Government figures point to improvements for Monmouthshire's schools

Monmouthshire County Council has welcomed figures indicating an overall improvement in the performance of its primary schools over the past year.

The Welsh Government's National School Categorisation System has recently produced data identifying schools most need of support and this illustrates that nearly half of the county's primary schools are within the green category – the group least likely to require additional support.

Thirteen of the county's 30 primary schools have been rated green – an increase of four compared to the previous year, while 12 are within the second – yellow – category.  Three are rated amber and two are rated red.  Last year, 14 of Monmouthshire's primary schools fell in the yellow banding, six were rated amber and one rated red.

The categorisation of Monmouthshire's four secondary schools has remained static over the past twelve months with three rated yellow and one amber.

Councillor Richard John, cabinet member for Children and Young People said: "The categorisation of schools across Monmouthshire shows that we continue to make good progress with an increasing number of schools categorised as green or yellow.  Eighty three per cent of primary schools are now in these two top categories and seventy five per cent of our secondary school have been placed in the yellow banding.  Since 2015-16, we have seen the number of green schools rise from five to 13 and the number of amber schools - those requiring a higher level of support - falling from seven to three.

"We are now focused on ensuring that our green schools continue to build on their good practice and that we have no red schools in the next round of categorisation.

"This progress is testament to the hard work of the teachers and leaders in all our schools and the way we work with our partners in the Education Achievement Service (EAS) - I am grateful for all their hard work."

Chepstow's Thornwell Primary School was one of those that progressed from the yellow banding in 2016/17 to green in 2017/18.  Headteacher Tim Appleby said: "Every member of our highly-skilled team works as hard as they can to provide the very best standard of education and support for the pupils and the families of Thornwell. I am delighted that this effort has been recognised and has resulted in a green categorisation judgement. It is an exciting time to be in education with a revised, child-centred curriculum on its way. In addition to this, the Chepstow Cluster is developing as an innovative, self-improving system which provides us with access to excellent support through collaborative quality assurance and the sharing of best practice. Happily, Thornwell is now very well-placed both geographically and developmentally to launch pupils' successful futures."

For further information on the Welsh Government's National School Categorisation System visit:http://gov.wales/topics/educationandskills/schoolshome/raisingstandards/schoolcategorisation/?lang=en