Blaenavon Heritage Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Pupils enjoy learning and they are enthusiastic during lessons and in activities around the school. Teachers promote a positive and inclusive atmosphere, and the pupils embrace the opportunities to develop positive working relationships with their teachers and other staff.

Overall, the extensive school environment promotes beneficial learning opportunities. Learning is particularly successful where the teaching is purposeful and challenges pupils to perform at their best. However, the quality of teaching is inconsistent and the quality of teachers' feedback to pupils does not help them to improve their work effectively.

Pupils make good progress in developing their listening, speaking, reading, digital and numeracy skills,... and they achieve well from their starting points. Additionally, pupils' Welsh oracy skills are developing adequately. However, teachers do not plan well enough for pupils to write at length in English, to demonstrate their true abilities.

All staff promote a positive ethos of support for pupils. This motivates pupils to care for each other's feelings and it encourages nearly all pupils to behave well. This contributes to pupils' positive attitudes to learning.

It promotes resilience and perseverance when attempting challenging tasks as individuals, in pairs and in groups. As a result, the school helps pupils to become confident, whilst also respecting the feelings of others. Leaders evaluate the school's work to plan for improvements rigorously.

The new headteacher provides strong and effective leadership. Recent changes to monitoring and evaluation processes highlight her determination to ensure success for the pupils and the community. The senior leadership team, the staff and the governors share her clear vision, and they work together cohesively to ensure that the school improves.

The headteacher shares responsibilities effectively among the senior leadership team and she is beginning to develop purposeful professional learning opportunities for staff. This is at an early stage of development; however, it ensures that staff feel valued for their contributions to school life. Recommendations R1 Improve pupils' extended writing R2 Ensure that the quality of teachers' feedback targets the next steps in pupils' learning effectively R3 Challenge all pupils through consistent and effective teaching R4 Ensure that relevant professional learning improves provision and pupils' outcomes What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to address the recommendations from the inspection.