Radyr Comprehensive School cardiff

This School is probably the worst school in Cardiff. The teachers have not got a clue how to control the children and their behavior. My Daughter has been bullied by fellow students for well over a month now and nothing has been resolved. I feel like nothing will ever change they are more worried about the end of year Estyn report than actually tackling problems professionally. It's now at the stage where I have to get the police involved.

Well-being support is good. Communication is poor. Some teachers reply to messages, but others do not. No support is given to those with minor learning difficulties. Teachers become increasingly elusive when support is needed with controlled assessments, in some cases timing them so that they cannot be contacted at all. The English Dept is particularly poor, relying too heavily on software packages and self-learning and not enough on written practice. The Maths and Music departments are strong. A number of parents find it necessary to use tutors to help their children to reach their potential. Recently the school sent out a letter appearing to promote the use of tutors. KS3 children are supposed to have 5 hours of homework a week. In reality this is usually closer to 1 hour. Most subject books are handed in for marking once every half term, so feedback is poor. Children are happy at the school.

My daughter is studying here. On the whole, she is happy and has become quite active in a range of extra curricula activities that the school has to offer and seems to get on with the teachers. However, we do feel there are areas where the school could improve. Communication seems to be a problem and if you are waiting for a response from the school, forget it! The other issue we had was that despite her predicted grades being good for her GCSE, results on assignments were poor. On chatting with my daughter (as teenage daughter and mother go, it's not bad!) it became apparent that there was a heavy reliance on supply teachers for certain subjects so continuity had been affected. Other pupils seemed to be doing okay so I investigated further and it seems that majority of parents were paying for extra private tuition!!! What??? Go figure.....

Great school! Great atmosphere! Enables kids to develop their education in the correct way

Communication is awful. Children get detention for school uniform infringements, but not for using mobile phones in lessons. Some toilets don't have doors.