03 March 2008
Blaenau Gwent schools have the best inspection grades in Wales over the last two years.
HM Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales, head of the inspection service Estyn, has published his annual report which shows that schools in Blaenau Gwent inspected in 2005 – 2007 had the highest all round inspection scores.
Inspectors marked 90% of areas of work ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in the visits they made to primary and comprehensive schools during the two years.
This is the best overall performance by schools in any of the 22 local authority areas in Wales over the same period.
Cllr Gill Clark, Blaenau Gwent Council’s Executive Member for Education, said:
“This is an outstanding achievement – congratulations to teachers, governors and pupils for showing that we have good quality and improving schools across Blaenau Gwent.
“The inspection grades reflect the quality of learning, teaching, leadership and value for money in our schools.
“We knew that school after school has produced good inspection results. But we were surprised and delighted to find out from Estyn’s annual report that the overall results for Blaenau Gwent compared so well with those of the rest of Wales.
“What is important is that we all work hard to continue to provide the best opportunities that we can for all our young people.”
HM Chief Inspector’s annual report said that 66% per cent of schools across Wales that were inspected over the last two years had mainly good or outstanding features – and in Blaenau Gwent that figure was 90%.
