A SECONDARY school in Llandudno has received an encouraging Estyn report following an inspection.

In their latest report, published on January 18, Ysgol John Bright was praised for creating a "inclusive and caring" environment. 

The school was commended for providing "high levels of care", enabling pupils to learn, grow and develop into mature and responsible individuals.  

Inspectors highlighted the extensive range of curricular choices for pupils and headteacher Hywel Parry was described as a "thoughtful and considerate leader" who provides "support and robust challenge" to his staff.

The report, which followed an inspection in November 2023, said: "The school provides a wide variety of extra-curricular activities and sporting clubs for all its pupils including an annual musical production, which is staged in the town’s theatre. Overall, many pupils seize the valuable learning and social opportunities offered to them and make considerable progress in their personal development by the time they leave school.

"The headteacher has high aspirations for the school as a community of learning. Together with the senior leadership team and staff, he has forged a productive partnership with other education providers, external organisations and local charities such as Tŷ Hapus to ensure that pupils, including those from low income households, obtain valuable academic and social learning opportunities."

Teachers were praised for "building and maintaining" positive and supportive working relationships with pupils and pupil behaviour is managed "effectively".

Inspectors reported that "nearly all pupils feel safe and most feel free from any bullying or harassment."

"Staff support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well through purposefully planned assemblies and presentations from external providers and charities," the report said.

"There are helpful processes to monitor pupils’ emotional and physical wellbeing through daily check-ins, focussed tutor sessions and regular contact with wellbeing officers. This enables the school to plan tailored support that helps pupils and their families to overcome barriers to their learning and enjoyment in school."

Also highlighted was how staff well-being was considered.

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Inspectors said: "For example, they have established an email curfew, so that staff are not contacted in the evenings, and reviewed the workload of middle leaders." 

It was noted that "whole-school attendance" has not improved as well as that in similar schools since the time of the pandemic. There is currently 1,147 pupils on roll. 

The attendance of pupils eligible for free school meals is also notably lower than the national rate.

It was also recognised that overall, the school does not have a sufficiently strategic approach to developing pupils’ literacy skills across the curriculum. Moreover, opportunities to develop pupils’ numeracy skills across the curriculum are not "consistently meaningful or challenging enough."

Estyn made three recommendations to help the school continue to improve: 

  • Strengthen the provision for the progressive development of pupils' literacy and numeracy skills so that pupils have meaningful and challenging opportunities to develop these skills and make sufficient progress across the curriculum
  • Improve attendance and strengthen processes for monitoring whole-school attendance, including that of specific groups of learners
  • Refine self-evaluation and improvement planning processes so that they focus more precisely on securing improvements in specific areas