Today's Daily Post Real Schools Guide reveals that Ysgol Brynhyfryd came joint 2nd out of the region's 54 local authority secondaries. Bravo. Brynhyfryd was the only Denbighshire school to score a full five stars—and also the only former Clwyd school to do so. Interestingly, the St Brigid's, which had effectively overtaken Brynhyfryd, was awarded just three 2019 stars. The Brigidine had slipped regarding attendance.
Brynhyfryd's performance has been good or better throughout the life of the Daily Post guides. Well, recently. Reflecting realities at the school, in 2014 and 2015, Brynhyfryd achieved four stars; in 2016, the school dipped to three; but in 2017, 2018 and 2019 it was up to the full five. This no doubt explains the school's recent resurgence in popularity. It has traditional catchment primaries totaling 15 but it now pulls in pupils from some 30 in all, including from Yr Wyddgrug/Mold's Welsh medium primary, Ysgol Glanrafon; from Dinbych's Welsh medium primary, Ysgol Twm o'r Nant; and from Llanelwy/St Asaph and Trefnant.
There's also another potential measure and that is the Welsh Government's school support categorisation, which awards a school red-amber-yellow-green. This is designed to indicate which schools need additional support to perform against its expectations. In other words, it considers results against the socio-economic background or make-up of each catchment. It's not a league table but it's easy to see why parents should treat it as such.
Again, reflecting realities, in 2014 & 2015, Brynhyfryd was Amber but in 2016 slipped to Red. Thereafter, we can see considerable progress in this area. In 2017, it leap-frogged amber to yellow, thanks to a new head and in 2018 to green. There are no figures for 2019. In 2018, Brynhyfryd therefore joined Bryn Elian (Old Colwyn), Mold Alun, Castell Alun (Hope) and the Maelor School (Penley) as the only former Green-banded Clwyd schools.
Life under that head is not always rosy, with a number of long-serving and excellent staff feeling forced to leave or retire. The road to supremacy has been bloody. There's been accusations of senior leadership bullying and extra stress on some staff. And there remain parents who wish to criticise the school as, for example, the school has struggled to cover some lessons and in at least one case has taught to the wrong curriculum. Remember the issues surrounding Brynhyfryd's new uniform? That met with some considerable backlash but, guess what, when pupils returned to school in September 2017, how smart they looked—and how well behaved everyone said they were... even though the pupils themselves hadn't changed one bit.
Throughout the Daily Post guide years, attainment has been very good or excellent. In four of the last six years, the Daily Post recorded the top five stars for academic achievement—including 2019—and Brynhyfryd has never been less than four.
For the Daily Post to name Brynhyfryd its best North Wales school, the school will presumably need to improve its "finances" score. In 2019, the Daily Post accorded Brynhyfryd two stars there. And it will need to continue to score five stars for "progress" but that will be a challenge, as much of the hard work is done.
Towards the end of the 1990s and early 2000s, Brynhyfryd was among the best in Wales. In about 1998, in fact, the Western Mail named Brynhyfryd as such. Its GCSE and A level results were excellent.
Indeed, Brynhyfryd's A level results during that time were far ahead of Schola Ruthinensis' across the road. At the time, head of Brynhyfryd, Roger Edwards, said, "If the government insists on publishing league tables, I am pleased that our school did so well in A-levels and GCSEs". On the other hand, the then head of Ruthin School, John Rowland, was "far more interested in what the school has added to each child". That sounded like a cop-out. Ruthin School came bottom at A level in Denbighshire.
20 years later, and the Times ranks Ruthin School as the 7th strongest at A level in Britain. Last year, Ruthin School was 12th. But this does not at all diminish Brynhyfryd's A level results but reflects both the pupil-teacher ratio and especially the international pool of talent Ruthin School is now able to attract. Indeed, there are reports that staff at Ruthin School struggle to teach their sixth formers anything, so bright are the students. The ranking is skewed by such talent unavailable to Ysgol Brynhyfryd. We also understand that the school is highly selective in terms of its sixth form. Anyone having taken AS levels and predicted not to get three As at A level will be withdrawn and this is a further factor that slants Schola Ruthinensis' results.
That both schools are doing so well is good for Ruthin. Brynhyfryd pupils can be pleased that they're getting an excellent education without their parents having to fork out the £14,000-plus annual fees for the school opposite. Much better value.
There's also another potential measure and that is the Welsh Government's school support categorisation, which awards a school red-amber-yellow-green. This is designed to indicate which schools need additional support to perform against its expectations. In other words, it considers results against the socio-economic background or make-up of each catchment. It's not a league table but it's easy to see why parents should treat it as such.
Again, reflecting realities, in 2014 & 2015, Brynhyfryd was Amber but in 2016 slipped to Red. Thereafter, we can see considerable progress in this area. In 2017, it leap-frogged amber to yellow, thanks to a new head and in 2018 to green. There are no figures for 2019. In 2018, Brynhyfryd therefore joined Bryn Elian (Old Colwyn), Mold Alun, Castell Alun (Hope) and the Maelor School (Penley) as the only former Green-banded Clwyd schools.
Life under that head is not always rosy, with a number of long-serving and excellent staff feeling forced to leave or retire. The road to supremacy has been bloody. There's been accusations of senior leadership bullying and extra stress on some staff. And there remain parents who wish to criticise the school as, for example, the school has struggled to cover some lessons and in at least one case has taught to the wrong curriculum. Remember the issues surrounding Brynhyfryd's new uniform? That met with some considerable backlash but, guess what, when pupils returned to school in September 2017, how smart they looked—and how well behaved everyone said they were... even though the pupils themselves hadn't changed one bit.
Throughout the Daily Post guide years, attainment has been very good or excellent. In four of the last six years, the Daily Post recorded the top five stars for academic achievement—including 2019—and Brynhyfryd has never been less than four.
For the Daily Post to name Brynhyfryd its best North Wales school, the school will presumably need to improve its "finances" score. In 2019, the Daily Post accorded Brynhyfryd two stars there. And it will need to continue to score five stars for "progress" but that will be a challenge, as much of the hard work is done.
Towards the end of the 1990s and early 2000s, Brynhyfryd was among the best in Wales. In about 1998, in fact, the Western Mail named Brynhyfryd as such. Its GCSE and A level results were excellent.
Indeed, Brynhyfryd's A level results during that time were far ahead of Schola Ruthinensis' across the road. At the time, head of Brynhyfryd, Roger Edwards, said, "If the government insists on publishing league tables, I am pleased that our school did so well in A-levels and GCSEs". On the other hand, the then head of Ruthin School, John Rowland, was "far more interested in what the school has added to each child". That sounded like a cop-out. Ruthin School came bottom at A level in Denbighshire.
20 years later, and the Times ranks Ruthin School as the 7th strongest at A level in Britain. Last year, Ruthin School was 12th. But this does not at all diminish Brynhyfryd's A level results but reflects both the pupil-teacher ratio and especially the international pool of talent Ruthin School is now able to attract. Indeed, there are reports that staff at Ruthin School struggle to teach their sixth formers anything, so bright are the students. The ranking is skewed by such talent unavailable to Ysgol Brynhyfryd. We also understand that the school is highly selective in terms of its sixth form. Anyone having taken AS levels and predicted not to get three As at A level will be withdrawn and this is a further factor that slants Schola Ruthinensis' results.
That both schools are doing so well is good for Ruthin. Brynhyfryd pupils can be pleased that they're getting an excellent education without their parents having to fork out the £14,000-plus annual fees for the school opposite. Much better value.