A PUPIL referral unit in Wrexham has received a glowing report following a recent Estyn inspection.

New Horizons Pupil Referral Unit is a portfolio pupil referral service providing education for secondary aged young people who are unable to attend mainstream school.

They operate across three sites, namely; Stiwdio Hafod, Stiwdio Pen-y-Cae and Haulfan, that specialise in supporting individual pupil needs relating to behaviour and emotionally based school avoidance.

In the report, which was published on Wednesday (May 1), the inspectors noted the unit provides a calm, nurturing and purposeful environment, which supports pupils’ well-being and learning strongly.

Staff are highly effective role models and foster successful working relationships with pupils, which are based on trust and mutual respect. As a result, most pupils make strong progress during their time at the PRU and achieve the standards in line with their expectations. A few pupils make exceptional progress.

Older pupils benefit from a comprehensive curriculum, which prepares them well for their possible future pathways. This includes a range of courses, including GCSEs, entry level and vocational pathways.

Many pupils make strong progress in their personal attendance rates and behaviour as a result of highly effective and well established processes and systems.

Pupils show resilience when faced with challenges and have a positive perception of themselves as learners. This demonstrates very strong progress from their starting points.

The inspectors concluded in their summary that as a result of a highly effective culture of collaborative and transparent working arrangements with key partners the communication and working relationship with parents and carers are strong. As a result, strategic leadership of the PRU is a strength.

Darren Lee, headteacher, said, “We are so proud of the report which fundamentally recognises how a cohesive team approach working with the local authority, Management Committee, staff, parents and pupils really does improve outcomes and raise standards. We will not be resting on our laurels and we will continue to aspire to provide the very best education experience we can for our pupils, right across the Wrexham community. “

Rob Ratcliffe, Management Committee chair, said: “We have a wonderful staff team who have high professional standards, never give up and most importantly genuinely care for the most vulnerable young people in our community. We are all immensely proud of this report."

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Cllr Phil Wynn, lead member for education, said: “This is an Estyn report that everyone at Gorwelion Newydd/New Horizons should be proud of and is a tribute to the hard work of the leadership at the school. Pupils are respected, motivated and inspired with the result that they make excellent progress at the unit.

“It’s very heartening to read in this report the approach taken towards pupils and to learn they are benefitting from the nurturing approach taken to ensure they reach their full potential as they prepare for work, further education or training.”

There are two areas the report recommends to help the school continue to improve:

  • Improve pupils’ digital skills
  • Strengthen the collaborative working arrangements with mainstream schools to secure successful return to mainstream education for pupils where appropriate

An action plan to address these two recommendations are set to be drawn up.