A report on Fitzalan High School Lawrenny Avenue Leckwith Cardiff CF11 8XB Date of inspection: February 2017 by Estyn, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales During each inspection, inspectors aim to answer three key questions: Key Question 1: How good are the outcomes? Key Question 2: How good is provision? Key Question 3: How good are leadership and management? Inspectors also provide an overall judgement on the school’s current performance and on its prospects for improvement. In these evaluations, inspectors use a four-point scale: Judgement What the judgement means Excellent Many strengths, including significant examples of sector-leading practice Good Many strengths and no important areas requiring significant improvement Adequate Strengths outweigh areas for improvement Unsatisfactory Important areas for improvement outweigh strengths The report was produced in accordance with Section 28 of the Education Act 2005. Every possible care has been taken to ensure that the information in this document is accurate at the time of going to press. Any enquiries or comments regarding this document/publication should be addressed to: Publication Section Estyn Anchor Court, Keen Road Cardiff CF24 5JW or by email to [email protected] This and other Estyn publications are available on our website: www.estyn.gov.wales © Crown Copyright 2017: This report may be re-used free of charge in any format or medium provided that it is re-used accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the report specified. Publication date: 05/05/2017 A report on Fitzalan High School February 2017 Context Fitzalan High School is an English-medium mixed 11 to 18 school maintained by Cardiff local authority. There are currently 1,721 pupils on roll, including 344 in the sixth form, compared to 1,440 pupils, including 254 in the sixth form, at the time of the last inspection. The school is situated close to the centre of the city, and serves a catchment area in which there are high levels of social and economic disadvantage. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is 32.7%, which is considerably higher than the national average of 17.4%. Around 60% of pupils live in the 20% most deprived areas of Wales. Around 35% of pupils have a special educational need, which is above the national average of 25.1%. The proportion of pupils who have a statement of special education needs is 2%, which is lower than the 2.5% average in Wales. No pupils speak Welsh as a first language. Approximately 70% of pupils come from a minority ethnic background and speak English as an additional language. Over 60 different languages are spoken within the school community. The headteacher has been in post since September 2009. The senior leadership team consists of a deputy headteacher, four assistant headteachers and two associate assistant headteachers. The individual school budget per pupil for Fitzalan High School in 2016-2017 is £4,742 per pupil. The maximum per pupil in the secondary schools in Cardiff is £6,861 and the minimum is £4,327. Fitzalan High School is 12th out of the 19 secondary schools in Cardiff in terms of its school budget per pupil. 1 A report on Fitzalan High School February 2017 Summary The school’s current performance Excellent The school’s prospects for improvement Excellent Current performance The school’s current performance is excellent because: Over the last four years, at key stage 4, performance places the school in the upper half of similar schools in most indicators, and in the top quarter in the majority of them More able pupils, pupils eligible for free school meals and pupils with additional learning needs achieve very highly In lessons, many pupils make strong progress in their knowledge, understanding and skills Most pupils demonstrate exemplary behaviour and high levels of engagement in their learning Rates of attendance are exceptionally high The school has highly effective provision for developing pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills, and for supporting more able pupils and those with additional learning needs The curriculum is highly flexible and responsive to the needs of individual pupils In many instances, teaching is effective in promoting strong progress in pupils’ learning The school has outstanding provision for the care, support and guidance of pupils The school has a strongly inclusive ethos that is highly successful in celebrating diversity and achievement and raising aspirations Prospects for improvement The school’s prospects for improvement are excellent because: The headteacher has a clear strategic vision, shared by all staff, that is based on ensuring that all pupils achieve their best Leadership roles are clearly defined and closely matched to individual expertise and skills There is a strong culture of accountability at all levels of leadership Leaders have a strong track record in responding to national priorities and in securing improvement in many aspects of the school’s work The school has robust systems for self-evaluation and improvement planning The governing body plays an important role in setting the school’s strategic direction and provides effective support and challenge The school manages its resources very effectively 2 A report on Fitzalan High School February 2017 Recommendations R1 Improve standards in a very few subjects so that they match the excellent overall outcomes achieved by pupils R2 Strengthen a few aspects of self-evaluation and improvement planning in order to increase the proportion of excellent teaching What happens next? The school will draw up an action plan that shows how it is going to address the recommendations. Estyn will invite the school to prepare a written case study, describing the excellent practice identified during the inspection. 3 A report on Fitzalan High School February 2017 Main findings Key Question 1: How good are outcomes? Excellent Standards: Excellent Over the last four years, at key stage 4, performance has improved in all indicators. This places the school in the upper half of similar schools based on free-school-meal eligibility in most indicators over this period, and in the top quarter in the majority of them. In many indicators, pupils make strong progress from previous key stages. At key stage 4, performance in the level 2 threshold, including English and mathematics has improved substantially since 2013. Performance in this indicator has been above modelled outcomes for the last four years, and well above for the last two. Performance in the capped points score has been consistently well above modelled outcomes for the last four years. Performance in the level 1 and level 2 threshold has placed the school in the top quarter of similar schools for the last two years. The proportion of pupils achieving five A*-A grades at GCSE is consistently higher than that in similar schools. Overall, pupils with additional learning needs make strong progress. Pupils for whom English is an additional language make particularly strong progress. At key stage 3, the proportion of pupils who achieved the core subject indicator fell slightly in 2016, but remains above the average for similar schools. In Year 13, the proportion of pupils gaining the level 3 threshold has improved over the last three years and has generally been in line with the average for similar schools. However, performance in the average wider points score has remained well above the average for similar schools over this period. The proportion of pupils gaining three A*-C grades and of those achieving three A* or A grades at A level or equivalent has fluctuated over the last three years, but is generally in line with the averages for pupils in similar schools. The proportion of both boys and girls achieving the key stage 3 core subject indicator is consistently above the averages for boys and girls in similar schools. At key stage 4, the performance of both boys and girls in all indicators is consistently well above the averages for boys and girls in similar schools. At key stage 3, the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals achieving the core subject indicator has improved over the last three years and is well above the national average for this group of pupils. At key stage 4, in all indicators, the performance of pupils eligible for free school meals is well above national averages for these pupils. At the end of Year 11, many pupils continue their education in a school or further education college. No pupil has left the school without a recognised qualification in the last five years. 4 A report on Fitzalan High School February 2017 In lessons, many pupils make strong progress. Most demonstrate a positive and enthusiastic attitude to their learning and maintain focus and concentration very well. These pupils listen carefully to their teachers and their peers. They work effectively in pairs or groups, sharing their ideas well. Many pupils demonstrate strong levels of independence in their learning and are highly resilient when faced with challenging tasks. They recall their prior learning well and apply their understanding to new contexts successfully. These pupils have well-developed problem-solving skills. A few pupils are highly effective in guiding and supporting the learning of their peers. Many pupils show a high level of technical accuracy in their written work. They produce well-structured extended writing for a wide range of purposes and audiences and use subject specific terminology effectively. The majority of pupils produce well-balanced written arguments and sophisticated analyses of a range of texts. Most pupils have sound reading skills and extract relevant information from a variety of texts with confidence. They deploy a range of effective reading strategies.