A Tenby County councillor has stated that he finds it ‘staggering’ that the town’s secondary school which was a few years ago trumpeted as ‘the most improved school in the county’ has now been placed in the most serious category by education and training inspectorate Estyn.

Councillor Michael Williams who represents the Tenby North ward revealed that he expressed his concerns about issues at Greenhill School some time ago but that they were not ‘recognised and accepted’.

Pembrokeshire councillors heard the reasons for Estyn placing the school in special measures at a meeting earlier this month of the full council, with cabinet member for education Clr. Guy Woodham stating that a further inspection would be carried out after two years before any measures were lifted.

Clr. Willams told the meeting that never in his ‘worst nightmares’ that he thought he would see Greenhill placed in ‘special measures’.

“I find it staggering that this school which was a few years ago trumpeted as ‘the most improved school in the county’ has now been placed in this category,” he remarked.

“One of the major contributory factors is what is euphemistically described as ‘pivotal training’. There is little doubt that the blind adherence to this philosophy is a major contributory factor to this failure.

“As a result of this there are identified pockets of poor behaviour amongst a minority of students which are not being adequately addressed.

“If this disruptive behaviour is not vigorously tackled, the effect on the overall performance is bound to be affected.

“Another failure identified is ‘inconsistent middle leadership’. What can be expected when there has been two restructuring exercises in five years.

“This left the school with no heads of departments. The outcome of this has led to a complete loss of confidence amongst staff who lack the appropriate leadership, being left to function with no departmental heads. Is that accepted?

“Given the sudden departure of the director of education, does this indicate a possibility that the authority might itself be put into special measures?

“Some of us I am sure will remember the intervention by the board appointed by Welsh Government a few years ago, when the previous administration failed our students, which was led by Judge Graham Jones.

“Having been through that, I wouldn’t wish this experience on anyone. It was extremely damaging and painful,” added Clr. Williams, who also queried whether the authority’s scrutiny committee would be conducting a full investigation of the situation at Greenhill.

Clr. Woodham said that “robust and consistent challenge and support” would continue to be provided to bring around improvements.

A senior member of staff, with successful record of improving pupil outcomes, has been seconded as associate head teacher, he added.

Recommendations included in the Estyn report state that the standards of pupils’ work in lessons must be improved; as well as students’ attendance.

The reports also highlights that the quality of teaching at Ysgol Greenhill needs improving; while the inconsistency in middle leadership across the school to ensure that all middle leaders lead their departments effectively also needs reducing.

The school has also been told to improve the quality of self-evaluation and improvement planning processes to impact on the standards of pupils’ work in class.

In a letter sent out to parents and carers after the results of the Esyn inspection, Greenhill’s chair of governors Heulwen Lear said that with the commitment of all staff and governors and the additional support being provided by the Local Authority, the Governing Body are confident that examination outcomes and standards will improve quickly, enabling Estyn to remove the school from Special Measures.

“The report from the visit, which is available on the Estyn website, confirms that there have been a number of positive changes implemented at the school but felt that progress in improving outcomes has been too slow and, as a result, the school requires Special Measures,” she stated.

“We are all very disappointed by this decision but accept and acknowledge that standards and performance are not good enough and that not enough progress has been made in improving these quickly enough.

“I would however strongly recommend that parents read the report in full as this will make it clear that appropriate systems, processes and line management arrangements are in place and what is needed now is for these to have an impact on classroom practice, which in turn will improve standards and outcomes.

“The Governing Body have already met to discuss the report and the implications of the school being placed in Special Measures. We will be working very closely with the Headteacher and the Leadership Team to ensure that a robust and fast-paced improvement plan is implemented and acted on.

“Governors will actively monitor progress and support implementation of improvement measures. A governor will be part of the Post Inspection Action Plan oversight and scrutiny work taking place shortly with the support of the school’s Challenge Advisor and the next Full Governors meeting, in spring, has been brought forward to enable all Governors to take ownership and contribute to improving the school’s performance,” she continued.

Mrs. Lear went onto say that the governors are committed and determined that Greenhill should be a school which is known to support every pupil to flourish, to understand their own worth and that of others and to feel valued and achieve their potential; focus on education for wisdom, knowledge and skills; have the community at the heart of the school and the school at the heart of the community.

“These are our core values - we are not currently achieving them well enough but we are determined to do so,” added Mrs. Lear.