The three schools are John Bright, Eirias and Ysgol Bryn Elian. To get an objective measure of a school's quality can be a difficult and confusing task; schools are inspected approximately every five years, and those reports are available to the public from Estyn. The reports are long and not easy for the lay-person to decipher. They also change the format from time to time, making comparison of one school with another trickier than it ought to be. As an example, here's the summary from the last three reports for each of the three schools:
Eirias: (2003)
Eirias High School is a highly successful, exceptionally well led, award-winning school, with many outstanding features, including the quality of teaching and national recognition for its capacity for continuously improving the already noteworthy academic, pastoral and extra-curricular attainments. It is deservedly popular and oversubscribed. The standards achieved by pupils are at least satisfactory in 98% of lessons and good or better in over 80%. Very good standards are achieved in a quarter of classes and these occur in both key stages. These figures exceed the targets set by the National Assembly for the year 2002. (The standards of achievement in 95% of classes should be at least satisfactory and 50% good or better). The proportions of very good, good and satisfactory are also similar in each key stage. The proportions of good or very good standards are significantly higher than at the time of the last inspection.
Ysgol Bryn Elian: (2008)
Ysgol Bryn Elian is a good school that has the leadership and vision capable ofmaking it become a very good school. Within the school, there are particular areas of strength including consistently high standards attained in Key Stage 3 (KS3) assessments and General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results that demonstrate that the school is in an improving situation; very good behaviour and attitudes displayed by pupils and students; school’s work on education for sustainable development and global citizenship (ESDGC); and the school’s ability to achieve very good value for money.
John bright: (2009)
Ysgol John Bright is a good school with some outstanding features. Through the inspirational leadership provided by the former and present headteachers the school continues to improve.
As can be seen, it's not easy to make meaningful comparisons between the schools, although you need to know that the inspectors use certain words with great care, 'Good', 'Outstanding' and 'satisfactory' being three. Broadly speaking, 'satisfactory' is not good news.However, what most parent want is a school that's good at getting kids through exams.
Here, Estyn comments upon GCSE achievements (these are the most meaningful, since everyone has to do these, whereas A levels and the Baccalaureate are optional)
Eirias:
A very high proportion, about 80%, of pupils gain 5 or more equivalent A*-C grades, which is well above Welsh and national figures. Virtually every pupil gained 5 or more grades A*-G, which is greatly above local and national figures. A high proportion of grades, almost a third, were at A*/A. The CSI, the percentage gaining grades A*-C in all three subjects, English, mathematics and science, is much higher than local and national averages.
Ysgol Bryn Elian
In 2008, 66% of pupils achieved five or more A*-C grades and 97% of pupils achieved five or more A*- G grades. Both of these percentages are an improvement on the results from 2007 and higher than the school’s targets. GCSE results compare extremely well with those of the Unitary Authority (UA) and national results. Overall, when compared with similar schools, the school’s GCSE results in 2007 place the school in the lowest 25% for over half of the indicators; elsewhere they are mainly in the upper quartile.
John Bright
At KS4, the percentage the school enters for GCSE or equivalent exceeds the average for Wales as a whole. In 2008, 60% of pupils achieved five or more passes at grade C or above, 85% at grade G or above. Passes at the higher grades exceeded local and national averages while passes at the lower grades were in line with them.
This still doesn't make sorting one school from another an easy or straightforward process, but two facts are clear: the area is well served by good schools and Eirias stands head and shoulders above most schools, not just locally but nation-wide. However, in the latest reports, Estyn has started to produce a table which does offer a more simple and visual reference to a school's quality.
Eirias will have this table later this year, but for now, here's the relative tables for Ysgol Bryn Elian and John Bright: (lower number is better)
Bryn Elian:
John Bright:
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