'Head from hell' relieved school no longer on Needs Improvement list

A school where teachers went on strike over violence in classrooms has been removed from a list of sites needing significant improvement under the leadership of a "head from hell".

Caldicot School, in Monmouthshire, had been plagued by bad behaviour and was told to make changes following an inspection by Estyn in 2024.

The watchdog's most recent monitoring visit found the school had made "sufficient progress" in relation to Estyn's recommendations.

Head teacher Alun Ebenezer said the news was a "huge relief", adding the school's progress had involved "a real team effort" from staff, pupils, parents and the local authority.

In 2023, the school was hit by strike action after teachers claimed the school's then-leadership had failed to act over verbal abuse and physical violence from pupils towards staff and other children.

The watchdog assessed the school in October 2024, shortly after Ebenezer - once dubbed the "head from hell" by the Daily Star newspaper - was appointed acting head.

It found issues with the school's safeguarding, attendance, development of pupils with weaker skills, strategic leadership and its additional learning needs provision.

Estyn made five recommendations and added the 1,300-pupil school to the list of establishments needing improvement.

In response, Ebenezer introduced a crackdown on uniform standards that included girls being sent home if skirts were deemed "too short", Saturday morning detentions and calling parents of misbehaving children into school.

He stressed his intention was not to control people, but to ensure everyone followed the rules and was looked after.

"Strict isn't nasty, right? Strict is just putting in place boundaries and high expectations," he said.

"Whilst it seems strict and, I guess, severe to begin with - actually it is to make everyone feel safe and happy," he said.

Ebenezer said standards had since risen, pupils had "more pride in the school", and it was a "happier" environment.

He said his goal was to build on those improvements and "cement our place in the top 20 schools in the country".

In addition to maintaining standards, he said he hoped to offer "a really rich co-curriculum" of clubs, societies, trips and opportunities for the students, and "to continue to improve our teaching and learning".

"I believe so passionately in what we've done and what we're doing," he said.

In its report, Estyn found a safeguarding concern identified at its last inspection had been "fully addressed", while Monmouthshire County Council was dealing with a health and safety issue.

The inspectors said teachers had been given support on how to make progress with students and work was to improve students' skills had been initiated.

Improvements in reading, writing and numeracy were noted, although inspectors also found some "shortcomings in teaching" had resulted in pupils "making more limited progress" in "a minority of instances".

Overall attendance was found to have improved slightly in 2024-2025 compared to the previous year, but the rate of improvement was below similar schools.

The report said the attendance of pupils eligible for free school meals had declined over the past three years, but unverified school data suggested the opposite for this academic year.

It added that the school's specialist resource base, for pupils with additional learning needs, had been re-organised to meet the needs of those with more complex and physical needs.