Aberbargoed Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Aberbargoed Primary School is a highly inclusive school that places a high priority on the well-being of its pupils.

Pupils know that all adults in the school care for them and that they can turn to them when they face challenges or have difficulties. As a result of this, the majority of pupils make good progress with their academic and social skills. The valuable, caring ethos that staff have worked so hard to create means that the school was in a strong position to deal with the impact of the pandemic.

Effective partnerships with parents and the commitment of staff meant that pupils and their families felt well supported during this time. Most pupils make good progress from their starting points and there is suitable pro...vision for pupils with additional learning needs. Overall, pupils make purposeful progress in developing their skills in English and mathematics, but they do not always apply these skills well enough in their topic work.

Pupils in the foundation phase benefit from effective provision and are given exceptional opportunities for them to collaborate, experiment and learn through experience. Pupils contribute well to a variety of groups and committees and can give examples of how their work has impacted on the school. The headteacher recognises that work needs to be done around identifying suitable opportunities for improving monitoring and evaluation processes and how staff and pupils will benefit from this.

Staff roles and responsibilities need to be clarified in order to support improvement. She is aware that standards in teaching from Years 3 to 6 need to be improved and expectations raised. Governors know the school well and provide good support for the newly appointed headteacher.

They have a wide range of knowledge and experience that help them carry out their role. Recommendations R1 Address the standards of teaching and low expectations for pupils in Years 3 to 6 R2 Create opportunities to develop pupils' independent skills and further challenge pupils in Years 3 to 6 R3 Ensure that senior leaders robustly monitor and evaluate learning and teaching to identify key areas for improvement R4 Develop the roles of leaders at every level to secure improvement What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to show how it is going to address the recommendations. Estyn will work with the local authority to review the school's progress.