Abercynon Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Abercynon Community Primary School is a welcoming, inclusive school that places a high priority on the well-being of its pupils. The headteacher and senior leaders are highly invested in the school and its community.

Staff at all levels work together effectively in pupils' best interests and are proud of the positive relationships with them. As a result, most pupils feel happy, safe and valued. During their time in school, most pupils make effective progress in many areas of the curriculum and strong progress in developing their listening and speaking skills.

However, across the school, pupils do not develop their Welsh language skills as well as they could. Staff collaborate successfully to plan interesting authentic lear...ning experiences to ensure that the curriculum is broad and balanced. They enrich the curriculum well through regular educational trips and visitors to the school.

Teaching across the school has many strengths. However, self-evaluation processes have not identified that, in a minority of lessons, teachers do not provide pupils with enough challenge. Staff know pupils well and understand their needs successfully.

They provide strong support for pupils that need extra help, including those with additional learning needs (ALN). Staff in the specialist resource class have created a highly inclusive environment where pupils grow in confidence and make effective progress. As a result, nearly all pupils' individual needs are met, enabling them to thrive and grow in confidence.

Recommendations R1 Ensure that self-evaluation and improvement strategies focus sharply on the impact of teaching on learning R2 Address the inconsistencies in the quality of teaching across the school with a particular focus on ensuring that all pupils are challenged effectively R3 Improve pupils' Welsh language oracy skills across the school