Pen-Y-Dre High School
Catchment Area, Reviews and Key Information

Secondary
PUPILS
863
AGES
11 - 16
GENDER
Mixed
TYPE
Secondary (ages 11-16)
SCHOOL GUIDE RATING
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Can I Get My Child Into This School?

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This pupil heat map shows where pupils currently attending the school live.
The concentration of pupils shows likelihood of admission based on distance criteria

Source: All attending pupils Pupil Level Annual School Census
01685 724620

This School Guide heat map has been plotted using official pupil data taken from the Pupil Level Annual School Census collected by the Welsh Government. The data tells us where pupils lived at the time of the last Pupil Census.

Our heat maps use groups of postcodes, not individual postcodes, and have naturally soft edges. All pupils are included in the mapping (i.e. children with siblings already at the school, high priority pupils and selective and/or religious admissions) but we may have removed statistical ‘outliers’ with more remote postcodes that do not reflect majority admissions.

For some schools, the heat map may be a useful indicator of the catchment area but our heat maps are not the same as catchment area maps. Catchment area maps, published by the school or local authority, are based on geographical admissions criteria and show actual cut-off distances and pre-defined catchment areas for a single admission year.

This information is provided as a guide only. The areas from which pupils are admitted to a school can change from year to year to reflect the number of siblings and pupils admitted under high priority admissions criteria.

3 steps to help parents gather catchment information for a school:

  1. Look at our school catchment area guide for more information on heat maps. They give a useful indicator of the general areas that admit pupils to the school. This visualisation is based on all attending pupils present at the time of the annual School Census.
  2. Use the link to the Local Authority Contact (above) to find catchment area information based on a single admission year. This is very important if you are considering applying to a school.
  3. On each school page, use the link to visit the school website and find information on individual school admissions criteria. Geographical criteria are only applied after pupils have been admitted on higher priority criteria such as Looked After Children, SEN, siblings, etc.

How Does The School Perform?

Full Report
NATIONAL AVG. 2.18
Estyn Report
(01/01/2024)
Full Report - All Reports
360.8
GCSE average points
score (capped 9)
NATIONAL AVERAGE 358.1



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How School Guide Rates Secondary Schools

For secondary schools in Wales, schools are rated on key performance indicators for pupils up to the age of 16 (GCSE only) due to the fact the government did not publish A level data for the last academic year.
Gurnos Estate
Merthyr Tydfil
CF47 9BY
01685 351845

School Description

Pen y Dre High School is an inclusive, caring and supportive environment that sits at the heart of its community. In this nurturing environment leaders and staff create a safe space where all are valued and encouraged to ‘aspire, achieve, believe’ despite the challenges they may face. Leaders are relentless in their vision to remove any barriers to learning, including those related to the impact of poverty and ensuring that all pupils have the best life chances. Pupils benefit from the outstanding opportunities to develop their Welsh language skills and to become immersed in the local and national culture and heritage of Wales. The wealth of opportunities provided ensure that pupils at the school develop an empathy and lifelong appreciation of Wales. The headteacher provides thoughtful and sensitive leadership. He creates a strong sense of belonging amongst staff and pupils, and a learning environment that encourages and supports pupils to make progress from their starting points in the school. The unique working relationships between staff and pupils creates a culture where pupils are confident to take risks. Staff support for pupils with a diverse range of needs is a notable strength. During the inspection, pupils’ attitudes to learning and their interactions with adults and their peers were an outstanding feature. The school provides an ambitious tailored curriculum that allows pupils the freedom to thrive in their areas of interest. However, currently, the school’s provision for the progressive development of pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum is underdeveloped. In many lessons, teachers’ high expectations and careful planning engage pupils’ interest and curiosity and encourage them to achieve their best. As a result, in these lessons pupils make secure progress in their knowledge, understanding and skills. In a minority of instances, teachers do not develop pupils’ understanding, knowledge and skills well enough, and this limits the progress they make. Leaders have developed a wide range of opportunities for professional learning, and this is having a positive impact on many aspects of the school’s work including understanding the diverse needs of pupils and developing leadership at all levels. There is a genuine ambition through secure self-evaluation activities to improve all aspects of the school’s work, though in a few instances processes need to be sharper. Despite considerable effort by leaders, whole-school attendance remains too low, in particular persistent absenteeism and is a concern. Despite the notable challenges faced during the refurbishment, staff have worked diligently to ensure pupils continue to learn and thrive.

Pen-Y-Dre High School Parent Reviews



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