Llanishen High School Annual Report of the Governors November 2010

HEADTEACHER: Mr R. A. Smyth BA MA NPQH CHAIR OF GOVERNORS:Professor J Andrews

Contents

• GOVERNORS • EDUCATIONAL GOALS • KEY POINTS • THE GOVERNORS’ ROLE • FINANCIAL STATEMENT • PUPIL ACHIEVEMENTS AND SCHOOL STANDARDS • EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES • PUPIL ROLL AND STAFFING • CURRICULUM MATTERS • ATTENDANCE • POLICY MATTERS • BUILDINGS AND SCHOOL SITE • PROGRESS MADE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTION POINTS ARISING FROM THE INSPECTION OF MARCH 2009 • LINKS WITH THE WIDER COMMUNITY • CONCLUSION

Appendix Information

• FINANCIAL STATEMENT • SCHOOL PERFORMANCE: PUPILS' ATTENDANCE 2009/2010 • KEY STAGE 3 NATIONAL CURRICULUM RESULTS • SUMMARY REPORT OF ACHIEVEMENTS OF PUPILS AGED 15 and 17 2009/2010 • NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT TARGETS KEY STAGE 4 not available as yet • NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT TARGETS KEY STAGE 3 not available as yet

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LLANISHEN HIGH SCHOOL

GOVERNORS’ ANNUAL REPORT 2009-2010

GOVERNORS (with end of term of office and attendance in brackets)

PARENTS Mr I Griffiths 19/10/12 (6 of 6) Mrs S Munir 11/11/11 (4 of 6) Mr M Palmer 11/11/11 (4 of 6) Mrs A Wakeham 19/10/12 (6 of 6) Mr M Williams 19/10/12 (6 of 6) Mr R Tompkins 08/10/13 (4 of 5)

LEA Mrs U Gryg 16/07/13 (3 of 6) Dr T Pickersgill 16/09/10 (1 of 6) Prof M Pendlebury 19/11/13 (4 of 4) Mrs E Taylor 17/12/11 (3 of 4) Cllr R Smith 27/09/12 (1 of 6) Mr J Caddick 19/11/13 (4 of 4)

TEACHERS Mr G Duly 28/03/10 (4 of 4) Mr R Lloyd 31/08/13 (6 of 6) Mrs M Phillips 17/06/14/ (1 of 1)

NON-TEACHING Mrs H Wall 11/11/11 (6 of 6)

HEADTEACHER Mr R A Smyth (6 of 6)

CO-OPTED Prof J Andrews 10/05/13 (6 of 6) Mr B Green 22/09/09 (0of 1) Mrs T Griffiths 24/01/12 (4 of 6) Mr A Lewis 11/11/11 (5 of 6) Mrs S Morgan 24/01/13 (6 of 6) Mr M Fashan 16/11/13 (3 of 5)

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES Camilla Blenkin Bhavik Patel

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc LLANISHEN HIGH SCHOOL

GOVERNORS’ ANNUAL REPORT 2009-2010

The Governors are required to report annually to parents. This annual report, together with the opportunity for a meeting with parents, is the main formal way by which the governing body can demonstrate our accountability to parents. They provide an opportunity to engage with you on what has been happening in the school during the previous year, as well as an opportunity to share our plans for promoting high standards of educational achievement and actively seeking the views of parents for the future.

EDUCATIONAL GOALS

The school established in 2005 a renewed set of key educational goals which provide the focus for all that we do, particularly in terms of improvement planning. These consist of a banner headline followed by five succinct and memorable points, and hopefully therefore ones that will impact upon the school community.

“We believe that all can succeed”

We at Llanishen High School aim to:

Act in the belief that all can succeed

Be an inclusive school, offering suitable learning opportunities for all

Create a commitment to learning as a lifelong activity

Develop each pupil individually and value their achievements and progress

Encourage respect, treating each other with dignity and courtesy

KEY POINTS • The school had a visit in June 2010 from a team of inspectors led by Sue Halliwell HMI. The purpose of this visit was to monitor the progress made since the Estyn inspection of March 2009, when the school had been judged as ‘in need of significant improvement’. The outcome of the June 2010 visit was very positive. The team concluded that in view of the good progress made, the school was no longer in need of significant improvement – normally it takes more than a year for a school to be removed from this category. This shows, that while we were disappointed with the outcome in 2009, the whole school community used it as a spur to improvement. A detailed post-inspection action plan was completed and thoroughly followed and monitored by both staff and governors, This was designed to build upon the good features within the school and ensure further improvements in the identified areas. We are pleased that with the help and support of staff, governors, pupils, parents and the local authority, this procedure had such a good outcome. Nevertheless, the school remains committed to strive for further improvement, in 2010-11 and beyond.

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc • The school is working through the implications of the Welsh Assembly Government decision in September 2010 to approve ’s plans for secondary reorganisation in the Eastern part of the city. These will involve the closure of High School and a knock-on increase in pupil admissions for Llanishen, Cardiff High and St Teilo’s. Staff will also be working hard to ensure that transition arrangements from new partner schools work at least as well, as those with existing partners. • The school continues to develop its curriculum in an effort to include and meet the learning needs of all students. In 2009-10, we were pleased to support the successful introduction of the Welsh Baccalaureate in Year 12. This goes forwards into Year 13 in 2010-11. Local Education Authority Staff have kept us informed of plans for an amended Year 7 curriculum in 2010-11. This transition project has been the subject of a lot of work with partner primary schools. During 2010-11 we will be monitoring the school’s progress, along with its partners, in meeting the requirements of the Learning and Skills Measure which sets out 14-19 curriculum entitlements to all learners. • We were pleased to note that a recent parental survey placed communication as a very positive feature. We hope that the measures governors have supported over the past year have helped this to be the case. Firstly this has included the expansion of the Pupil Support team, ensuring that when Year Team Leaders are teaching, there is always someone linked with each year group able to listen to and hopefully deal with issues brought to them by pupils, parents or staff. Secondly parental access to E-Portal has been successfully rolled out, allowing parents protected on-line access to data about their sons and daughters and finally the school has been grateful to those parents who have shared their ideas and views in the Parents Focus group. • We have continued to make significant improvements to the school environment which we believe are making a noticeable difference to the quality of the learning environment. In particular we were pleased to be able to support the refurbishment of the PE changing rooms over the summer of 2010. • The 2010 Key Stage 3 Teacher Assessment results sustained the improvements of 2008 and 2009. The GCSE results which were the best ever at A* - C in 2009, were slightly down, but nevertheless the second successive year at 70% or above. The A level results had a 98% pass rate but were down upon the achievements of recent years. AS results recovered after a dip last year and mirrored the improved results prior to 2009. • Attendance for 2009-2010 was 92.78%, slightly up on the 92.4% of last year. This will be amongst the very best figures in Cardiff, but our efforts to maintain or improve such levels always continue. • The school continues to offer its pupils a wide range of activities beyond those in the classroom. These provide both opportunity and excellence. • Since the time of the last Governors’ Report we have approved or updated the following school policies; Disciplinary, Complaints, Curriculum Cymreig, Drug Education and Incident, Sex and Relationships. Food and Fitness.

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc THE GOVERNORS’ ROLE The governors continue to fulfil their role of overseeing the direction and the development of the school on behalf of the local community and the local authority. During 2009-10 we were determined to be increasingly proactive in supporting the school to achieve to the best level that it can. We gave careful consideration to the post-inspection action plan and particularly careful thought to furthering our ability to act as “critical friends” of the school by improving our monitoring procedures.

Therefore we were particularly pleased that the Estyn Report of 2010 stated that governors had fully addressed these issues and have been appropriately involved in linking with, monitoring and evaluating the life of the school. We have worked hard in developing all these aspects, in particular at becoming more informed about the work of each department within the school. We are sure that these developments will help to further our role as a “critical friend” in the months and years to come.

A list of governors together with attendance at meetings is included as part of this Annual Report.

It should be known that the Governors do not claim travel or subsistence expenses

FINANCIAL STATEMENT It is one of the governors’ responsibilities to set a budget which reflects the school’s plans and which is then executed to best effect for the benefit of the pupils. This governing body continues to believe that by and large the annual revenue budget should be spent for the benefit of the pupils currently in the school, rather than large reserves being saved up for some future beneficiaries. Nevertheless on a budget of £6 million it would be prudent to have an amount earmarked for unforeseen events and circumstances.

The Schools Outturn of Expenditure for 2009-10 is included later in this report. This shows a larger than usual balance carried forward of £164,739 or 2.5% of the budget, (it was around 1% last year). It has already been factored into the budget for 2010-11. The increase was not planned for, but arose from a combination of factors such as costs for supply teachers and energy bills being lower than anticipated and additional income being secured for things like repairs and maintenance.

PUPIL ACHIEVEMENTS AND SCHOOL STANDARDS The outcomes in the end of Key Stage 3 Teacher Assessments sustained the improvements of 2008 and 2009, with Mathematics achieving 94.2%, (87.3% in 2009, 86.7% in 2008), English 85.8% (82% in 2009, 80.9% in 2008), and Science 89.2% at level 5 or above, (87.7% in 2009, 84.9% in 2008). The Core Subject Indicator, (achieving a level 5 or above in all 3 core subjects), was 82.3%, (75.7% in 2009, 76.1% in 2008).

This autumn, for the second time, Welsh Assembly Government has produced an “All Wales Core Data Set.” This is being used to support the new School Effectiveness Framework and the next cycle of Estyn Inspections. It provides comparative performance data from contextually similar schools. After Llanishen High School initially being put into a group of

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc nine, these groups have now been redrawn across Wales, using slightly more sophisticated criteria. The new families have been set for three years. We are now in a family of eleven comparable schools of which our intake is rated as the second “most challenged.” This might lead to the expectation that we will be one of the lowest performers in this group, but just as in 2009, indications this year in the majority of categories, do not show this to be the case. It also compares our achievements with those across Wales and in Cardiff, for which we would hope and expect to be above the average on every single criterion; this is in fact the case. The table below shows our achievement compared to our family.

END OF KEY STAGE 3 (YEAR 9)

Criterion Above, on or below family Position in the family of 11 average

English Level 5+ Above =2nd

Mathematics Level 5+ Above 1st

Science Level 5+ Above 2nd

Core Subject Indicator Above 1st

English Level 6+ Above 3rd

Mathematics Level 6+ Above 1st

Science Level 6+ Above 1st

Art Level 5+ Above 8th

Design Technology Below 5th

Geography Below =4th

History Below =4th

Information Technology Above 4th Level 5+

Modern Foreign Languages Above 4th Level 5+

Music Level 5+ Above 3rd

Physical Education Level 5+ Above 2nd

Welsh 2nd Language Above =5th

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc At GCSE level the percentage of Year 11 pupils achieving 5 or more grades A*- C or their equivalent was 70%, the second successive year that the school has attained 70% or more. This is the second best ever recorded, although slightly down on 2009. Achievements at 5 or more grades A*- G was 93%. We continue to review the curriculum in order to try and provide opportunities for all to succeed. Again there is a table below comparing our performance within our family of schools, (as above we are above the Wales and Cardiff averages in all criterion). Again our place in the family as the second ‘most challenged’ would lead one to anticipate a low placing out of the eleven schools.

END OF KEY STAGE 4 (YEAR 11)

Criterion Above, on or below family Position in the family of 11 average

Level 2 Threshold, including Above =3rd English and Mathematics

Level 2 Threshold Above 4th

Core Subject Indicator Above =3rd

English Level 2 Threshold Below 8th

Mathematics Level 2 Above 2nd Threshold

Science Level 2 Threshold Below =7th

Level 1 Threshold Below 8th

Average Wider Points score Above 4th

Mathematics Level 1 On =5th Threshold

English Level 1 Threshold Above 6th

Science Level 1 Threshold Below =5th

Overall given these new tables and their challenges, we believe that these show the school in a positive light, not a position that cannot be improved but nevertheless one with a lot of good features at both key stages 3 and 4. In the key categories on the Level 2 threshold which effectively means 5 A* - C at GCSE or equivalent, together with the Core Subject Indicator (which equates to grade C and above in English, Mathematics and Science) the school is well placed and far above where you might expect to see the second “most challenged” school to be. Nevertheless there are always challenges to improve in specific areas and the school will be focussing on these aspects. (Please note Level 1 means at grade G and above, or

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc equivalent and the Level 1 threshold equates to 5 passes or more at G or above, or equivalent).

The A level results recovered substantially from what had been disappointing AS results the previous year. However although we were pleased with a pass rate of 98% we did not achieve such high percentages of higher grades as has been the case in recent years. This continues a trend with this particular cohort which whilst achieving well at grade C and above in Year 11, had a lower than usual percentage of grade A* and A. We have monitored the fact that this year, the AS level results are back in line with the positive trend of recent years and therefore are confident that we can again anticipate a bigger percentage of higher grades in 2011

On behalf of parents, the Governors have as always passed on their thanks for the efforts of all staff in contributing to the various achievements by our pupils. We recognise that modern pressures to succeed seem to get greater on a yearly basis. We know that the school has had a very demanding year and that in the circumstances the results have held up well.

As always the behaviour of the great majority of pupils continues to bring credit both to themselves and their parents, inside school, when representing the school and in the local community. The school regularly reinforces the message of respecting the local community in which on occasions a minority of pupils have let down the name of the school. We hope that as parents, you will support us in impressing this message upon them, and particularly emphasise on what is appropriate or inappropriate behaviour, in shops such as Sainsbury’s and vicinities such as the village and the churchyard. Nevertheless as Governors we were delighted that the Estyn visit in June 2010 found that pupils “behave well in lessons and around the school” and that “pupils are polite and respectful” and that “relationships between staff and pupils and between pupils themselves are good.” Clearly our young people do know how to behave and we want them to continue to give careful thought as to how to be good ambassadors in the local community.

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES The last year has seen a continuation of the rich extra-curricular life of the school underlining again the value which is placed on providing all students with the opportunity to succeed.

As this is the “gap year” for major school productions, July saw a highly successful series of concerts entitled “Kudos” which showcased performances of excerpts from musicals given by a large number of students and staff. These formed part of a wider festival of work in Creative Arts, featuring exhibitions in the Thornhill Centre as well as in school of work by students for external examinations. The usual round of concerts celebrating the musical talents of students at all Key Stages has continued as has the annual participation in the Children’s Literature Carnegie Shadow Prize event. The Learning Resource Centre continues to welcome local writers to work with pupils. In March it was the turn of the author Lucy Christopher, who led a day of creative writing for a group of Year 9 pupils following Alec Williams’ session on story-telling and poetry for Years 7 and 8 earlier in the year.

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc Work inside the classroom was once again enhanced by a large number of educational visits at home and abroad, notably the inaugural visit to Italy as part of the Welsh Baccalaureate programme.

Once again sport has played a large part in the wider life and success of the school with ever widening participation leading to impressive achievements. The Senior Rugby XV won their league and the Year 10 XV won the County Cup, the Senior Boys Hockey team were national finalists as were the Year 7 soccer team. In Athletics Year 7 were County Champions, Year 10 won the County Cup and were a very close second in the Welsh Schools Cup with the Year 8 girls finalists in the Welsh Schools Plate competition. The October 5K Run gave hundreds of pupils the chance for exercise whilst raising thousands of pounds for local and national charities. Not surprisingly, after the visit of Dame Kelly Holmes, our pupils featured widely in the Sainsbury’s campaign supporting fitness in schools. The invaluable work of our 5x60 Officer ensures that pupils participate in sports that don’t form part of the formal structure with activities taking place in school and in the wider community outside school hours. Her support for the achievements of our pupils in the Hearing Impaired Unit who won the Welsh Football Trust’s Schools’ Festival was much appreciated by all concerned.

Special mention must be made of the successful development of the Physical Education and School Sport programme which brings even closer links between the school and our partner primary schools. The year has seen a number of joint activities, often involving older pupils from the High School as leaders, culminating in a superbly successful Olympic Day here which brought together all Year 5 and 6 pupils from our partner schools.

Our pupils have continued to set an excellent example in other aspects of community development led by members of the School Council and the School Nutrition Action Group. The Eco-Council’s hard work was recognised with the award of the prestigious Green Flag which is displayed overlooking the bike stands and which was celebrated in the company of BBC weatherman Derek Brockway and former M.P. Julie Morgan who had supported the group in their campaign.

In all these initiatives we are grateful for the immense amount of time and energy which staff and students commit to the many activities which enrich the life of the school and for the support of parents. No better example of this can be found at the end of school on Friday when, as the majority are understandably heading off for a well deserved rest, the cross- country group set off on a training run and the orchestra begin their weekly full rehearsal.

PUPIL ROLL AND STAFFING The number of pupils on roll in September 2010 was 1636. This has slightly decreased compared to 1657 in September 2009. The fall in local demography continues but the impact has been mitigated by maintaining strong intake into the Sixth Form and by increasing numbers transferring from our future partner primary schools.

The number of teaching staff has increased slightly on last year. The 83 full-time and 25 part- time staff give a full-time equivalent of 97.6 compared to 97.3 last year. The Pupil:Teacher ratio is 16.76:1 compared to 16.94 in 2009-10 and 17.2:1 in 2008-09. There are 20 Learning

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc Support Assistants who work in the mainstream Learning Support area or in the Hearing Impaired Unit as well as alongside teachers throughout the curriculum. Six Classroom Learning Supervisors cover short-term absences of teaching staff.

Governors continue to play an active and responsible role in the recruitment of all new colleagues to the school and in internal appointments to posts of responsibility. The mature and perceptive commitment which students bring to these procedures remains impressive and cannot be underestimated.

Further progress has been made in embedding the remodelling of the school workforce. The Pupil Support Team, each member is linked to a Year Group, has exceeded our hopes in supporting contact with families, progress of pupils and collaboration of Year Teams. In the Sixth Form, the administrator works closely with the Leader of Learning and the Welsh Baccalaureate Coordinator and students to ensure good progress in all aspects of their studies. Remodelling the core administration team has allowed a clearer structure in supporting the work of the Senior Leaders. We have been heartened by the positive response which has greeted the accessibility of pupil records on line to parents.

We were delighted that the status of Investor in People, first awarded in 2000, was retained in July. The report mentions “excellent teamwork…between a balanced, responsible team which includes all those involved in the school. Clear evidence was seen of the overall success in creating a learning culture for all employees and delegation to staff, creating a sense of responsibility through levels of empowerment.”

CURRICULUM MATTERS Under the Welsh Assembly Government’s Transforming agenda we have now entered a curriculum planning partnership with Cathays High School, Llanedeyrn High School and . This concentrates on the 14-19 age range. As governors, the local authority is ensuring that we are kept as informed as possible on the schools and secondary partnerships obligations in the Learning and Skills Measure. This outlines a minimum entitlement in terms of possible learning pathways for all students in Wales. It is likely that in line with all schools in Cardiff we will move towards a degree of common governance between schools, by way of governor involvement in these partnership meetings between schools.

The Welsh Baccalaureate has embedded itself fully into the life of years 12 and 13. Our provision for it received very positive feedback from the WJEC Examination board. This provides accreditation, recognised by universities and welcomed by employers, in a whole range of things that are part of the school’s work. These include key skills, work experience and service, personal and social education and religious education.

In Key Stages 3 & 4, (Years 7-11), there continue to be important curriculum developments. After the introduction of Core and Additional Science in 2006-07, 2009-10 saw the first part of a cohort complete GCSEs in the three separate sciences. The successful BTEC Sport programme has now been joined by a BTEC in Health and Social Care. We now have a higher number of Year 10 and 11 students following Extended Opportunities courses with

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc both and local training providers, than has hitherto been the case. We are pleased that the Cardiff 14-19 Learning Partnership has not only been able to invest into the continuance of this provision, but also to provide much of the funding for the construction of a Hair and Beauty Salon in our building. This is now providing a facility not just for our students, but also for some from partnering schools.

As Governors we are always pleased to note that the transition process with partner primary schools remains a strong aspect of school life. Feedback from Year 7 parents is very positive about this process and we know that staff always consider the points that parents make. After a long period of preparation this September has seen the start of a new Year 7 Transition Project. Pupils are now experiencing one and a half days a week with a dedicated transition teacher who will be using skill based approaches, developed with and alongside primary colleagues, to deliver part of the curriculum, namely English, History, Geography and RE . We anticipate that this will help to build stronger bridges with Key Stage 2 and know that key senior staff will both closely lead and monitor this over the course of the year.

ATTENDANCE The school achieved an overall attendance of 92.78% throughout the academic year of 2009-2010. This was again broadly satisfactory and slightly up on last years figure of 92.4%. We continue to aim at raising attendance above 93%. Unauthorised absence, showed a very slight fall from 1.0% to 0.91%. We again appeal to parents to both keep us informed as to reasons for absence and not to take holidays during term time. Absences of all kinds impact adversely on pupil progress.

We have had a slight improvement in our improved provision from the Educational Welfare Service. An Education Welfare Officer has now been based within the school, albeit one who serves a considerable number of school communities. In addition we have an Educational liaison officer who works alongside and supports the EWO. The school feels it has received positive support in the past year from this service and continues to build solid relationships with the service.

The school uses a number of its own measures that target the improvement of attendance. These include a standard letter with accompanying proforma, which outlines what we can and cannot do, in terms of giving permission for holidays in term time, together with specific periods when for educational reasons, we advise against any holidays being taken. In addition we have been developing a system of texting some parents to indicate that their sons/daughters have not arrived in school or are missing from lessons. The system of electronic registration has now been in place for seven years and allows us to trace attendance not only day-by-day but also lesson-by-lesson. The school will continue to consider what recognition should be given to pupils who maintain very good attendance. The school’s information management system is now incorporated under one provider allowing greater consistency. During 2009-10 the school has developed parental access and it is now possible for parents to track individual progress on a secure server from home. It allows parents to see progress and have appropriate behavioural information. Included in this provision is attendance and punctuality. We continue monitoring lateness to school at the

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc gates on a daily basis and ask parents to help us by ensuring pupils are in school no later than 8.25 am.

POLICY MATTERS Since the time of the last Governors’ Report we have approved or updated the following school policies; Disciplinary, Complaints, Curriculum Cymreig, Drug Education and Incident, Sex and Relationships. Food and Fitness.

BUILDINGS AND SCHOOL SITE Our annual quest as governors to improve the environment that we can offer our pupils has continued throughout 2009-10. We are kept fully up to date by the Estates Manager which enables us to contribute to informed decisions.

After completing amongst many other things the refurbishment of the Year 12 and 13 Private Study area during the summer of 2009, work has continued at an equal pace, both throughout 2009-10 and during the summer holiday of 2010. During the former, Cardiff 14-19 funds were secured towards converting a surplus Science laboratory to a Hair and Beauty salon. This is now in use for both some of our students and others from our 14-19 partner schools. Also constructed were completely refurbished ladies toilets and new double demountable classrooms in the vicinity of the boy’s gymnasium. These have come into use this September largely for the teaching of languages. They have replaced very old demountables which we have long been trying to persuade the local authority to remove. There has been a change of location for these rooms in order to meet more up to date fire regulations. During this summer holiday we agreed to fund a complete refurbishment and in places a rebuild of the PE changing rooms for both boys and girls. These now include new flooring, new benching, new toilets that are suitable for disabled use and the reinstallation of shower facilities with private cubicles for any student who wishes to use them. Overall these areas represent a great improvement for all our students. Also completed during the holidays were refurbished toilets for both Gents and Year 12 and 13 girls, the provision of some extra parking spaces past the Youth Centre, to replace room lost to the new demountables, and a tidying up of the outside entrance to the main foyer. We are grateful to the Estates Manager and his team for successfully overseeing all of these projects. .

PROGRESS MADE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTION POINTS ARISING FROM THE ESTYN INSPECTION OF MARCH 2009 The progress on this is best represented at this stage by the Estyn Report of July 2010, which reported on a visit in June 2010. Immediate news of this was given to parents as part of a letter prior to the summer holiday. A follow up summary of that report was sent out on Parent mail earlier this term. This summary is repeated below. It details the good progress that the school has made together with the ongoing commitment of the school community not to let things rest there.

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc SUMMARY OF REPORT FROM HMI VISIT OF JUNE 2010

Following the very positive news sent to you in our letter of July 14th 2010, I would like to follow that up in some more detail. Everyone in the school reacted very positively to the challenges faced during 2009-10. We were very grateful for support from parents and governors, and as is always the case, worked very constructively with the local authority.

During June the school received a visit from a team of HMI inspectors. They visited classrooms, examined samples of pupils work, scrutinised school documentation and held discussions with a number of staff and pupils. They paid particular attention to progress made since the inspection of March 2009.

The outcome of this visit was that they believed the school had made good progress during that period and consequently no longer needed significant improvement. Whilst we were delighted by that news, we will continue the ongoing quest of any school organisation, which is to improve and to be as good as we can possibly be. Therefore we concur with HMI that we should continue to build upon these foundations.

Of the eleven recommendations from March 2009, the HMI visit believed that the school had fully met four of the recommendations and had made good progress in the other seven.

The four fully met were as follows:

Employing effective strategies to improve behaviour of pupils, particularly at Key Stage 3 - They found pupils behaving well in lessons and around the school and being polite and respectful. Relationships between staff and pupils and between pupils were found to be very good.

Statutory requirements for RE in the sixth form, a daily act of collective worship and disability accessibility and equality legislation were all found to be fully met

Improving the quality of monitoring departmental expenditure was fully met with effective and transparent systems

Enhancing the capacity of governors was found to be fully met with appropriate involvement in the life and running of the school.

Good progress was recorded in the following

Raising standards of achievement, particularly at Key Stage 3 - A lot of good progress, features and progress were recorded, but with areas on KS4 achievement and KS3 lessons to continue to focus upon.

Improving the quality of teaching – Sound progress was found to have been made with indications that the quality of teaching is improving and that there are appropriate strategies in place to continue the improvement in the quality of planning and teaching.

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc Consistent application of assessment procedures and quality of advice to pupils to improve performance/ Enhancing the role of tutors in monitoring progress – Good progress has been made in both these aspects with good leadership and co-ordination

Effective strategies for the provision of key skills, including bilingual skills – good progress made in both these areas

Improving the quality of leadership and management – good progress made with both senior and middle managers, with clear responsibilities, expectations and targets being in place

Working with the unitary authority in improving school accommodation – the school continues to work with the local authority on this issue.

Overall we were very pleased, but not complacent. We have always had school improvement plans and will continue to do so. The plan for 2010-11 includes the follow up to the HMI visit and continues to address the quality of teaching, various aspects of pupil progress and progression in Essential Skills. As ever, our plan addresses areas over and beyond any ongoing inspection follow up. We will continue to focus on plans to develop the curriculum and learning pathways, as well as ensuring as much positive behaviour as possible.

Estyn have published full details of their visit on their website. We hope that this summary is a useful follow up to the initial news that was reported to you.

LINKS WITH THE WIDER COMMUNITY As indicated in a number of areas above the school continues to work very closely with its partner primary schools and greatly values these positive links. Our primary colleagues contributed actively to the successful year 7 project. We try, wherever invited, to be represented upon the Governing bodies of these schools and we are delighted that our Governing body continues to have colleagues from the primary sector.

The Parent Teacher Association remains a much-valued body of support to the school. Their programme of activities raises funds that help to enrich the life of the school. We are equally grateful for the work that they often do behind the scenes, helping with productions and providing refreshments during concerts.

Our continued links with the Llanishen Rotary Club have gone from strength to strength. They have attended and sponsored awards at our School Awards Evening, helped in reviving the tradition of a Debating Society within the school and supported our students in a variety of other ways.

We continue to work closely with the local police. They support and contribute to our PSE programme and have worked alongside us in dealing with issues that cross back and forth from the local community into school. We have also provided a base within the school with the Education Welfare Officers from which the Police Community Support Officer can work and support the school.

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc Ongoing links are well established with the North Cardiff Medical Centre Youth Forum and Sainsbury’s supermarket. The latter continues to consider the welfare of young people in the north of the city. We are trying to build positive links with the store which will also help to give it a profile within the school. We hope that this will help to counter-act the anti-social behaviour in the vicinity of the store of some groups of young people.

We are also happy to have links with local places of worship and this year were again given a warm welcome at Highfields Church in Roath for our annual Carol Service.

The leader of the Youth Centre continues to be a co-opted member of the Governing body. This helps to ensure that we work together for each other’s mutual benefit. The staff in the Youth annex have worked along our staff to develop a ‘Building Self Esteem’ project for disaffected pupils at KS3.

A successful Parent Focus Group (PFG) has met regularly through the year to discuss current and wider issues relating to school policy.

We continue to work closely with Careers Wales and have received a comprehensive report from them on all the work that they carried out in conjunction with the school during 2009- 2010. There is no doubt that our pupils are benefiting from ever increasing links with the world of work, business and commerce. Arrangements for Work Experience for both Years 11 and 12 were very comprehensive and successful. The Welsh Baccalaureate has proved very successful this year and has been enhanced by strong links with the community. We are very grateful to all the local businesses and employers who support us in these ventures.

CONCLUSION The governors are pleased to be able to present this report to you. The year may not have started as we would have liked and there are always things that any organisation can do better on. Nevertheless we believe that overall 2009-10 was a successful year for the school. Whilst we as governors hope our role has played some part in this, we would like to thank all others parts of the school community; staff, parents and pupils for your varied roles in this. Together we will hope to go on providing a school in which everybody can have the opportunity to succeed. We are sure that as parents you will support us in this.

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc APPENDIX INFORMATION

APPENDIX 1 ...... FINANCIAL STATEMENT

APPENDIX 2 ...... SCHOOL PERFORMANCE: PUPILS’ ATTENDANCE 2009/2010

APPENDIX 3 ...... KEY STAGE 3 NATIONAL CURRICULUM RESULTS

APPENDIX 4 SUMMARY REPORT OF ACHIEVEMENTS OF PUPILS AGED 15 & 17 2009/2010

APPENDIX 5 ...... NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT TARGETS KEY STAGE 4 not available as yet

APPENDIX 6 ...... NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT TARGETS KEY STAGE 3 not available as yet

C:\Users\Llywelyn\Documents\Downloads\Governors Annual Report Nov 2010.doc