MAGOR Church in Wales Primary School’s prospects for the future have been given the lowest grading available by the Welsh education inspectorate.

Estyn has described the school’s ‘prospects for improvement’ as ‘unsatisfactory’ following an inspection in May this year.

The report, published last week, blames much of the poor grading on problems with the school’s leadership, in particular head teacher Ms Angela Davies, who has been in her role since 2015.

It says: “The head teacher does not provide the school with strong strategic leadership.

“The head teacher has high expectations of what standards should look like.

“However, she does not communicate a clear vision that drives school improvement.

“The lack of effective communication between senior leaders and many members of staff means that there is insufficient team working. As a result, the work of other leaders in the school lacks cohesion and staff do not feel valued.”

The primary school of 354 pupils was graded as ‘adequate’ in the category of ‘current performance,’ gaining praise for the wellbeing of pupils, care support and guidance, and class teachers “providing pupils with a high level of care and support”.

However, current performance was criticised too. “Pupils have insufficient opportunities to use their literacy and numeracy skills at an appropriate level in other areas of learning and subjects,” and “teacher assessments of pupils’ achievement at the end of key stage 2 are not always accurate”.

Referencing the last Estyn report, published in 2010, this report mentions: “The school does not have a good recent track record in making improvements, and leaders have not fully addressed all recommendations from the last inspection.”

Monmouthshire County Council, responsible for the school, commented: “We are fully supportive of the school and believe that there is the capacity and capability for the school to positively respond to the areas for development identified in the report.

“The county council and its school improvement partner, the Education Achievement Service (EAS) have worked closely with the school over the last year and will continue to offer support as it responds to the inspection report.

“The report identified positive features at the school and this is testament to the work of the staff and the wider school community including parents, governors and the diocese.”