CARMARTHENSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL has hailed significant improvements in the county’s schools in the most recent set of school categorisation tables issued by the Welsh Government on Thursday, January 29.
The categorisation scheme has replaced the much criticised banding system, although there have been substantial complaints about last minute changes to the categorisation criteria skewing the results of some schools.
The categorisation scheme is in four tiers: Green, Yellow, Amber, and Red.
Schools in the green category are already doing well and are deemed to be in need of the least support while schools in the red category are those identified as needing the most support.
Each school’s category is determined by a range of factors including the quality of its leadership, its performance data, self-evaluation by the school and its wider capacity to improve.
Nineteen of Carmarthenshire’s schools, including Bryngwyn Secondary school and St John Lloyd Catholic Comprehensive School, have been placed in the Green category, while none appear in the Red category.
Education Executive Board Member Cllr Gareth Jones said: “Today’s National School Categorisation System outcomes have shown that more schools across Carmarthenshire are responding well to the support provided by ERW and the Local Authority.
“There has been an 8% increase in the number of schools in the green/ yellow categories and there are no schools who need intensive support (red category).
“We congratulate our learners, school leaders, staff, governors and parents on this improvement.”
NUT Cymru Secretary, David Evans, said: “We shouldn’t make any specific judgements on the basis of categorization results alone. Schools in the green category may still need support in certain areas, while there is undoubtable excellent teaching and learning taking place within aspects of those schools placed in yellow, amber and red. We must see categorization as part of the wider evaluation of schools, and more specifically as a way of identifying what support is needed, rather than a simple mechanism for judgement.”
Managing Director of the Regional Education Consortium (ERW), Betsan O’Connor, said: “The primary purpose of the system is to identify the appropriate level of support for each school according to need and to ensure that, in partnership with schools and local authorities, we are able to direct our support and resources most effectively to secure the improvements necessary in our school system.”
Education Minister, Huw Lewis, said: “This is not about crude league tables or labelling schools –it is about directing the right support to schools that need it and ensuring improvements right across our school system. Ultimately it is about raising standards and supporting our schools to self-improve.”
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