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School: Cwmbran High School

KS3 Curriculum

Review

Report

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Date of review 20/21 June 2018

Team members

Julian Doroszczuk Hayley Davies-Edwards

EAS Principal Challenge Adviser

Emma Willmott EAS Challenge Adviser

Jane Crawley-Adams Dave Ashton Kay Harteveld Janine Venables (Sarah McAuley)

EAS subject advisers:

English/literacy

Mathematics/numeracy

ICT across the curriculum

Welsh Language

Helen Coulson Head teacher

Tracey Abdulla (Deputy Head teacher) Peer team member

Focus of the Review

To review the KS3 curriculum in terms of:

the impact of strategic leadership on standards of teaching and pupil progress in learning and the skills of literacy, numeracy, Welsh and ICT across the curriculum from entry to GCSE.

the impact of school’s planning for and tracking of the pupils’ skill development in literacy, numeracy, Welsh and ICT (cross-curricular and individual lessons/teaching)

identify strengths and areas for development of the Y6-11 learning continuum as a means of raising standards at KS4 through successful skills development at KS2/3

Provide external verification of the school’s progress judgements against the Estyn recommendations contained in the Post Inspection Action Plan (PIAP)

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Area of review Detail of activity undertaken

Scrutiny of the roles

and responsibilities

of the leaders

associated with

KS2/3 and the quality

of associated

documentation.

Post inspection action plan, PIAP

School’s documentation regarding progress against the

actions contained in the PIAP including:

o high level executive summaries

o School’s FADE reports against each

recommendation

o GB presentations in relation to progress

Data capture evidence file for all supporting evidence

against each recommendation

Self-evaluation reports and planning documents at all

levels of leadership including departmental reviews and

re-reviews by SLT supported by EAS colleagues.

Cluster planning and evaluation of impact of transition

arrangements regarding pupils’ progress in skills, in

particular the outcomes and use of Accelerated Reader.

Tracking data, including judgements around the

progress/impact on individual pupil’s ability in literacy,

numeracy, Welsh language skills and ICT across the

curriculum

LNF planning document (whole school and department

level) including self-evaluation of impact on teaching,

assessment and progress in skills

Skills Strategic Plan as part of PIAP

Minutes of department meetings

Line management meeting minutes and impact of actions

Staff PM objectives-focus on pupil outcomes/skills?

CPD opportunities with respect to KS3 and skills in

particular including bespoke exemplar materials for staff

Professional

dialogue meetings

Meetings with:

Headteacher

Deputy Headteacher (line manager for skills)

Assistant Headteacher & colleague regarding data

Assistant Headteacher regarding transition

Literacy, numeracy & DCF coordinators

A range of KS3 subject teachers (6 in total)

ALENCo

Head of Year 9

Head of History, Head of Geography

Teaching Assistant

Learner

interviews/Book

scrutiny Y7-9

Book scrutiny across years 7- 10

Leaner interviews with a cross-section of:

Year 7-10 pupils with their books

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Year 7-9 Learning

walks

Learning walks (x6) through all KS3 timetabled lessons

during periods 1-3 that included doubling back through a

number of lessons. Subject areas included English,

mathematics, history, ICT, science and music.

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Review findings Evidence

Standards and progress in skills

Many pupils now develop their skills appropriately to access the whole curriculum and learn

effectively making the expected progress in relation to the national frameworks for literacy and

numeracy.

At both Key Stage 3 (KS3) and Key Stage 4 (KS4) standards in the performance of pupils in both

English and mathematics demonstrate a continuing upward trend. At KS3, unverified 2018 level 5

outcomes in English and mathematics are up 0.5pp and 4.3pp respectively; at level 6, they are up

14.0pp and 14.2 pp respectively and at KS4 GCSE Level 2 projected outcomes for English

Language and mathematics/numeracy are set to exceed raw score outcomes for the third year in

succession.

Raw score outcomes in National Tests demonstrate significant improvement over outcomes in

previous years, however the scores are yet to be standardised. Finally, data from pupils’

involvement in the Accelerated Reader programme demonstrates significant improvement in

pupils’ reading ages with all pupils on average increasing their score by 7 months and 122 pupils

by more than one year.

However, whilst literacy and numeracy progress are judged to be strong, the Digital Competency

Framework (DCF) is not seen as being embedded. There is a detailed DCF plan that is being

rolled out and incorporates the core strands of the DCF. CPD opportunities are established and all

key staff have accessed focused in-house training sessions to build capacity in the delivery of

DCF across departments. Pupil voice, learning walks and book scrutiny indicate that DCF skills

are starting to be utilised by pupils and that pupils are able to articulate how these skills are

impacting on their subject work for example ‘Collaborate’ has been the focus for this half term and

particular strands of the DCF.

The reported standards in skills are supported by an established, robust schedule of first-hand

evidence gathering ranging from observations of pupils in lessons, scrutiny of pupils’ work and

discussions with pupils. These self-evaluation/monitoring activities are undertaken by all senior

and middle leaders.

School/National Data

First hand evidence through

book scrutiny, listening to

learners and staff.

Scrutiny of school

documentation

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Documentation including FADES, Impact Capture and the PIAP emphasise a comprehensive

strategic approach to the development of literacy and numeracy skills. However, the school

acknowledges that there is some way to go on ensuring a similar approach to DCF and Welsh

language. These areas are highlighted for focused development in future school planning.

Since the last Estyn monitoring visit in June 2017 the school has made strong progress in both

the standard of presentation and the content and quality of the majority of pupils work in their

books demonstrating clear progression in their skills.

In nearly all books there are examples of completed numeracy tasks. Many of these tasks

developed pupils’ numeracy and in learning interviews and pupils were able to explain the reason

why the task involving maths was useful. For example, in history pupils completed a timeline of

the Wars of the Roses, drawing the timeline to scale to reflect periods of stability and change.

This was differentiated by Year group, with Year 8 working on the industrial revolution and Year 9

working on World War 2 with progressively more difficult use of scale. Similar differentiation was

observed in geography, for example, when constructing frequency polygons. In Year 7 pupils had

axis on graph paper provided and were expected to add a frequency polygon, whereas in Year 8,

pupils were expected to construct their own frequency polygons on plain graph paper without any

assistance. In Science and Welsh, pupils had constructed bar charts, with subject teachers able

to provide effective feedback to explain that bar charts should have a gap between them and

redraft their work accordingly. Work on scatter graphs in science picked up on misconceptions

through effective feedback via EBI. Further work completed in science on scatter graphs showed

students progression, identifying anomaly points and drawing conclusions on what the data on the

graph had demonstrated.

However, in a few books, it was observed there were no “breaks” in axis when pupils skipped

values which was not addressed. Also, in few books rounding to 1 decimal place was completed

incorrectly, but marked as correct.

Impact of teaching

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The school has made strong progress in terms of engaging pupils’ interest and how well it

develops their skills, knowledge and understanding as they move through the school.

Comprehensive approaches to skills development are now consistently applied across nearly all

classrooms e.g. all pupils interviewed agreed that ROWND and TIR day is used consistently in all

lessons and were able to explain with detailed examples of how this applied in their learning.

Pupils commented that the main use of ROWND is via discussion in lesson plenaries, after

circling the appropriate letter in their books for the skills developed in that lesson. The use of

coloured paper to highlight transferrable skills across the curriculum was also highlighted by

nearly all pupils in establishing a clear understanding of skills outside of mathematics and English.

However, teaching specifically has only made satisfactory progress as a very few teachers still

have unsatisfactory aspects to their lessons. The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) has clearly

identified these lessons and appropriate support, intervention and monitoring are in place for

those teachers.

Current standards are judged to be strong for literacy and numeracy, with a wide range of skills

evidenced in many pupil books and many learners able to articulate the impact of these skills on

their work across the curriculum. In nearly all lessons pupils were using and applying a range of

skills. Pupils had a clear understanding of the purpose of the task and how their skills were being

utilised, with a majority being able to articulate with some detail the type of skill being used, using

vocabulary such as skimming and scanning, recount etc.

All pupils interviewed agreed that literacy is planned into most lessons. All pupils agreed that the

use of the Tearing into Reading (TIR) strategy is largely consistent and planned into their

schemes of learning. As part of a wider discussion about Accelerated Reading, there was

overwhelming agreement that the programme is helping them to both improve specific skills and

apply them to new learning. They feel empowered by their learning experiences. They were able

to give explicit examples of this, e.g. a test to identify what needs to improve, read the book and

test. Similarly, pupils stated numeracy is planned for in many lessons. All pupils were able to

give a range of examples of how numeracy skills are explicitly applied to learning across the

curriculum and they were able to respond to questions probing why these skills were taught

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explicitly and how they were adding value to their learning. All pupils agreed that a minority of

lessons have specifically planned DCF activities as part of their learning (e.g. collaboration

between Spanish and Welsh and also research on the industrial revolution in History). The

consensus of the group was that by comparison with numeracy and literacy this is less well

developed.

In many lessons teachers were able to explain the literacy techniques that are supporting pupils to

help them complete skills-based tasks successfully. For example, in History pupils were asked to

“analyse and evaluate” the text given, but before work started the class had feedback as to the

differences between the two. In IT, numeracy skills were interlinked with the learning taking place

in the lesson. With hex and binary numbers being the focus. There was a balance of teacher

questioning, modelling, and pupils then being invited to instruct the class by completing examples

on the board. The purpose of the work was shared and its link to the GCSE qualification made

explicit. In all lessons teachers had highlighted key words that were important for students in that

lesson and clarified the meaning, with many students able to explain what these words meant

later in the lesson. In many lessons pupils used problem solving, speaking and listening skills

effectively, for example, in mathematics students were problem solving how many ‘post it’ notes

would fit onto the surface area of a filing cabinet. Questions were posed to students and they

were given appropriate think time to work in pairs before feeding back to the teacher using mini

whiteboards on how to solve the problem. Also, in mathematics, pupils completed a “treasure

hunt” in small groups which worked well to develop problem solving, speaking and listening as

well as collaboration.

In many cases the quality of both written and verbal feedback to pupils is useful and develops

pupils understanding and application of skills. The frequency of marking was consistent across

many books in the sample and in-line with the books observed in all lessons visited for example,

highlighting of spelling errors. There was evidence of both peer and self-assessment and with

appropriate evidence of effective closing the gap activity to move the learner forward. In relation to

teacher feedback on their work, the consensus of the pupils was that the ‘even better if’ (EBI) is

most helpful in helping them move up to the next level, e.g. when teachers give specific examples

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of how you can add to your work to improve. All pupils agreed that many lessons give specific

feedback on literacy skills.

In the sessions observed, all pupils are respectful of the teacher and of each other. Standards of

behaviour are also good in communal areas and corridors. There was a calm atmosphere both

inside and outside classrooms with pupils focused on learning. There were three levels of

challenge provided where pupils could select their own starting point for example in mathematics.

Pupils in all lessons visited were on task and described their lessons as fun, interesting,

stimulating, challenging and different. Pupils also acknowledged a change in attitudes to learning

in most subjects. The pace and variety of activity during the lessons visited was appropriate to the

level of challenge and many pupils made progress.

Provision for skills

The school has made strong progress in the strategic planning of broad balanced opportunities

and experiences for pupils to progressively develop their skills in literacy and numeracy across

the curriculum. Opportunities to develop oracy skills are evident in English, Welsh and MFL.

Oracy activities are evident in books for languages although there was limited recorded evidence

provided in conjunction with the books across other subjects in the sample provided for scrutiny.

Opportunities for pupils to develop their ICT and Welsh language skills are less well developed.

The school recognises this, they are the focus in plans moving forward. (See above comments

from pupil voice and book scrutiny)

Schemes of learning across KS3 have been amended to include planned progression in the skills

pupils require to be successful at GCSE whilst addressing key identified priorities around the

specific skill of reading. Included in this work is a valuable transition project with its feeder schools

utilising Accelerated Reader to build systematically on pupils’ existing standards of reading to

ensure nearly all pupils can effectively access the KS3 curriculum on transfer. Whilst links with

primary schools are strong, more work needs to be done in order to strengthen KS3 teacher’s

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understanding of the opportunities that pupils in Year 6 have to develop their literacy and

numeracy skills in their books in order to further improve rates of progress in Year 7.

The school employs a range of comprehensive arrangements to ensure all learners are effectively

supported.

Heads of Year play a lead role with responsibility for the year groups’ academic progress

including monitoring and intervention for example a numeracy focus in form time. Intervention for

pupils’ well-being is also covered in this role. Interventions are identified according to data

analysis. Pupils’ individual needs are catered for with good use of teaching assistants (TA) with

ASD leaners and planned challenge tasks in most lessons for identified more able and talented

(MAT) learners.

There is limited evidence of Welsh language opportunities being provided across the curriculum.

There is no strategic plan in place to develop this key skill area In the book sample provided there

was limited evidence of Welsh being used in headings or as simple praise language as reported

by staff; There is a ‘Tocyn Iaith’ initiative recently introduced for Y7 pupils. There is no evidence of

this system having any impact to date. All pupils agreed that in a majority of lessons teachers use

Welsh for greetings. However, the consensus was that by comparison with the other skill areas

this is less well developed, e.g. a few teachers speak in Welsh and a few do activities in Welsh.

Pupils did respond when Welsh was used with them as an introduction or greeting such as bore

da. There were no school staff observed routinely doing this. There is wider evidence provided of

bilingualism annual events such as an annual Eisteddfod, a trip to Euro Disney for the St David’s

day celebrations and trips to Llangrannog or Glanllyn, but not in this current academic year. There

was also no evidence of any CPD opportunities to develop Welsh Language skills for staff.

Tracking

The school tracks learner provision for literacy and numeracy across the curriculum and uses a

commercially produced progress ladder to measure LNF skills progress in individual subject

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areas. A rounded assessment of an individual learner’s skills progress for literacy and numeracy

is measured at the end of key stage 3 and 4 through outcomes for English and maths.

English and humanities in particular, were identified by SLT as having made significant progress

in skills tracking and application this year, with maths and science needing further support due to

a minority of staff failing to make progress at an appropriate pace.

The school has made significant gains in using formative and summative information from tests

and lessons to gain a good understanding of the skills set of individual pupils and this is impacting

positively on standards achieved by pupils and the progress they make. Most leaders are successful in using the progress data provided in conjunction with their own

outcomes from self-evaluation activities to identify under-performance and plan appropriate

support and intervention at both a pupil and staff level. (See additional comments below in Impact

of Leadership).

Impact of leadership

Nearly all senior and middle leaders are now successfully driving the delivery of the strategic

development of literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum as a consequence of clear

understanding of the school’s collaborative approach and vision.

Senior leaders have established a comprehensive, range of strategic approaches to skills

development for example the use of ROWND, TIR days and differentiated challenge tasks. In

many classrooms these are now consistently applied to deliver progress on an individual pupil

basis.

Impact evaluation is embedded through triangulated activities that focus on learner progress in

skills and their application across the curriculum.

The recently appointed deputy head teacher has significantly added to the SLT’s capacity in

moving the school forward in response to Estyn recommendations. Along with the Headteacher,

they have secured a rapid acceleration in the consistent application of new ways of working, in

particular self-evaluation and planning for improvement, where there has been a distinctive shift

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away from measuring provision of skills to measuring the impact of skills provision on learner

outcomes.

However, other key members of the SLT need to further develop their capacity to drive the skills

agenda in support of the head and deputy.

The thorough ongoing first-hand monitoring and evaluation completed by many leaders

compliments well the outcomes of the new for 2018, departmental review process ensuring an

accurate and useful assessment of individual pupils’ progress and those of subject areas leading

to succinct, focused plans for improvement

Line management meetings take place fortnightly, as do progress checks and many are

successful in identifying underachievement. Triangulation of monitoring and evaluation activities

takes place alongside the SLT link. The line management chain of command is used to escalate

concerns with actions for the HOY followed up by SLT link, regarding support and intervention.

NNRTs are diagnostically analysed to support improvements regarding impact on planning,

teaching and learning. Outcomes and interventions are shared with all staff. This is seen in

schemes of learning, lesson observation and pupil books.

Useful cross-moderation across departments focused on writing has taken place, with outcomes

from middle leader learning walks, book scrutiny and pupil voice clearly demonstrated in FADEs.

Governors have also been involved in self-evaluation activities for literacy and numeracy.

Staff voice has also taken place focused on staff confidence in teaching skills. The Co-ordinators

have tailored CPD and support to develop identified areas.

Literacy and Numeracy Coordinators present to governors frequently on progress against the

PIAP in relevant areas.

Co-ordination of skills development against the PIAP is shared with all staff by the co-ordinators in

staff meetings.

Professional development

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School’s current strengths and areas for development

Strengths:

The simple yet highly effective strategies employed in setting the school’s collaborative culture around skills.

The Headteacher, with other colleagues has created a culture and ethos of professional learning

that pervades all levels of leadership and the wider school community. CPD opportunities are

carefully planned based on individual needs analysis as a consequence of evaluation activities

and are scheduled regularly to provide all staff with worthwhile opportunities to both develop

individually or work collaboratively in groups and share best practice.

Staff attribute the strong progress to increased awareness of impact measurement and an

extensive and beneficial CPD programme that has modelled and provided a range of valuable

support materials (including a nominated member of the mathematics department to offer

bespoke numeracy advice to Heads of Department). Nearly all staff interviewed stated this had

created a real shift in looking at the impact of the strategies around skills application and using

that information in planning worthwhile teaching and learning activities. There has been a strong

focus on literacy and numeracy, with ICT and Welsh language identified in the SDP for further

focus and development.

All middle leaders have received valuable CPD in the effective use of self-evaluation activities and

support in writing SER/DIP documentation. These demonstrate significant progress in clarity,

consistency and impact on standards across all departments. Many reports are now fit for

purpose with robust evaluative commentary and impact based on a broad range of honest and

accurate first-hand evidence. In many cases this information is used to inform secure next step

planning with relevant measurable, actions that have appropriate success criteria and clear

timescales and monitoring arrangements,

Individual targets are set in staff performance management objectives relating to pupil progress

and outcomes, with skills progression as an intrinsic part of this. These are then used in

conjunction with other progress information to support staff in need of development or to deal with

underperformance robustly and directly.

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Consistency, triangulation and impact of robust self-evaluation activities on pupils understanding and progress in skills

Quality, honesty and clarity of self-evaluation documentation

Quality of support materials/CPD for staff regarding skills development

The level of consistency and understanding of many pupils regarding transferrable skills and their impact on individual outcomes

The level and subsequent impact of pupil voice activity

Areas for development:

Ensure the robust evidencing of oracy skills across the curriculum in all subjects other than languages.

Continue to build the capacity of identified members of the SLT to further support the skills agenda.

Continue to reduce the level of within school variation in the quality and impact of the work of a very few teachers and middle leaders..

Create a rigorous strategic vision for bilingualism across the curriculum.

Work with the primary cluster to understand the level of Welsh language pupils have on arrival to the secondary school (Woodlands have achieved the bronze award in the Cymraeg Campus EAS programme).

Continue to develop the roll out of DCF developments across the curriculum.

Recommendation Progress Summary

R1: Improve the standard of pupils’ skills, particularly their

writing and numeracy

Strong progress

R2: Improve the behaviour and disrespectful attitude of a few

pupils in a minority of lessons

Strong progress

R3: Ensure that the Literacy & Numeracy Framework is

implemented fully

Strong progress

R4: Address the shortcomings in teaching to ensure that

pupils make good progress in all lessons

Strong progress

R5: Improve the consistency in the work of Middle Leaders,

particularly in planning for improvement

**Strong progress

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**Provisional pending expected outcomes following July CA CPD on development planning

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Agreed EAS actions in response to review outcomes

Actions

Success Criteria Resources

(Specific no. of

days / costs)

Timescales

(Start and end date)

1. Complete ML

training regarding

effective SDP

writing

All DIPs and school

SDP of a good

quality with clear

measurable actions

and success criteria

that are based on

first hand evidence

from self-evaluation

CA days (2) Summer term 2018

2. BIS team to

support and

quality assure

development of

explicit oracy

across the

curriculum

All books

demonstrate pupils’

progress in oracy

skills

BIS English

adviser x1 day

Ongoing

3. Further develop

Transition work to

include a focus

on pedagogy and

joint planning and

observation

Improved pedagogy

in relation to skills

development in year

7

Joint INSET Ongoing