures
Large Welsh school plunges into special measures
Reading skills were among the key problems highlighted by the inspector
Abertillery Learning Community
(Image: Blaenau Gwent Council )
An all-through school has plunged back into special measures after a disappointing inspection. Abertillery Learning Community, a mixed comprehensive in Blaenau Gwent, was criticised for a range of failings in the report by education watchdog Estyn.
In 2022 a good report had led to Abertillery Learning Community being removed from Estyn's list of schools requiring significant improvement. But the school has slipped back into that category following its latest inspection, which highlighted issues including that only "a few" primary-aged pupils make strong progress in reading and writing.
The English-medium school, which has 1,666 pupils, "provides too few opportunities for pupils of all ages to develop their literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum", wrote the inspector.
The report continues: "In a minority of sessions, teachers do not provide enough challenge or engaging activities. This limits pupils' opportunities to develop independence and thinking skills.
"In these cases, teachers overuse worksheets or talk for too long, meaning that pupils spend less time on meaningful tasks. As a result, pupils rely too much on teacher guidance and do not make sufficient progress, particularly in the upper school."
In some lessons, teachers' expectations of pupils were found to be "too low". The inspector added: "They provide pupils with tasks that are unengaging and lack sufficient challenge. In these sessions, many make limited progress.
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"In a few cases, classroom practices, such as having all pupils working at the same pace, further limit the progress that pupils make."
Most lessons were deemed to be "too teacher-led" and did not give children enough opportunities to "take the lead" in their learning. This left some pupils relying heavily on teacher guidance and not being engaged enough, particularly in the upper school.
"In a few cases, the overuse of worksheets limits pupils' ability to develop independent learning skills or to write at length," the report continues.
"In the younger classes, teachers do not provide pupils with sufficient purposeful and challenging independent learning experiences, nor use the outdoors well enough to support pupils' learning."
Written feedback from teachers was only effective in a "few" cases, according to the inspector. "In addition, a minority of secondary aged pupils are over-reliant on their teachers when faced with unfamiliar words," the report goes on.
"In the lower school, many pupils develop their writing skills appropriately and a minority make strong progress with their writing. However, by the end of year six, a minority do not spell or punctuate accurately enough and have weak handwriting. This remains the case as they move through upper school."
Leaders' planning for improvement was found to lack "precision", while Welsh language provision was described as "underdeveloped".
Estyn concluded that the school needed "significant improvement" and an action plan to address four key recommendations.
The recommendations centred on the quality of teaching; literacy and numeracy skills; planning for improvement; and ensuring the school meets the statutory requirement for pupils to study Welsh up to the age of 16.
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Estyn will monitor the Abertillery Learning Community's progress for around 12 months. The school's budget is subject to a deficit reduction plan approved by Blaenau Gwent council.
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