INSPECTORS have criticised an independent school in Caerphilly after finding it failed to fully comply with regulations.

A team from Estyn inspected Mynydd Haf school, in Trethomas, recently and flagged "shortcomings" in pupils' progress and wellbeing as "a cause for concern".

Mynydd Haf is a small school for pupils aged 11-17 who have additional learning needs.

At the time of the inspection, there were 23 pupils enrolled at the school, which is run by the Keys Group.

Estyn noted the environment at the school was "supportive and nurturing" but found there were "substantial shortcomings" in learning experiences, support and guidance.

Their findings could mean the school is stopped from enrolling new pupils until improvements are made - discussions are currently ongoing with the Welsh Government.

Inspectors said the school did not meet Welsh regulations for providing personal, social and health education; for effective lesson planning; or for encouraging pupils to behave responsibly.

They also raised concerns about shortcomings in the school's safeguarding policies and supervision of pupils.

During the inspection in May, the team found "very few" pupils made "extremely effective progress" and "due [to] shortcomings in teaching a minority of pupils’ progress is limited".

Inspectors noted how pupils at Mynydd Haf "value the school and build constructive and trusting relationships with nearly all staff".

They also found the "majority of pupils are motivated to learn and engage positively".

But the Estyn team was critical of the school's "inconsistent" application of its safeguarding policies.

"In particular, staff do not provide appropriate challenge to pupils leaving the school and during off-site activities to address pupils’ smoking, nor do they provide appropriate supervision of these pupils when they do so," the inspectors said.

"In addition, staff do not have suitable strategies to manage pupils’ use of personal mobile phones throughout the day or pupils accessing their school transport before the official end of the school day.

"As a result, the school’ s arrangements to keep pupils safe do not meet requirements and give considerable cause for concern."

What happens next?

Because the school does not meet the standards required for registration, the Senedd will now require the owners of Mynydd Haf to submit an action plan, setting out steps the school will take to meet the national standards, and a timescale to achieve them.

In the meantime, the Welsh Government may also recommend formally to the school that it should not accept new pupils until these matters have been addressed.

In a statement to the Argus, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are considering the evidence presented in the report and are in dialogue with the school. We are unable to comment further while these discussions are ongoing.”