Ysgol Gynradd Brynsiencyn

Highlights from Latest Inspection

heart rates with those of their friends and coming to sensible conclusions. A whole-school structure has now been adopted for handwriting, and this is beginning to have a positive effect on pupils£ presentation across the school. As a result, a majority of pupils show respect and pride in their work, and their presentation is neat and shows improvement over time.

R3. Improve pupils£ skills in making decisions and taking responsibility for their own learning in order to develop as independent learners Staff have visited schools that demonstrate good practice in terms of creating independent learners in mixed-age classes. As a result, all members of staff understand how learners£ independence can be developed and the advantages of pr...oviding every possible opportunity to give the child a strong voice.

The effect of these activities can be seen clearly in the classrooms, in schemes of work, in the choices for learners in both classes and in the school council's activities. A specific example of developing learners£ independence is the ability of many pupils across the foundation phase to fetch and return purposeful items from outside the classroom. They also develop as independent learners by choosing their challenges wisely.

This is built upon further in key stage 2, as pupils behave maturely when selecting or changing challenges to enable them to achieve highly. However, a minority of pupils at the top of the school continue to be too restricted to writing scaffolds to be completely independent learners. Staff have reorganised the foundation phase class in order to create purposeful areas to encourage independence and nurture learners£ responsibility by returning materials to the correct boxes.

The teacher has promoted independence and responsibility further by creating a number of jobs within the class under the umbrella of £Helper of the Day£. By doing so, pupils lead a plenary session at the beginning of the day, ensure that the library and coat area are tidy, and distribute letters at the end of the day. One very obvious change in the foundation phase is the way in which pupils take responsibility for their own learning when working independently on an adventure task.

Activities in the adventure tasks are introduced by the teacher at the beginning of the week, and QR codes are used purposefully to enable pupils to work independently to gather evidence without input from an adult for the rest of the week. Staff now ensure that the pupil's voice has an effect on planning by seeking pupils£ input at the beginning of new themes and recording what they already know and what they would like to learn. Staff are beginning to become flexible enough to adapt planning as pupils£ ideas and relevant events arise.

Pupils are given an opportunity to organise a celebration or a creative activity as the highlight of each theme. A particular example of this was the £1918 Tea Party£, with food and entertainment from the period to bring the theme £A Oes Heddwch?£ (Is There Peace?) to a close. Pupils are also given opportunities to identify where they can develop their literacy, numeracy or digital skills.

Pupils are given more opportunities to have an influence on school life by shouldering responsibilities on the school council. They develop their role successfully by organising fundraising activities, improving the school environment and planning a safe haven. In the haven, pupils who are worried about something are able to think in a comfortable and safe space.

They also develop their ability to act more strategically by setting a wellbeing priority for the school in relation to improving playtimes. R4. Ensure that planning and teaching provide suitable and challenging targets that respond to the needs of all pupils Since the core inspection, staff, with support from the consortium, have created an a balance of subjects and areas within the themes over time, which mean that opportunities to develop pupils£ literacy, numeracy and ICT skills are clear.

Teachers use comprehensive and purposeful plans to prepare exciting and challenging lessons and activities for the range of ages in both classes. Teachers plan learning experiences that are tailored effectively for the different range of abilities in the class. Pupils are given valuable opportunities to evaluate their progress, and to make mature decisions about which activity is most suitable for them.

They are also encouraged to attend support groups if they feel that this will help them to understand their work better. Assistants work effectively with pupils with additional needs in order to support and motivate them to undertake their tasks successfully, both inside and outside the classroom. Staff question pupils effectively and encourage them to think and discuss with partners regularly in order to challenge all pupils to think.

Staff organise educational visits to support learning and motivate all pupils to apply themselves further to the themes by raising their awareness of local and national history. Examples of this are the trips to Yr Ysgwrn, Llynnon Mill, Celtic burial chambers and Oriel Ynys M£n, among others. R5.

Ensure that pupils have a better understanding of what they need to do in order to improve The school has adopted an agreed assessment policy, which includes responding to pupils£ work and reporting to parents. Staff have also received training on assessment for learning in the classroom. Through these steps, pupils have a better understanding of how to improve their work.

For example, many pupils at the top of key stage 2 use success criteria maturely in order to correct and develop their written work. Teachers share the lesson aim clearly with pupils. They set purposeful challenges for the full range of abilities and ages within the classes, and refer to them appropriately during lessons.

Most pupils select the appropriate level of challenge during their lessons. Key stage 2 pupils select a specific challenge and respond maturely when they feel that they have made the incorrect choice, and that they need more or less of a challenge for a particular activity. This is a very positive feature and shows a very close and constructive relationship between staff and pupils.

Many pupils show a good level of resilience to persevere with their tasks, and an awareness of their own needs. Pupils are given regular opportunities to assess their own work and that of their peers, and many speak sensibly and maturely about the quality of their work. They identify strengths and shortcomings in their work confidently.

They listen to each other well and adapt what they will do following feedback from others. For example, in the foundation phase, pupils use an app to show their performance to the remainder of the class, and then respond to their comments. In key stage 2, most pupils use success criteria in order to decide how successfully they have completed their work and consider the next steps for improvement.

Pupils are becoming more familiar with producing targets for themselves, by selecting suitable and relevant targets. Many pupils use feedback effectively to improve the standard of their work. For example, in the foundation phase, they respond effectively to feedback by adding a capital letter or punctuating correctly.

In key stage 2, they re-draft their extended written work successfully and give detailed attention to the teacher's feedback. R6. Ensure more effective use of the outdoor area in the foundation phase The teacher and support staff in the foundation phase work diligently to establish a daily routine and plan valuable experiences both inside and outside the classroom.

The teacher plans purposefully to develop pupils£ skills in the extensive area that is part of the school's grounds. As a result, this area in a natural part of provision. Staff provide a range of focus tasks, challenges and enrichment activities.

These develop a variety of pupils£ skills across the areas skilfully. The level of challenge of tasks in the outdoor areas corresponds well to the level of challenge of other tasks within the classroom. A particular example of this is a group of pupils searching for verbs that were hidden in the outdoor area near the classroom, in order to use them to create sentences in relation to the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.

The outdoor sheds are used effectively in order to promote pupils£ independence by fetching equipment and putting it aware independently and methodically. The school has transformed the area immediately outside the classroom highly purposefully. This area is now attractive, stimulating and is developing to become a natural extension of the classroom as a space for pupils to practise a range of skills.

For example, pupils have built a bug hotel, and flowers and herbs have been planted in order to promote pupils£ curiosity, knowledge and understanding of nature. £ Crown Copyright 2020: This report may be re-used free of charge in any format or medium provided that it is re-used accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the report specified.