Long-term building improvements or a new school build at Tenby’s Ysgol Greenhill where emergency works were started earlier this year after more than 700 building faults were found are being recommended in a report before councillors this week.

A Pembrokeshire school which has made significant improvements once in special measures has

At the September 25 Schools & Learning Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, members are asked to scrutinise a July visit undertaken by the Schools Scrutiny Panel to Greenhill School, Tenby.

The school has approximately 900 pupils and Head Teacher David Haynes has been in post since 2021 when the school was in special measures.

It was removed from special measures in 2024.

The condition of the school building was noted by both teachers and pupils during the panel visit, a report for members says, with it being recognised that building work was being carried out during the scrutiny visit.

Emergency works were started earlier this year at the school, with a contract of more than £0.5m awarded for urgent repairs after more than 700 building defects were found.

The report praised Mr Haynes’ “strong leadership” adding: “Cluster and partnership working has been a focus of the school since 2021; one of the recommendations from Estyn following their 2024 inspection was to improve Welsh Language teaching so work was ongoing with Narberth CP School to improve this.

“Pupils expressed that they would like the Welsh language to be more integrated in their lessons as it was not often spoken outside of Welsh Language classes.”

The report added: “It was noted that the Cluster had set two priorities focusing on improving attendance and reading.”

It said attendance was an ongoing issue post-Covid pandemic; the Senior Leadership Team working with the school cluster to improve this, and the relationship with the cluster has been strengthened.

The report added: “The reading standards of incoming Year 7s was also an issue noted by the head prefects with it being stated that many Year 7s needed to be provided with guided reading lessons in the library followed by reading assessments to get them on par with their peers, however, the school was actively working to improve their reading standards in general.”

In the report, the panel said more work is needed with Welsh language education, with “very little evidence of the Welsh language or sense of the school being in Wales”.

It concludes: “The Panel was impressed by the significant improvements made by the school in the last two years since and praised the head teacher for the work he had carried out since his appointment in 2021.

“They also acknowledged the difficulties raised by the teachers regarding the new curriculum for Wales and the amount of work they had to do regarding the reading standards of new Year 7 pupils.”

It is recommended that the director of education facilitates partnerships beyond the current cluster and provide resources for bilingual signage and Welsh language enrichment activities, school development advisors advocate for earlier reading assessments in primary schools and support transition programs focused on literacy, and for the council to prioritise funding and strategic planning for long-term building improvements or a new school build.