Media coverage of Interim Management’s most recent school turnaround success in Wales

Llanedeyrn High School in Cardiff is now out of special measures and has earned a glowing inspection report and praise from education chiefs.

The school in Roundwood was judged by Estyn inspectors to have made good progress in the last 20 months and, as a result, it has been removed from special measures. The following are the main findings of the inspection report:

Performance in examination results has improved with most subjects meeting expected targets. Pupils’ behaviour has improved and exclusions have fallen significantly. In 2006, the school handed out 350 temporary exclusions. The total number of days lost to exclusions has dropped by nearly 65 per cent.

Teaching and assessment were judged to be grade three or above (on a scale of one to five with grade one being very good) in 96 per cent of lessons. This was up from 85 per cent in the previous inspection.

Summing up, the inspection team concluded: ‘There is a strong momentum to the improvement process in the school and there are suitable plans to ensure that this momentum is maintained. Senior managers have addressed successfully the shortcoming identified in the inspection report of 2006.’

Headteacher Tony Evans said: ‘I would like to pay tribute to the teaching staff of the school who have led the way, ably supported by all the non-teaching staff in bringing this chapter in the school’s history to a successful conclusion. The report recognises the unity of purpose shown by the senior leadership team, staff, governors, pupils and parents to achieve a quality of education for all the pupils at Llanedeyrn High School’

Chief Schools and Lifelong Learning Officer, Chris Jones, said: ‘This is excellent news and a tribute to the commitment shown by the interim headteacher, senior leaders, the staff as a whole, governors and officers within the service. The school's work towards being removed from special measures has received crucial support from pupils, their parents and the local community.’
The South Wales Echo, February 8th 2008

Reports of the transformation also attracted coverage in the TES:

‘A remarkable turnaround witnessed in pupil achievement and higher attendance.’

‘Bringing in a new leadership team sparked a change of culture, with new found self-belief. The school is now seen as a shining example of how good pedagogy can narrow the gap between best and worst performance.’
Excerpts from a full report in the Times Education Supplement, 7 March 2008

Jane Hutt, Education Minister, praised Llanedeyrn staff in a recent television interview for ‘turning around’ its fortunes. She went on to say: ‘Let’s make sure that the learners are at the heart of every school – that’s what Llanedeyrn did and that’s what we want to see for every school.’ ITN Local News, Wales

The dramatic change in the school’s fortunes has come about as a result of Cardiff Council’s far-sighted decision to employ the services of Creative Education, a long-established educational services company. Creative Education assembled a specialist leadership team to deal with the issues threatening the school’s future. The team worked tirelessly with the support of the company to re-establish staff and student morale and engagement. In less than two years, the team has put the school back on track, providing the skills and motivation which are essential to the students’ futures and meet the needs of employers in the local area.

Creative Education is the largest provider of teacher professional development in the UK, delivering training and staffing solutions to schools and authorities in the UK and abroad. Their ability to change and improve schools in difficulties is well proven and has recently attracted government recognition in the shape of an initiative to address the loss to the profession of trained teachers early in their careers.