Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn is an 11 to 18 comprehensive school situated in the town of Newcastle Emlyn and maintained by Carmarthenshire local authority. The school is categorised as ‘English-medium with significant Welsh’. Around 65% of pupils complete their primary education through the medium of Welsh. Pupils come to the school from Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. Currently, the school has 500 learners, including 93 in the sixth form. This is notably less than at the time of the last core inspection. The current proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is 16.7%, which is close to the national average. The school receives pupils from the full range of ability. A very few pupils are from a minority ethnic background and none receive support for English as an additional language. Just over 20% of pupils have an additional learning need and a little less than 5% of pupils have a statement of special educational needs, which is above the national average of 2.2%. Forty-two per cent of pupils speak Welsh fluently and 16.4% speak Welsh at home at home. Sixty-two per cent of Ysgol Emlyn’s pupils are taught Welsh as a first language. At key stage 3, pupils are able to study design and technology, history, music and art through the medium of Welsh. Apart from Welsh GCSE, no pupils follow any subjects in key stage 4 in Welsh. The headteacher has been in post since 2013. He is supported by three assistant headteachers on a full time basis and one other who works for 80% of the time. 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 Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn December 2018 Summary Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn has an inclusive and welcoming ethos. During the last three years, leaders have increased their focus on the quality of teaching, tracking of pupils’ performance and the standards they achieve in lessons. This has led to improved outcomes in key stage 4 and to consistently high levels of literacy skills. However, leaders do not ensure that pupils previously educated through the medium of Welsh make enough progress in their command of the Welsh language. In general, the quality of teaching across the school is high. Many pupils display positive attitudes to their learning. These pupils enjoy coming to school, they work well with one another and make strong progress in their skills and subject knowledge. However, in a few cases, pupils, do not display positive attitudes to their teachers or their peers. They behave poorly and this disrupts their own learning and that of others. 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 Ysgol Gyfun Emlyn December 2018 Recommendations R1 Improve standards in Welsh and increase the use that pupils make of the language R2 Improve pupils’ attendance, behaviour and their attitudes to learning, especially in key stage 4 R3 Plan for the progressive development of pupils’ information and communication technology (ICT) skills across the curriculum R4 Strengthen self-evaluation and improvement planning around pupils’ attendance, behaviour and use of Welsh R5 Address the budget deficit What happens next The school will draw up an action plan which shows how it is going to address the recommendations. Estyn will review the school’s progress.