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Newtown High School in top school band

 
19/12/2012 @ 12:39

Newtown High School is one of just 28 of Wales' 220 secondary schools to be placed in Band 1 of the Welsh Government's school performance banding, it was revealed today, and is scored within the top 10 in Wales.

Newtown High SchoolThe government has released data which places secondary schools into one of five bands based on school performance, such as how well 15-16-year-olds have performed in examinations, and information about their level of attendance.

Newtown High School sits in the top band, while Llanidloes High School is in Band 4 and Welshpool High School, Llanidloes High School and Ysgol Bro Ddyfi, Machynlleth are in Band 2.

There has been criticism of the government's banding system which some say gives the wrong impression of a school, similar to the criticism levelled at league tables which were scrapped.

Newtown High School deputy head teacher, Mr Steve Waldron, said: "We are absolutely delighted with our performance in the 2012 Banding  Exercise. Achieving  Band 1 recognition  is testament to the hard work of Staff, Governors, Pupils and Parents over the course of our school's journey. Our ethos of CYFLE which stands for Caring Yields a Flourishing Learning Environment has brought us a long way.

"The Banding provides further validation of the excellence of our school already recognised by organisations such as Estyn, the Institute of Welsh Affairs, Investors in People and 10 Downing Street."

Banding uses the performance of schools to group them into one of five bands – from Band 1, schools which are performing well, to Band 5 schools which need to improve. Information about how well 15-16-year-olds have performed in examinations, and information about their level of attendance is used to band schools.

This is the second year that data of this kind has been released in Wales. A total of 219 secondary schools have been banded and the data published today has revealed that 72 schools have moved up at least one band, 71 schools have moved down at least one band, 75 have stayed in the same band. One school was not banded last year.

Education and Skills Minister, Leighton Andrews, said: “The robust data released today gives us and parents a clear picture of how our schools are performing and provides us with the information we need to challenge schools who are not delivering for our young people in Wales.

“It is encouraging to see the number of schools in Bands 4 and 5 last year making real progress on improving the percentage of pupils achieving Level 2 (GCSEs grades A*-C) including English / Welsh first language and mathematics. At Band 4 we’ve seen the percentage go from 41.7 per cent to 46.5 per cent and at Band 5 we’ve seen the percentage go from 36 per cent percent to 41.8 per cent.

“61 out of 79 Band 4 and 5 schools last year saw improvements in the percentage of pupils achieving the Level 2 English / Welsh First Language and Mathematics. This is a significant achievement.

“I have made a clear commitment to raising standards and performance in schools in Wales, improving levels of literacy and numeracy and reducing the impact of poverty on educational attainment. Banding is at the heart of our school improvement agenda in Wales and we're committed to releasing this performance data year on year."

Executive Leader, Councillor David Jones said: “It is very pleasing to see that two of our secondary schools have been placed in band one and that four others have improved by at least one band.

“It is the second year that the Welsh Government has issued school banding information and the first time that a Powys school has been place in band one. However, it is disappointing to see that four of our school have slipped into lower bandings.

“We are committed to providing the best learning environment possible for our youngsters and will be working hard with all our schools to drive up performance in future years.” 

However a spokesman for teaching union Ucac, said it was wrong to mix complex sets of data into a single figure. "The banding system does little other than to turn sensible, valuable data into arbitrary and misleading figures. We call on the Welsh government to reconsider the banding system in its entirety, and to call a halt to its plans for introducing banding for primary schools."