Catch22 Include Wales, Newport

Catch22 Include Wales is a school in Wales. Welsh schools are inspected by Estyn rather than Ofsted, and its latest report is published on Estyn's website.

Estyn's report on its June 2023 inspection summarises Catch22 Include Wales like this:

"Catch22 Include Wales School is a caring and welcoming community. Leaders and staff display high levels of commitment to the school and its pupils. Pupils are happy to come to school, feel safe and have strong working relationships with the staff team. Staff support pupils very well to encourage them to re-engage with their education and learning and, over time, most pupils make suitable progress in their learning. Across the school, most pupils develop a range of valuable skills that help them to make appropriate progress from their individual starting points. However, around half of the pupils do not attend consistently, which impacts on the progress they are able to make with their learning. The school provides a beneficial wide range of learning experiences that appropriately reflect pupils’ needs, abilities and interests. However, the quality of teaching across the school is inconsistent. In the majority of lessons, teachers plan effectively to ensure that pupils make secure progress. In a minority of lessons, opportunities for learning are missed and pupils are not challenged to develop and extend their work appropriately."

"In addition, formal teaching time is limited due to the relatively short school day. As a result, pupils do not always make the progress they are capable of. The learning environment provides limited accommodation to support teaching and areas of the building are not used and not well maintained. In addition, the restricted outdoor space impacts on the school’s ability to meet pupils’ needs suitably. Leaders promote a strong caring ethos across the school, which reflects the wider Catch22 ethos well. They, alongside the wider organisation, have a clear vision to develop the school. They have established strong working relationships with external partners which offer valuable support for staff and pupils. However, quality assurance and improvement planning processes are not self-critical enough and do not focus well enough on the quality of teaching and learning. Professional learning opportunities for staff do not link well enough to raising standards and improving teaching. In addition, staff do not have opportunities to observe high quality teaching for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs in other similar settings."

"The school complies fully with the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2003. Compliance with the regulations for registration Independent school inspections are governed by the Education Act 2002 and related regulations: the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2003. These regulations require an independent school to meet an appropriate standard in the following areas: The quality of education provided by the school The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. Welfare, health and safety of pupils The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. The suitability of proprietors and staff The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. Premises of and boarding accommodation at schools The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. The provision of information The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. The manner in which complaints are to be handled The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard."

Estyn made 4 recommendations: (1) Develop the learning environment to better meet the needs of all pupils; (2) Improve the quality and consistency of teaching; (3) Formalise professional learning opportunities for all staff with a suitable focus on teaching and learning; (4) Strengthen arrangements for self-evaluation and improvement planning.

Estyn follow-up status: The school does not meet the requirements of the Independent Schools Standards (Wales) 2024. Inspectors will revisit the school regularly to evaluate progress..

The nearest railway station is Newport (S Wales) Rail Station, about 100 metres away (roughly a 1-minute walk).

18 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is St Mark's Church (opposite), 120 metres away.