Pennar Community School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Pennar Community Primary is an inclusive school, where pupils feel valued by staff and are proud to be part of their school community. Pupils behave well in lessons and are keen to talk about the wide range of learning experiences provided by staff.

A particular strength of the school is its work in creating ethical and informed learners through the pupil voice groups and in the wider curriculum. As a result, many pupils care deeply about the world they live in and are advocates for creating a more sustainable planet. Staff are working well together to create a vibrant curriculum that reflects the strengths of the local community and provides rich experiences for pupils to develop their creative skills.

Leaders work though...tfully with all staff to think carefully about how well the curriculum is meeting the needs of pupils and regularly adjust their approaches when necessary. Where leaders and staff identify a concern, there is a collaborative approach to making improvements, for instance when raising the standards of pupils' writing. Leaders make accurate judgments regarding future priorities, and as a result, many pupils make strong progress in their knowledge and skills as they move through the school.

Leaders ensure that all staff have meaningful and regular opportunities to share practice, contribute to the vision and direction of the school and engage in useful professional learning. As a result, teachers think carefully about what they want their pupils to learn and how their teaching supports progress. In a very few instances, teaching is not matched well enough to the pupils' learning needs and does not develop their independent learning skills well enough.

Pupils with additional learning needs are very well supported and support staff are skilful practitioners who add real value to the teaching and learning in classrooms. Recommendations R1 Build on the good practice across the school to ensure that all teaching is matched appropriately to pupils' developmental needs R2 Improve the provision for mathematics to ensure that teachers develop pupils' skills systematically and can apply them in more relevant and challenging contexts R3 Ensure that all classrooms are engaging environments where all pupils have opportunity to develop their curiosity and independence What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to address the recommendations from the inspection. Estyn will invite the school to prepare a case study on its work in relation to developing ethically informed learners, for dissemination on Estyn's website.