‘Relationships are everything’: promoting pupils’ good attendance and well-being
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Information about the school
Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni is the only Welsh-medium secondary school in the county of Caerphilly. The school is located on two sites, namely the Gellihaf site near the village of Fleur de Lys and the Gwyndy site in the town of Caerphilly. There are 1,771 pupils on roll, including 196 pupils in the sixth form. The percentage of pupils who come from Welsh-speaking homes is 11.7%. Fourteen-point-eight per cent (14.8%) of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Nine-point-five per cent (9.5%) of pupils have additional learning needs. The senior leadership team includes the headteacher, deputy headteacher, two acting deputy headteachers, seven assistant headteachers and a business manager.
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni has consulted extensively with the school’s stakeholders to produce a vision based on ‘providing the best education for all members of the school’. As part of this, the school prioritises everyone’s happiness, health and well-being within an inclusive environment. There is a strong focus on developing and maintaining positive working relationships with all the school’s stakeholders. The core principle, ‘Relationships are everything’,’ permeates all the school’s work, including how the school deals with inclusion, attendance, reducing the effect of poverty on pupils’ attainment and the way in which it communicates and seeks the views of pupils, parents and staff.
Description of the nature of the strategy or activity
Several aspects are part of the school’s work to promote its core principle, ‘Relationships are everything’, including promoting good attendance, reducing the effect of poverty on pupils’ attainment, inclusion and ensuring opportunities for stakeholders to express their opinions.
The school places a regular and continuous focus on improving pupils’ attendance. The attendance team includes a senior well-being leader, a well-being co-ordinator and the local authority’s education welfare officer. The team meets on a weekly basis to scrutinise and respond carefully to attendance data. They look at the attendance of individuals and groups of pupils to identify patterns of factors that affect attendance. Regular meetings mean that there is a strong focus on responding to pupils’ needs in a timely and swift manner. Leaders ensure that pupils, parents and staff understand the importance of good attendance. Tight procedures mean that pupils who are a cause of concern due to their attendance are identified quickly. A graduated response is organised, which includes support from the education welfare officer and purposeful interventions. For example, the officer works with well-being leaders to target the attendance of individuals and groups of pupils. The school builds the school calendar to ensure that there are purposeful activities at time where attendance has been lower in the past, for example the last days of the school term. Rewards are also offered to all pupils throughout the school year to promote consistently good attendance. A strong feature of the school’s work is the purposeful support given to pupils who have been absent over a longer period. Staff meet with these pupils and their parents in locations that are convenient for them to ensure contact with the school. Pupils are invited to attend the site after the normal school day to begin to re-connect with staff and familiarise themselves with the building. Gradually, pupils re-engage with their learning so that they can return to lessons with their peers.
Promoting well-being is a core part of the school’s work. Well-being lessons are part of the curriculum from Year 7 to 11 and are based on the findings of well-being questionnaires, local needs and national and international events. The Well-being Team meets on a weekly basis so that there is a swift response to any concerns about pupils. There are well-being rooms on the Gellihaf and Gwyndy sites to offer emotional support and a range of valuable interventions for pupils. The school also works purposefully to reduce the effect of poverty on pupils’ attainment. For example, it provides hygiene banks, school uniforms, prom outfits and financial support to reduce the effect of poverty on families. The Parent, Carer and Teacher Association has been resumed to launch the Cwm Rhymni Family Community. A dedicated e-mail account has been set up to ensure that families are able to communicate with the school without feeling any judgement. A popular breakfast club is held on both sites to give all pupils an opportunity to prepare for their learning. The school trains pupils to lead initiatives within the school, such as the work of the menstruation mentors and the Well-being and Citizenship Committees.
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
Between the 2018-2019 and 2022-2023 academic years, the school’s attendance rate fell below what was seen nationally. The school’s attendance was 1.0% higher than the average of similar schools in 2022-2023 and 0.7% higher in 2023-2024. The average attendance of pupils who are eligible for free school meals was higher than what was seen in similar schools over the same periods. The rates of pupils who are persistently absent were also lower than what was seen in similar schools. The percentage of pupils who were persistent absentees for 20% or more of the time fell from 12% in 2022-2023 to 10.7% in 2023-2024. Although the percentage of pupils who were persistently absent for 10% or more of the time remained similar, it compared favourably with what was seen in similar schools.
Families have access to a number of necessary resources from the school’s various banks so that everyone has equal opportunities at school. This has had a positive effect on the relationship between the school and families. Over 200 families use the free school uniform bank and between 15 and 30 families use the hygiene bank each month. This ensures that pupils feel proud when coming to school and has a positive effect on attendance. There was an increase in the attendance rate of pupils who are eligible for free school meals and pupils with additional learning needs between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
How have you shared your good practice?
A workshop for sharing good practice is held with local Welsh-medium schools through the ‘Gyda’n Gilydd’ forum. As part of this, well-being and pastoral leaders from others schools are invited to hear about the school’s strategy and conduct learning walks to demonstrate provision. The school presents and shares strategies through local authority networks, for example pastoral leaders’ meetings and Caerphilly Healthy Schools meetings. There is close co-operation with the primary schools in the area to formalise transition arrangements and ensure progression. The school produces a newsletter each terms and this is shared purposefully with the wider community, in addition to the school community.