Caldicot School is an 11 to 18 mixed comprehensive school, serving the town and the surrounding area, and maintained by Monmouthshire County Council. Currently the school has 1,312 pupils, including 170 in the sixth form, which is a slight increase from the 1,293 at the time of the last inspection in November 2013. Around 9.7% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is lower than the Welsh average of 16.4% for secondary schools. Less than 1% of pupils live in the 20% most deprived areas in Wales. About 20% of pupils are on the school’s special educational needs register. The school has a local authority Special Needs Resource Base for children with moderate to severe learning needs. It accommodates up to 55 pupils across the 11-18 age range, with approximately 10 new pupils in Year 7 joining every September. The percentage of pupils with a statement of special educational needs is 4.4% compared with the average of 2.2% for the whole of Wales. Very few pupils are from a minorityethnic or mixed-race background. Very few pupils speak Welsh as their first language. The acting headteacher took up his post in April 2018. The interim senior leadership team consists of the acting headteacher, a deputy headteacher, an assistant headteacher, a director of teaching, a corporate wellbeing manager and the business manager. There is an extended senior management group that includes three assistant directors and two pathway leaders. 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 Caldicot School October 2018 Summary The school currently has an interim senior leadership structure as a result of changes to the membership of this team. This arrangement has a suitably strong focus on improving teaching and learning. However, the temporary structure does not allow all senior leaders sufficient time to carry out their responsibilities. As a result, the school’s self-evaluation and strategic planning for improving pupils’ wellbeing is not rigorous enough. Nearly all staff promote a positive ethos based on values such as honesty, tolerance, and respect. In general, teachers foster positive working relationships with pupils. In many cases, they plan and deliver their lessons well. Overall, this has led to positive outcomes for pupils over time. The special needs resource base provides a high level of sensitive and caring support to specific pupils. Many pupils exhibit good attitudes to their work, and behave well in lessons and around the school. However, a few pupils, especially girls in key stage 4, do not engage fully with learning activities. Inspection area Judgement Standards Good Wellbeing and attitudes to learning Adequate and needs improvement Teaching and learning experiences Good Care, support and guidance Adequate and needs improvement Leadership and management Adequate and needs improvement 2 A report on Caldicot School October 2018 Recommendations R1 Improve outcomes for pupils in key stage 4 and the sixth form R2 Improve pupils’ attitudes to learning, especially those of girls in key stage 4 R3 Ensure that all staff apply the school’s behaviour and anti-bullying policies and procedures consistently R4 Improve provision across the curriculum for developing pupils’ information and communication technology (ICT) skills R5 Strengthen self-evaluation and improvement planning R6 Address the health and safety issues identified during this inspection What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to show how it is going to address the recommendations. Estyn will review the school’s progress.