THE conclusion of a school inspection cycle has been described as a “success” by a top education official. 

Will McLean, who is the director for children and young people for Monmouthshire County Council with responsibility for education, presented his annual report to the full council’s July meeting. 

It stated education inspectorate Estyn has inspected the county’s 29 primary schools and what were four secondary schools since September 2016 and at the end of the inspection cycle, Monmouthshire has no schools in any follow-up category. 

“That is a success,” said Mr McLean who also told councillors the new inspection cycle, using a new framework, will begin in September. 

King Henry VIII Comprehensive, in Abergavenny, was marked as in need of “significant improvement” in November 2022 while Dewstow Primary, that was placed in special measures in May 2022, was removed from the category in April, 2024. 

King Henry has since closed and is now the King Henry 3-19 school, which is due to move into a new building in April next year. 

It had been intended that the new £70 million King Henry VIII school building would be ready for students at the existing secondary and Deri View Primary to move into during the upcoming 2024 autumn term.

However, it was confirmed in May that the opening of King Henry 3-19 had been delayed due to minimal changes to design, including more cladding than bricks.

The report noted a decrease in funding available to schools, resulting in a collective deficit position – that is the total amount spent by all 34 schools is more than the funding made available to them – for the first time since the pandemic.  

It noted: “The budget setting process for 2024/25 saw the impact of inflation and pay awards on the resources that schools have available to them. Rectifying this position and helping schools recover to a balanced budget is a key focus going forward.” 

Other issues noted in the report included challenges of implementing the new Welsh curriculum, which it said some schools in Monmouthshire like those elsewhere in Wales, are more successful at than others, and a review of the “middle tier” of school support in Wales, which includes councils, the Education Improvement Service and the workforce council that are supposed to provide support to schools. 

Attendance, especially of pupils entitled to free school meals, continues to be a challenge as while Monmouthshire has “strong attendance” among primary pupils “rates of improvement” for secondary pupils “are not where they should be”. 

The county has also seen a “very significant rise” in exclusions described as a “key risk for the authority moving forward”. 

Mr McLean’s report said: “Improvement in this area is dependent upon strengthening provision at school level but also increasing the capacity of the Pupil Referral Service to provide early interventions.” 

The council also supports non-maintained nursery and pre-school settings and Mr McLean said everyday more than 11,000 children attend school in Monmouthshire and are supported by 1,148 members of staff including teachers and support staff.