The inspectors noted that ‘attainment at both GCSE and A level are consistently above national averages’ and highlighted the support the school gives to pupils, pastorally and academically, including our subject surgeries, the Chaplain, Medical Centre and Library. ‘This holistic approach,’ the inspectors said, ‘supports pupils to engage positively with learning and benefit from all the experiences the school offers. It is a particular strength of the school.’

It goes on to praise the pupils’ ‘strong sense of belonging’ due largely to ‘the clear supportive ethos and the breadth of opportunity offered’.

The inspectors acknowledged that, at the time of their visit, the school was in a period of strategic change ahead of the move to merge with Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls in September 2024.

The inspectors also highlighted:

• The school’s curriculum at Key Stage 4 and in the Sixth Form which they found to be ‘tailored to meet the interests, needs and future aspirations of pupils highly successfully’
• Our commitment to the pupils’ development of strong creative and artistic skills, ‘across an extensive range of musical, dramatic, artistic and technological contexts’
• Our ‘well developed culture of reading both for pleasure and academic enhancement’
• Pupils’ ‘enthusiastic engagement with a wide range of sport and exercise opportunities’
• Our highly effective use of the school’s facilities and grounds that ‘enhance the extensive curriculum offer’
• How we developed the Library so that it provides pastoral as well as academic support
• How there are ‘a wide range of authentic leadership opportunities available to older pupils

They also recognised teaching and pastoral staff for being ‘dedicated, supportive and invested in their pupils’ success’.

Headmaster, Simon Dorman, is delighted that so many areas of school life were highlighted for praise within the report. “We pride ourselves in delivering an effective and broad range of opportunities for our students and the report shows that we are succeeding in this.”

“Despite the changes that we are putting in place ahead of our exciting move to becoming fully co-ed later in the year, we have maintained an environment that nurtures both the academic and holistic elements of education.”

“Overall, the report gives us renewed confidence to continue developing all the areas that we believe are the particular strengths and attractions of the school and I would like to pay tribute to our dedicated staff who have continued to work diligently and imaginatively during a period of significant change.”

Recommendations within the report centred around quality assurance processes and a focus on building upon the existing effective practice to improve the consistency of classroom practice. It also recommended that the school make the best use of assessment data to inform and enhance pupils’ progress.

Referring to these recommendations, Emma Arrand, Deputy Head Academic, said, “We are grateful to Estyn for their constructive recommendations and are already working on ensuring we implement these recommendations to ensure the excellent practice that they identified are reflected across the entire school.”

The full report can be found below.

To view the latest Estyn report for Monmouth School for Girls’, please click here.