Brecon High School is an 11-18 mixed comprehensive English-medium school with a very small Welsh first language stream. It is situated on the Penlan campus within the town of Brecon. Pupils come from the town of Brecon and the surrounding rural area. There are 478 pupils on roll which is very slightly more than at the time of the last inspection although the number in the sixth form has fallen considerably to 53. Less than 8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is well below the national average of 16.4%. Less than 1% of pupils live in the 20% most deprived areas in Wales. About 16% of pupils have a special educational need, which is well below the national average of 22.9%. In addition, less than 1% of pupils have a statement of special educational needs, which is also lower than the national average of 2.2%. The school has an autistic spectrum disorder centre on site. About 7% of pupils speak Welsh as their first language or to an equivalent standard and just over 8% have English as an additional language. The headteacher took up his post in November 2014. The senior leadership team consists of the headteacher a deputy headteacher, one assistant headteacher and a business manager. 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 Brecon High School November 2018 Summary Brecon High School has an inclusive and caring ethos that supports pupils’ personal development well. Most pupils feel safe and many behave well in lessons and around the school. However, over time, weaknesses in leadership and governance have contributed to insufficient and un-sustained improvement in key areas of the school’s work, including the quality of teaching, pupils’ attendance and the standards they achieve. Positive working relationships between teachers and pupils are a feature of most lessons. Teachers work hard and are committed to supporting pupils, but in a minority of lessons, pupils, particularly the more able, are not challenged well enough and they do not make sufficient progress. The curriculum at key stage 4 does not meet the needs of all pupils and although the school does provide a few useful opportunities for pupils to develop their skills, there is no coherent and co-ordinated approach to developing those skills progressively across the curriculum. The school has accumulated a large budget deficit. Although there is an agreed recovery plan with the local authority, senior leaders have not been able to set balanced in-year budgets nor are they able to plan to reduce the deficit over the next five years. Inspection area Judgement Standards Adequate and needs improvement Wellbeing and attitudes to learning Adequate and needs improvement Teaching and learning experiences Unsatisfactory and needs urgent improvement Care, support and guidance Adequate and needs improvement Leadership and management Unsatisfactory and needs urgent improvement 2 A report on Brecon High School November 2018 Recommendations R1 Improve standards at key stage 4, including those of more able pupils R2 Improve attendance R3 Improve the learning experiences of pupils including the quality of teaching, the curriculum at key stage 4 and the provision to develop their skills R4 Improve the quality and impact of leaders at all levels including their ability to self-evaluate robustly and accurately to support effective school improvement R5 Provide robust financial management R6 Address the health and safety issue raised during the inspection What happens next In accordance with the Education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion that this school is in need of significant improvement. The school will draw up an action plan which shows how it is going to address the recommendations. Estyn will monitor the school’s progress about 12 months after the publication of this report.