Penycae Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Penycae Community School is a happy and caring community.

Leaders have created a clear vision and work purposefully to ensure a safe and inclusive environment where pupils feel valued and supported. Staff know their pupils very well and understand their needs. This allows pupils to thrive in the school's inclusive environment.

Pupils know that adults in the school care for them and that they can turn to them when they face challenges or have difficulties. Support for pupils' emotional well-being is highly effective. This is particularly evident in the positive encouragement staff provide for pupils with additional learning needs (ALN).

Most pupils behave well and show positive attitudes to learning. They are welco...ming and polite, show respect to adults and are caring towards their peers. The school's curriculum is broad and balanced and underpinned by the school's strong values and ethos.

Teachers and support staff plan engaging learning experiences that help to ensure most pupils make good progress with their skills during lessons and over time. They listen carefully to what pupils want to learn and weave their ideas into well-planned sequences of lessons that build systematically on pupils' knowledge and understanding. Classrooms and outdoor spaces are productive, active learning environments.

This ensures that most pupils focus well during lessons and demonstrate interest in their learning. Most teaching is purposeful and enables pupils to develop their skills well. However, the provision to develop pupils' Welsh language skills and numeracy across the curriculum is less well developed.

School leaders have high expectations of themselves and others and aspire for the best learning experiences for all. They are ably supported by a committed team of dedicated and caring staff who strive to ensure that pupils' well-being and progress are paramount. Leaders know the school well and are open and honest about its strengths and areas for improvement.

For example, the school recognises the need to provide more opportunities for pupils to develop their independence and the skills to improve their own learning. The governors support the school with wisdom and integrity and have a strong understanding of their duties and obligations. Recommendations R1 Provide opportunities for pupils to develop their independent learning skills, including how they organise and present their work R2 Ensure that the quality of teachers' feedback targets the next steps in pupils' learning effectively and the time to act upon it R3 Further develop the curriculum to ensure that the school provides a systematic whole school approach to the development of pupils' Welsh language skills and their use of numeracy skills across the curriculum What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to address the recommendations from the inspection.