Three schools in Caerphilly County Borough have been classed as “performing well” by the Welsh Government’s new banding system.
Newbridge School, Oakdale Comprehensive and Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni have been classed in Band 1, while Lewis Girls’ Comprehensive School, Risca Community Comprehensive and St Cenydd School have all been placed in the bottom band.
Banding of secondary schools uses the performance of them 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 to 16-year-olds have performed in examinations, and information about their level of attendance is used to band schools.
The Welsh Government says it also takes into account the level of poverty of pupils in the school, as this can have an impact on what the school can achieve.
Four groups of data are used to calculate the relative performance of schools.
- The percentage of pupils achieving five A* to Cs at GCSE including English or Welsh and mathematics
- The best eight GCSEs of pupils
- The performance of pupils at GCSE in English or Welsh and mathematics
- Attendance
Banding of Caerphilly County Borough’s schools
Band 1
Newbridge School
Oakdale Comprehensive
Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni
Band 2
St Martin’s School
Band 3
Cwmcarn High School
Heolddu Comprehensive School
Pontllanfraith Comprehensive
Rhymney Comprehensive School,
Band 4
Bedwas High School
Blackwood Comprehensive School
Lewis School Pengam
Band 5
Lewis Girls’ Comprehensive School
Risca Community Comprehensive
St Cenydd School
Education Minister Leighton Andrews said: “If we are to drive up standards across the board in Wales we need to know how our schools are performing. Banding is at the heart of this.
“Plans for banding schools were set out in the incoming government’s manifesto and are now a key component in our Programme for Government. The process is designed to give us a clearer focus on our performance and progress.
“It’s not about labelling, naming or shaming, or creating a crude league table. It is about putting schools into groups to identify which need our support and which we can learn from.”
A spokesman for Caerphilly County Borough Council said: “The new banding system has been developed by the Welsh Government so that support is provided to schools in order to improve performance and outcomes.
“Head teachers and teaching staff are already working hard to achieve this, along with support from Caerphilly county borough council and this will continue.
“Banding is designed to provide transparency for parents and pupils allowing them to see how a school is performing. We would like to assure all parents that this new system will not be used as a local ‘league table’ – instead it will be used to benefit pupils as part of our ongoing commitment to raising educational standards.”
Teaching unions have branded the new system league table in all but name.
In February this year, writing for Caerphilly Observer, the chairman of Caerphilly Governors’ Association Derek Harvard supported the system.
Is this banding scheme sensible?, there are contradictory elements in the make up of the rating. A combination of academic achievement, attendance and free schoolmeal provision. So a school with good academic results, but poor attendance and no one having free school meals would have the same rating as a school with poor academic results, good attendance and everyone having school meals. What parents want to know is, how good a school is academically, and this banding system distorts that. Its easy to get good results in an area which is middle class, but a really good school would be one that achieved good results with an intake from a poor area, one that gave value added results to education, but this banding doesnt do it. the old Caerphilly Grammar School was a good school by this measure, since it took pupils from poor backgrounds and had good academic results based on GCEs, A Levels and University entry.
I agree with Ron James, the current banding system takes uses a set of criteria that is too wide for parents to make an informed decision on a particular school's merit. Provision of free school meals is not a factor that looms large in this decision making process.
I am one of a generation that attended both Grammar and comprehensive schools. Margaret Thatcher converted Caerffili Boys Technical Grammar into a comp when she was Education Secretary.
In my grammar school class there were the sons of a colonel, a barrister and a doctor, along with me, the son of a colliery blacksmith. This mix of kids from different backgrounds, all being educated to the same, high, standard, was good for society and good for the individual pupils.