Secondary

Early Insights

Teaching and learning

Where teaching is effective, pupils make good progress from their starting points but cross-curricular provision for the progressive development of pupils’ literacy, numeracy and digital skills is still weak in the majority of schools

What’s going well

In many schools, teachers know their pupils well and foster positive relationships with them.
In the majority of cases, teachers plan lessons carefully to meet pupils’ needs and many pupils make suitable progress in their subject knowledge as a result.
The majority of pupils with ALN make secure progress against their individual targets.
A majority of schools have designed a Curriculum for Years 7 and 8 which aligns with the expectations of the Curriculum for Wales.In the best cases, curriculum developments are aligned closely with developing teaching and learning.

What needs to improve

In general, schools do not develop pupils’ literacy, numeracy and digital skills progressively across the curriculum effectively enough.
In the majority of schools, the proportion of ineffective teaching is too high and this results in pupils not making as much progress as they could.
Weak planning in some areas, for example the humanities subjects, often leads to a lack of depth and cohesion. This is particularly often the case where schools have combined subjects rather than teaching them discretely.
In many English-medium schools, there are too few opportunities for pupils to speak and listen to authentic Welsh.

Well-being, care, support and guidance

Schools continue to provide strong care, support and guidance that impacts positively on pupils’ well-being but strategies to improve pupils’ attendance are not effective enough

What’s going well

Many schools place high importance on pupils’ well-being and ensure that they have appropriate systems in place to support their personal and emotional development.
Many schools emphasise the importance of good attendance through regular communication with pupils and parents.
Many schools have an appropriate behaviour policy and a suitable graduated response for dealing with poor behaviour.
Many pupils have good attitudes to learning and benefit from a positive working relationship with school staff. They concentrate well during teacher instruction, respond suitably to tasks and generally develop independence and perseverance when given the opportunity to do so.
Provision for pupils with additional learning needs is a strength in the majority of schools.
Many schools are offering pupils increasing opportunities to participate in enrichment activities. These include school choirs, musical theatre productions, sports competitions and eisteddfodau.

What needs to improve

Attendance remains substantially lower than it was before the pandemic. The low attendance of pupils from low-income households is particularly concerning.
The rate of persistent absence among secondary pupils is still too high.
Many schools do not analyse attendance data including that of various groups of pupils carefully enough to identify patterns, nor do they review the effectiveness of their systems to improve attendance thoroughly enough.
In a minority of schools, a few pupils exhibit poor behaviour. They do not engage well enough with teachers and disrupt their own learning and that of their peers.
Many schools do not have sufficient specialism or expertise to manage the poor and complex behaviour of a few pupils.
In general, there are not enough regular opportunities for pupils in Key Stage 4 and those in the sixth form to discuss important topics such as maintaining healthy relationships and mental health.
Many schools do not regularly canvass pupils’ opinions on the quality of teaching or other strategic matters.

Leading and improving

Leaders continue to focus on equity and inclusion, and are making progress in the implementation of their Curriculum within the National Framework of Curriculum for Wales but the quality of self-evaluation remains a concern

What’s going well

Leaders have established strong culture of safeguarding in nearly all schools.
In many schools, leaders take appropriate steps to reduce barriers to learning for pupils who are impacted by poverty. In the best cases, high expectations, well-developed policies and comprehensive support systems are particularly effective in raising the attainment and attendance of this group of pupils and other vulnerable learners.
The majority of schools are making appropriate progress with their arrangements for the ALNET Wales Act.
In general, schools provide their staff with a range of helpful professional learning opportunities, including opportunities to share good practice.
In most cases, governors discharge their responsibilities suitably and are supportive of schools. Where they are most effective, they are actively involved in setting the strategic direction of their school.

What needs to improve

In a majority of schools, leaders do not have a sufficiently strategic approach to developing pupils’ literacy, numeracy and digital skills across the curriculum.
The quality and effectiveness of self-evaluation and improvement planning are weak in many schools.
In many schools, leaders have an overly positive view of the effectiveness of their provision; this is particularly the case with regard to the quality of teaching, where leaders do not focus closely enough on its impact on pupil progress.
In many cases, leaders have not made strong enough links between improving teaching and assessment and the planning and delivery of their Curriculum for Wales.
Too often, professional learning activities are not targeted precisely enough on the specific aspects of teaching that require improvement; only a few schools evaluate their professional learning offer thoroughly enough.
Teacher recruitment is a significant concern, particularly for a few subjects such as science and Welsh and, more generally, teachers that are able to teach through the medium of Welsh.
Most schools have seen their budget cut. Leaders are concerned about their ability to maintain current staffing levels and resources.

Overview of recommendations from inspections

In the 2023-2024 academic year, Estyn inspected 31 secondary schools.

21

21 (68%) secondary schools were given a recommendation to strengthen and refine their self-evaluation and/or improvement planning processes. Nine of these schools were advised to focus on teaching, learning, and pupil progress.

20

20 (65%) secondary schools were given a recommendation regarding the progressive development of pupils’ skills. This was through improvement of teaching, provision, planning, and/or co-ordination. Of these schools, some of the recommendations given advised they focus on one or more specific areas of the curriculum: 10 providers were advised to focus on developing pupils’ numeracy skills, 8 on pupils’ literacy skills, 6 on pupils’ Welsh Language skills, and 4 on pupils’ digital skills.

16

16 (52%) secondary schools received a recommendation regarding the improvement of teaching. Seven of these recommendations placed emphasis on pupil progress and 6 on the challenging behaviour of pupils. Three of these schools received a recommendation that focused on the quality of teaching and assessment. Five others received a recommendation that also related to assessment and feedback.

15

15 (48%) secondary schools were given a recommendation to improve attendance.

10

10 (32%) secondary schools were given a recommendation regarding the improvement of their Welsh language provision. Of these, 6 schools were specifically given a recommendation to improve pupils’ Welsh language skills. Two schools were also advised to improve pupil understanding of Welsh culture and heritage.

9

9 (29%) secondary schools were given a recommendation on leadership, with recommendations issued incorporating themes of role, responsibility, accountability, strategy and improvement.

3

3 (10%) secondary schools were given a recommendation regarding the strengthening and development of the role of the governing body.

Other

Other recommendations issued to providers advised on themes including health and safety, pupil behaviour, exclusion, additional learning needs (ALN) provision, pupil well-being, communication between parents and pupils and staff, budget and quality assurance.