A PAIR of Newport schools, as well as another in Monmouthshire and two in Blaenau Gwent have been held up as good examples of how teaching can be improved.

Newport's Lliswerry High School and Rogerstone Primary School, as well as King Henry VIII Comprehensive School in Abergavenny and Blaenau Gwent's Deighton Primary and Tredegar Comprehensive schools have been singled out in a new report by education inspector Estyn.

The Improving Teaching report found those schools where a focus is placed on developing and improving teaching are those where pupils achieve better results after areas for improvement are identified in inspections.

Rogerstone Primary was found to have made great strides following an inspection in December 2013 which found it was "in need of significant improvement". The school was applauded for its approach to planning the curriculum and improving assessments, meaning teachers had a better picture of individual pupils' capabilities. Estyn also found staff were given opportunities to develop their own leadership skills.

Although an inspection of Lliswerry High in April 2013 found "shortcomings in teaching across the school", later inspections found this was no longer a problem.

Meanwhile King Henry VII Comprehensive was found to have made "strong progress" in addressing problems around self-evaluation identified in an inspection in December 2014. The report said: "Leaders have put in place effective systems to improve the quality of teaching and share good practice across the school."

Although Deighton Primary was found to be in need of "significant improvement" in October 2011, an inspection in June 2013 found progress had been made. And another inspection in June 2015 found the school was "good" in all areas.

The report said: "The school is continuing on its improvement journey by sharing good practice in teaching across the school to ensure a consistently high standard."

And Tredegar Comprehensive was found to have "improved significantly its quality of teaching and pupil outcomes" since an inspection in November 2009 identified "significant shortcomings in standards of attainment and attendance".

Chief inspector Meilyr Rowlands said: “Effective teaching is at the heart of school improvement and central to implementing a new curriculum in Wales.

"School leaders should encourage an open classroom culture where teachers are comfortable when reflecting on and sharing their practice.”