Improvements needed at Flint High School despite some positives, say inspectors

Inspectors have called for improvements at a secondary school in Flintshire despite highlighting the positive attitude of pupils.

Officials from Estyn said the quality of teaching and leadership needed to be addressed at Flint High School, along with the performance of youngsters at GCSE level.

However, they held out praise for the attitude towards learning and the support provided at the school, which is based at Maes-Hyfryd in Flint.

A report has been published following a visit by inspectors during February.

Within it they called on teachers to raise pupils’ standards of writing, whilst separately commending the school’s ‘inclusive and supportive ethos’.

They said: “Most pupils have positive attitudes to learning and participate enthusiastically in the wide range of extra-curricular activities offered by the school.

“Many teachers have purposeful and respectful working relationships with pupils, and teaching in a majority of lessons is effective in ensuing that pupils make suitable progress in their knowledge, understanding and skills.

“In a minority of lessons teaching does not meet the needs of all pupils sufficiently well.

“In a few lessons teachers do not have high enough expectations of their pupils and there is insufficient focus on developing literacy skills.”

They added: “The headteacher has a clear vision for an inclusive and supportive school and has made significant changes to the senior and middle leadership teams designed to strengthen capacity, consolidate the existing strengths in provision and support improvement.

“However, leadership has not had sufficient impact on the quality of teaching, improving pupils’ writing and raising standards in key stage four.”

Flint High School has a total of 829 pupils enrolled, including 122 in its sixth form.

According to the report, performance in English and maths has declined in the last three years and is consistently below that in similar schools.

Inspectors added that in the majority of lessons, teachers do not probe the understanding of youngsters well enough.

They have now drawn up a list of four recommendations and the school will be required to draw up an action plan so Estyn can review the progress made.

By Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter (more here).