A PREVIOUSLY inadequate mid Powys school has been taken out of special measures after two years.

Builth Wells High School will be removed from the list of schools requiring special measures, according to the latest Estyn report, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales.

The school has been judged to have made sufficient progress in relation to the recommendations following a core inspection in October 2015.

Staff and pupils at Builth Wells High School are celebrating after receiving the good news.

Ionwen Spowage, headteacher, said: “Everyone is absolutely delighted at this news.

“The current leadership team took over in September 2015, so the team had only been here a matter of weeks before the school was placed in special measures.

“For the last two years we have worked very hard, collectively with the support of governors.”

The report, published following a Estyn visit last month, outlined provisional data for 2017, which indicated that since the core inspection two years ago, performance at Key Stage 4 has improved in the majority of indicators, with many pupils making suitable progress in lessons.

Reporting Inspector, Tony Sparks said: “There has been strong progress in addressing the recommendation.”

Mrs Spowage, explained that since the core inspection, the school has implemented a supportive performance management system, which has been used effectively to address areas of underperformance in order to improve standards and the quality of teaching.

Mrs Spowage said: “We have built a new school, from scratch, we have brand new systems for every area. Our approach to improvement has been systematic and more importantly consistent.”

She said: “I didn’t want the school being put into special measures to define us. I was adamant that we would not lose sight of important departments such as Sport and Drama, which are often overlooked when special measures are enforced.”

The report found that senior leaders and governors worked well together to provide appropriate challenge and support to staff, including when underperformance is identified.

Mr Sparks said: “This is contributing to improvements in the quality of teaching.”

Mrs Spowage added: “We have upskilled every member of staff. I wanted the school to come out of special measures on my watch and I was determined that the way in which we did that would not be a quick fix, it would be sustainable long term.”

The school has focused heavily on improving literacy at all levels including speech, reading and writing.

Mrs Spowage said: “We have implemented a culture of coaching, which is not only encouraging teachers to improve but we are also invested in how we can get better.”

Arrangements to support this policy include the introduction of an electronic system for recording pupil behaviour. This has been used effectively to recognise good behaviour and identify any instances of poor behaviour. These approaches have contributed to nearly all pupils behaving well in lessons and around the school.

Mrs Spowage added: “The pupils have been fabulous and welcomed the changes allowing us to develop expectations.

“Just because Builth is a rural community, we can still aspire to achieve more.

“This announcement is great because it recognises the work which has been done to date but it is also the start of something new and we will continue to improve.”