Afon Taf High School is an English-medium 11-16 school in Merthyr Tydfil and serves communities in the southern part of the borough. There are currently 644 pupils on roll. This is fewer than at the time of the last inspection in March 2014. Around 24.9% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is above the national average of 16.4% for secondary schools. Over 67% of pupils live in the 30% most deprived areas in Wales. Very few pupils come from an ethnic minority background and nearly all speak English as their first language. Nearly 37% of pupils have additional learning needs which is above the Welsh average of 22.2%. Just over 2% have a statement of special educational needs. This is close to the Welsh average of 2.2%. The school has a local authority special educational needs resource base for pupils with communication difficulties including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, hearing and visual impairments. The current headteacher took up post in January 2017. The senior leadership team consists of the headteacher, one deputy headteacher and three assistant headteachers. All of the senior leadership team have been appointed within the last four years. Further information is available from the Welsh Government My Local School website at the link below. http://mylocalschool.wales.gov.uk/Schools/SchoolSearch?lang=en 1 A report on Afon Taf High School February 2019 Summary Afon Taf High School is a happy, caring school that supports its pupils well. Almost all pupils feel safe and behave very well in lessons and around the school. Most pupils enjoy school and appreciate the strong working relationship they have with staff. Despite these positive attitudes, pupils do not make enough progress at key stage 4, most particularly in the indicators that contain English and mathematics. Most teachers show considerable care for the wellbeing of their pupils. In classrooms and through their day relationships with pupils, they take into account pupils’ personal and social needs very well. However, the majority of teachers do not challenge pupils sufficiently well or provide enough opportunities for pupils to develop their skills progressively. The school has a range of valuable strategies to support the emotional, social and behavioural needs of pupils. However, the process for setting and reviewing targets for pupils with additional learning needs and whole school planning for personal and social education are under-developed. Senior leaders and staff share a well understood vision for improving the school. Governors support the school appropriately. They are particularly effective at monitoring the school’s expenditure and, working with senior leaders, have eliminated the school’s budget deficit. Senior leaders have a suitable understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. However, their work has not had enough impact on important aspects of the school’s work such as the quality of teaching and pupils’ standards in key areas. Inspection area Judgement Standards Adequate and needs improvement Wellbeing and attitudes to learning Good Teaching and learning experiences Adequate and needs improvement Care, support and guidance Adequate and needs improvement Leadership and management Adequate and needs improvement 2 A report on Afon Taf High School February 2019 Recommendations R1 Improve standards at key stage 4, particularly in English and mathematics R2 Strengthen the quality of teaching and assessment R3 Improve the planning for progression in developing pupils’ literacy, numeracy and digital skills R4 Strengthen leadership at all levels, including that for additional learning needs and personal and social education R5 Improve the quality of self-evaluation and improvement planning What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to show how it is going to address the recommendations in this report. Estyn will review the school’s progress.