Gwella Inspection of Church in Schools Report

St Teilo’s High School Circle Way East, CF23 9PD

Diocese: Llandaff Local authority: Cardiff Dates of inspection: 3-6 February 2014 Date of last inspection: January 2008 School’s unique reference number: 814609 Headteacher: Mrs B Walker Acting Headteacher: Mrs C Weatherall Inspector’s name and number: Mrs Dilys Williams, NS Registration Number 511. School context St Teilo’s Church in Wales High School is an 11-18 mixed Voluntary Aided comprehensive school maintained by the Church in Wales and Cardiff Local Authority. There are 1,382 students on roll of which 231 are in Years 12 & 13. 20% of the students claim free school meals and 17% have special educational needs. The school is undergoing a period of significant change, having recently moved site from Penylan to Llanedeyrn, changed from a 6-form to an 8-form entry and admitted additional students into Year 10 from Llanedeyrn High School.

Established strengths  The clear and effective Christian vision and commitment of the school leaders  The excellent pastoral care of the students based upon the school’s Christian ethos and values  The passionate and enthusiastic support from governors and clergy  The progress the school has made in a short time towards its goal of attaining excellence through creating a Christian learning environment  The ‘Life’ events which are a celebration of life and faith led by the school Chaplain  The confidence students demonstrate in developing their thoughts and ideas in responding to teacher questioning in an atmosphere based upon support and trust  The respect shown to students of other faiths and the good teaching of other faiths in RE. Focus for development  Develop further the good practice in RE to ensure that the teaching, professional development, subject monitoring and tracking systems lead to consistently excellent learning outcomes  Further develop links with the local churches and schools in the Diocese of  Continue to develop initiatives to reach the local and encourage Parish applicants with a non-faith background  Create a team of students to help plan, deliver and monitor collective worship  Clarify the role of the school chaplain and provide a job description which meets the changing needs of the school community  Increase student involvement and participation in Eucharist services  Consider ethos enhancements such as a school song, use of a school prayer in form worship, moving a prayer tree to the library and the school taking “ownership” of the chapel.

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The school, through its distinctive Christian character, is GOOD at meeting the needs of all learners. Its Christian ethos is embedded in its mission and ethos statements and is at the heart of this new school. Since September 2013 the Senior Leadership Team, all staff and governors have ‘gone the extra mile’ to ensure the Christian character of the school is not lost but continues to develop in its aim to ‘provide a Christian environment in which the individual can grow and mature both spiritually and intellectually’. The Christian character of the school has a high profile and the Acting Headteacher and her team are passionate about the school being more dynamic in making a spiritual impact on every student. Local priests and church leaders have a visible presence in the school, supporting Anglican traditions, contemporary aspects of the Christian faith and the traditions of other faiths. This is a happy school where students feel supported and know their views and opinions are respected. Parents and students recognise and appreciate how the teachers support them with pastoral care based on the Christian values of the school. Parents commented: “pastoral care is second to none at St Teilo’s”; “an excellent school in which I can put my trust when it comes to my child’s education and welfare”; “as Muslim parents we are impressed by the education and commitment to all pupils”. This is the first secondary school in the UK to gain the Peace Mala Accreditation and to become a member of Peaceful Schools International .The school promotes peaceful living through its ‘Peace Network’ and has raised money for the Syria crisis by creating a song for peace. Students are developing strong moral and social values through taking part in a range of charitable causes. The impact of collective worship on the school community is GOOD. Collective worship is distinctively Christian and involves staff, students, local clergy and wider church leaders. Every student attends a daily act of worship either in their form room, the school hall or sports hall. Members of the local clergy celebrate Eucharist in the new chapel on a regular basis. Students experience a range of styles and expressions of worship using a variety of resources and ICT. Variety, sensitivity and enthusiasm were observed, and some challenge. Most students enjoy Eucharist but would value more involvement and participation. Weekly themes for form worship are created by the head of the RE department supported by the School Chaplain and other members of staff. In the form worship observed, the students were encouraged to think and reflect and were challenged by a short powerpoint presentation which focused on a number of Saints: it was a brief but effective time and the message was clear. Students enjoy this more intimate style of worship and value the quiet reflection time it offers. However, form worship will have to be carefully monitored to ensure there is a consistent standard delivered in year groups and forms. Collective worship for Year Groups in the school hall follows the same weekly theme and is often led by a number of students from different year groups. In the Year 10 worship observed, students entered quietly, a student played a piece of music on the piano and a candle was lit. A slide in Welsh on the big screen welcomed everyone to worship. Students behaved well and supported their peers who performed a role play, read a passage from the Bible, repeated personal prayers and finished with the Grace in Welsh. A powerpoint presentation created a thought-provoking message. The atmosphere was conducive to reflection but everything was a little rushed as students had taken a while to arrive. Sixth form worship was very good. The students had created an atmosphere for worship and reflection. They shared personal experiences, which with the student prayers and Bible readings ensured the message was heard, understood and reflected upon. The head of department supported by the chaplain and staff produces engaging powerpoint presentations for all worship. Themes are based on Christian gospel values and reflect the Church calendar. She is supported by the chaplain who also coordinates school Eucharist. Staff involvement is increasing as they develop confidence and expertise through support and training from the RE team.

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The Chaplain’s ‘Life Events’ worship takes place two or three times a year. It provides students with worship that engages with today’s society. A member of the RE department commented “I found it to be a celebration of life and faith, students from Year 7 to the 6th Form participated in song, providing musical accompaniment, readings and a powerpoint presentation. I found the worship gave me the opportunity to embrace my own faith and made me proud to be a Christian”. The head of RE has conducted a number of student and staff surveys in order to improve provision of collective worship throughout the school. Results have been analysed and findings have influenced the resources for class worship. Further surveys should be used to inform future practice. The new school chapel is establishing itself as a sacred space in school, but more could be done to encourage students to come to the chapel. A number of students said they had never been inside although they knew where it was because they saw the chapel as they came to RE lessons.

The effectiveness of the Religious Education is GOOD. Standards in Religious Education (RE) are good and in line with the other core subjects at KS3. The KS4 uptake shows that RE is popular and results are above the school average. In KS3 and KS4 the trend of results is upward one. In KS5 72% of the students achieved A*- C. The trend of results at KS5 is variable and the take-up in Year 12 is not big. However, the head of department is finding ways to encourage students to choose the subject. Some excellent posters have been created which advertise the topics which will be covered and students have added personal comments about the variety of exciting and stimulating debates and discussions that take place in lessons. The inspector observed this strapline on a booklet produced for GCSE students: ‘RE – the subject that refreshes the parts other subjects can’t reach’.

Eight RE lessons were observed and teaching spanned from good, through good with aspects of excellence to excellent. Lessons are well planned, demonstrate very good teacher subject knowledge and are characterised by numerous opportunities for independent enquiry, group and pair discussion, problem solving and evaluation of learning using a variety of Assessment for Learning strategies.

Students’ speaking and listening skills are very good and show deep, thoughtful personal views and opinions. Students are happy to respond in caring and supportive classroom environments which are very much in evidence in this department.

The head of department and her team are eager to move the department forward and make it ‘one of the best departments in the school’. Schemes of work are being rewritten at KS3 to show more development and progress through the Key Stages: they will be more challenging and ensure a variety of effective summative tasks are in place which will lead to a more efficient departmental tracking system.

Student work books contain target sheets, level-descriptor ladders and GCSE grades. Teacher comments are positive, but do not consistently advise students how to make progress based on the target decoders in the front of the books.

The department would benefit from the appointment of a specialist RE teacher. At the moment one particular year group is taught by a number of non-specialist teachers whose wider responsibilities deflect their focus from the RE department. This makes it very difficult for them to liaise regularly with colleagues, attend departmental meetings or play an effective part in the wider life of the department.

The roles of the school chaplain and head of department must be more clearly defined so that they can interleave and channel their expertise, energy and enthusiasm more effectively. Preparation, planning and development of collective worship and RE in the school could be enriched by a adopting a more focused approach. The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the school as a church school is GOOD. The Acting Headteacher and her leadership team are committed Christians, lead by example and are well supported by governors. They have shown impressive skills and commitment in attempting to establish a secure environment and to embed the Christian ethos within the life of the new school in a 3 very short period of time. The Acting Headteacher, all teaching staff and support staff at the school are dealing proactively with the challenges of the new building and its students. The senior leadership team’s aim is to inspire and set aspirational faith and educational targets to meet the needs of all learners. Leadership is distributed throughout the school. Middle leaders are encouraged in the school’s vision statement to ‘realise their potential’ and to ‘develop areas of strength into areas of excellence’ The school has recently appointed a Junior Leadership team (JLT). The Acting Headteacher is excited about this initiative and hopes this will provide even greater distribution of Leadership in the school. The JLT is in its infancy so as yet there has been no evaluation of its success and effectiveness. Governors are actively involved with school life, including ensuring that staff appointments distribute and sustain the Christian ethos of the school and that all staff know what it means to work in a school with a Christian character. The chair and deputy chair support the development of Christian artefacts in and around the school. Most parents recognise the impact of the Christian ethos upon their children and how the staff spend whatever time is required to provide support and encouragement when necessary. Local clergy are closely involved in the spiritual life of the school and are helping to forge closer links with the local community. The school building provides a clear and vibrant focus for the life of the school and its neighbourhood: for example the 2013 Christmas service was held at the school and was well attended by members of the local community and churches. The school’s improvement plan 2013/14 refers to establishing the new site as an ‘inclusive community-focused faith school’ and to the school’s wish to ‘maintain and increase links with local churches, including ecumenical links. The school has the capacity to improve, develop and mature as a flourishing Church school. The school meets the statutory requirement for collective acts of worship YES

The school meets the statutory requirement for religious education YES

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