We are delighted to share with you the school’s Estyn report from October 2023. Whilst we were expecting the inspection, it is always a busy (and nervous) time for all the children and school staff.
As you will read in the report, the inspectors found our school to be what we all know it to be… a wonderfully nurturing, caring and inspirational place to be. The following quotations are highlights of the report:
“Catwg Primary School is a warm and caring school, where staff place a high priority on the well-being of its pupils”
“Across the school, most pupils make good progress in their learning from their individual starting points, including pupils in the hearing impaired classes and those with Additional Learning Needs.”
“Relationships between staff and pupils, and between each other, are exceptional.”
“All pupils are very supportive of each other and have very positive attitudes to school life. They behave extremely well during lessons and when moving around the school.”
“The school provides a good range of extra-curricular activities that develop and enhance a wide range of skills effectively and inspire pupils to take up new interests. These experiences develop pupils’ life skills and well-being positively.”
“The newly appointed headteacher provides clear strategic leadership. The school’s vision, mission and values are evident in the work of the senior leaders, staff and governors. He has developed a strong team ethos where all staff feel valued and are passionate about providing a quality education for all pupils.”
Of course, no school ‘gets away’ with no recommendations… and Catwg is no different! We were supportively challenged on our areas of development, and whilst we support the findings, it is important to contextualise them. They are are follows:
R1 – Ensure that pupils from Year 3 to Year 6 have sufficient opportunities to experience all mathematical concepts and to apply their numeracy skills regularly in their work across the curriculum.
Response and action – We have been fully invested in the CPA Approach (Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract Approach / Mastery of Maths) over the past couple of years – this has resulted in, as noted in the report, “… the development of pupils’ comprehensive grasp of number work in mathematics.” As a result of the report, we will ensure that areas such as “Shape, Shape and Measure” etc are covered with more regularity.
R2 – Ensure that teaching consistently provides opportunities to develop older pupils’ independent skills and challenges all pupils, particularly those who are more able.
Response and action – The school is proud of all its pupils, including its ‘More Able’ pupils. We celebrate exceptionally high levels of academic achievement, alongside our sporting, musical, theatrical and approaches to Peace Mala and the total communication approach which supports our HI pupils and others. We will aim to further develop our ‘More Able’ provision, allowing them more freedom in their learning to develop their independence and creativity.
R3 – Provide pupils with meaningful opportunities to influence what and how they learn and to contribute to the development of the school.
Response and action – We have listened and acted upon many suggestions raised by the pupils over the past year or so. Improvements have included a mass expansion to the extra-curricular offer to pupils, huge safeguarding improvements across the school site, active involvement in sporting tournaments and inter-school fixtures, redevelopment of the demountable classrooms (with more still to come!). Alongside this, the pupil voice groups (including School Council, Digital Leaders, Eco-Committee, Road Safety, Criw Cymraeg) have redeveloped the school vision, developed their own Four Purpose characters, developed the ‘Vision Tree’, created their own Online Safety rules, presented awards for Welsh usage, shared messages about staying safe on the roads. Moving forward, we will continue to actively involve our pupils in decision making across all areas of school life!
The full report can be read here, with the abridged parent/carer version available here.
If you require a paper version of the report, please contact the school office – we will happily provide this for you.