Head 'over the moon' as special measures dropped

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Eastern High School
Image caption,

Eastern High School in Rumney has the motto: 'Believe. Achieve. Succeed'

A school which once had the worst GCSE results in Wales has been taken out of special measures after almost three years.

Eastern High in Cardiff was performing unsatisfactorily across every measure, Estyn schools inspectors said in its February 2015 report.

But when inspectors returned this month, they found the Rumney school had turned its performance around.

Head teacher Armando Di-Finizio said: "I'm over the moon."

Image caption,

Eastern High, where 47% of pupils are eligible for free school meals

In its latest report, Estyn said the school has made "strong progress" across five key areas, including literacy, numeracy and behaviour.

The new report stated:

  • Most of the 680 pupils behaved well in and around the school and arrived promptly and ready to learn.

  • The quality of their work was now "significantly better".

  • The school was one of only a few in Wales to improve its GCSE results this year.

  • Attendance has risen from 85% to 92%.

Mr Di-Finizio said: "I'm over the moon with the outcome of our last Estyn visit. Being able to announce to staff that we were being taken out of special measures was an emotional moment for all the staff who have been through such a lot, and worked so incredibly hard over the past few years.

"I'm positive this will lift the local community, who now have another good school to send their children to. This news, combined with the new building we're about to move into at Christmas, is a fantastic present for everyone associated with the school.

"The inspectors were very enthusiastic about the progress we have made in such a short time, and commented favourably on some of the sector leading practice we now have in place.

"The job now is to keep the momentum going into the new build, develop our new partnership with Cardiff and Vale College and together create a campus with first-class learning, which is the envy of Wales"

Image caption,

Mr Di-Finizio said staff worked 'incredibly hard' to pull the school out of special measures

In 2015, Eastern High recorded the worst exam results in Wales, with just 14% of pupils achieving five GCSEs grade A* to C, including English and maths. In 2016 this rose to 25% and this year to 32%.

Cardiff council's deputy leader Sarah Merry, said: "I am delighted that Estyn has given such an excellent assessment of Eastern High.

"The findings of the latest inspection are testament to how well the staff, governors, local authority and the whole school community have worked together to deliver significant, sustained improvement."

In the New Year, staff and pupils at Eastern High move from their Newport Road building to a new £25m complex built on the Cardiff and Vale College grounds in Trowbridge.

Image source, Cardiff Council/Powell Dobson Architects
Image caption,

An artist's impression of the new Eastern High building

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