Monmouth Comprehensive School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Monmouth Comprehensive School is a vibrant and inclusive community. It is situated in an inspiring building, opened in 2018, which is full of space and light.

The facilities contribute positively to pupils' learning and well-being. Staff make good use of these facilities, for example in developing pupils' creativity and physical skills. Many pupils, including those with additional learning needs (ALN), make good progress in literacy, numeracy and digital skills, and a minority make strong progress.

A few pupils are notably articulate in speaking and highly effective in writing. Many pupils think critically and reflectively, and a few have exceptional creative skills. A few pupils do not sustain their concentration well eno...ugh in lessons and this hinders their progress.

Most pupils enjoy school and behave well inside and outside of lessons. They are respectful, courteous and confident. The specialist resource base (SRB) for pupils with a wide range of complex learning difficulties is a highly inclusive environment, in which these pupils thrive, and they integrate well into mainstream activities when appropriate.

Nearly all pupils in the sixth form display exemplary attitudes to learning and most make good progress. Overall, pupils' attendance has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels and the attendance of pupils eligible for free school meals is a cause for concern. Since his appointment, the headteacher has provided a clear impetus for continuous school improvement that aims to enable all pupils to achieve their potential and enhance their future life-chances.

Leaders aim to achieve this through high quality teaching that supports the implementation of Curriculum for Wales. They know the school well but do not always evaluate the impact of teaching on pupils' knowledge, understanding and skills precisely enough. The school has a coherent approach to professional learning, particularly the development of shared terminology and teaching strategies, which is having a positive impact on learning and teaching.

In many cases, teachers' enthusiasm for their subject and thoughtful lesson planning helps pupils to make good progress. The curriculum builds well on pupils' prior learning from previous key stages and there is a wide range of further enrichment activities available for them. The provision to develop pupils' appreciation of Welsh heritage and culture is underdeveloped.

In addition, there are insufficient opportunities for pupils to develop their ability to speak Welsh. Pupils' well-being is a high priority for the school and senior leaders have established a strong safeguarding culture which meets the needs of nearly all pupils. The well-being curriculum has been developed collaboratively with pupils to provide beneficial support for their physical, emotional and mental health.

Recommendations R1 Strengthen processes to raise the attendance of pupils eligible for free school meals R2 Refine self-evaluation processes so that they focus more precisely on the impact of provision on pupils' learning R3 Ensure that pupils have sufficient opportunities to learn about the language, culture and heritage of Wales What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to address the recommendations from the inspection. Estyn will invite the school to prepare case studies for dissemination on Estyn's website on its work in relation to: 1. its approaches to developing Curriculum for Wales 2.

the inclusivity and integration of the specialist resource base