Secret report slams failing Rhyl High School

Dec 3 2008 by Justine Bailey, Denbigh Visitor

A SECONDARY school could be placed in special measures after major failings were discovered during a recent inspection.

Rhyl High School, which has 1,150 pupils, would be the second secondary in the town to be placed in such a position, with Blessed Edward Jones only taken out of 18 months of special measures in the summer.

Special measures means the school is deemed to be failing and is put under special scrutiny by inspectors to improve standards.

The news comes hot on the heels of heavy criticism of Denbighshire’s education service as a whole.

Only last week a damning Auditor General inspection report said one of the biggest issues facing the council is the need to improve education.

The full report into the findings at Rhyl High School will not be published until January, and it is therefore not known exactly what the school has been pulled up on. However Vale of Clwyd MP Chris Ruane has called for clarity after the news was leaked.

He believes parents need reassuring and will be calling for an emergency meeting with education chiefs.

“There’s a standard procedure, but that procedure has been broken here,” he said. “It’s entered the public domain – and I think some reassurance needs to be given.”

Denbighshire County Council said: “The county council is not in a position to comment because Estyn advise that all school inspection outcomes are strictly confidential until the report is published.”

Rhyl High School’s headteacher Mark Edwards, who has a child at the school, would not comment on the decision, but said: “As a parent as well as a teacher, I have the pupils’ best interests at heart and there have been many improvements put in place here at the school.

“I cannot comment on any of the decisions or outcomes of the Estyn visit.”

Inspectors will meet with teachers next month to discuss their findings before an official report is published on January 22.

When Blessed Edward Jones was placed in special measures after a damning inspection in 2006, it was the first school in Wales to be put in such a position.

However it prompted a massive turnaround at the Cefndy Road establishment, a new headteacher was brought in and in July the measures were lifted and the school received a glowing report.

justine.bailey