Llangyfelach Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Llangyfelach Primary School is a calm and supportive environment where pupils feel happy and safe.

Staff work hard across the school to provide pupils with the support they need in their work and their emotional and social development. For example, the 'Turn Your Frown Upside Down Club' has a positive impact on well-being and is a firm favourite of many pupils across the school. Most pupils make good progress across the school, including those with additional learning needs.

There is a strong focus on developing literacy and numeracy in all classes, particularly following the pandemic, and teachers and support staff work well together to make sure pupils achieve well in using these skills. However, standards of handwriting... across the school are too variable and pupils do not always present their work well enough. Leaders and staff are thinking carefully about the school's curriculum and are beginning to develop interesting themes that encourage curiosity and link pupils' learning in different subjects together.

These approaches are at an early stage of development and opportunities for pupils to be creative and understand the cultural diversity across Wales are more limited. Teachers generally understand the needs of their pupils well. They use questioning effectively to encourage pupils to think about their learning and provide effective feedback, which pupils act upon to make their work better.

Where improvement is required, teachers need to help pupils develop a clearer understanding of what they are trying to achieve and how best to go about their work. Pupils are developing a strong voice within the school. They have opportunities to influence what they learn through their pupil groups, all of which are linked to areas of the school's curriculum.

In each class, pupils are encouraged to be curious and express their ideas when working with their teachers to plan learning activities in class projects. The headteacher has a strong vision for the school and is well supported by senior leaders and staff in moving this vision forward. For example, the school has created useful learning journals that reflect the school's values, which are beginning to support pupils in becoming more independent in their learning.

Governors and leaders across the school work very well together to identify priorities for improvement. A strength of the school is the involvement of almost all staff and a range of pupils within this process. Recommendations R1 Share the good practice in curriculum design across the school R2 Reduce the variability in the quality of teaching across the school by drawing on existing examples of effective practice R3 Improve standards of handwriting and presentation across the school What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to address the recommendations from the inspection.