School head rejects 'failing' tag

The school's action will have to be approved by Estyn

A south Wales head teacher says she utterly rejects an official report that her school is failing its pupils.

Wales' education watchdog Estyn says Pontllanfraith Comprehensive, near Blackwood, needs to be placed under special measures.

But head Ali Stevens said she did not recognise the picture it painted, and staff were disgusted by the contents.

The 800-pupil school has nine weeks to draw up and implement a plan to outline measures to address the concerns.

Currently in Wales there are three other schools and a pupil referral unit requiring special measures.

It was first recommended that the school be placed under special measures following an independent inspection last December.

After that recommendation, education watchdog Estyn sent in a second team of its own inspectors to investigate.

All the members of staff in the school are disgusted, they are devastated by the content of what's been written Ali Stevens, head teacher

According to the Education Act 2005, a school is put into special measures when it is judged to be failing to be giving its pupils an acceptable standard of education and those responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvements to the school.

The report said the school had "shortcomings in important areas, in standards of achievement, in the quality of education and in leadership and management."

It also said the school "is currently not moving forward corporately, nor at an appropriate pace, to eliminate these important shortcomings."

But Ms Stevens said: "All the members of staff in the school are disgusted. They are devastated by the content of what's been written," she said.

Standards of discipline

"The inspection took place two weeks after the end of an industrial dispute, and some of the things that the inspection team picked up on in the week were not the school as it normally runs."

The school's action plan will have to be agreed by Estyn with its inspectors visiting once a term to ensure the plan is working.

Earlier last year, 35 teachers at the school went on strike in a long-running row over extra responsibility payments.

They had been unhappy about a new system for the payments, which are worth up to £11,000 a year. That dispute was later resolved.

Pontllanfraith Comprehensive was previously inspected in October 2000, when it was praised for its good standards of discipline.