Pontyclun Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

The headteacher leads a dedicated team of enthusiastic teachers, many of whom bring a wealth of knowledge and experience.

School staff understand the impact of well-being on learning and place an appropriate emphasis on meeting pupils' social and emotional needs from a young age. They strive to create strong sense of belonging and the positive working relationships they form with pupils is a strength of the school. Most pupils are keen to come to school, and many parents feel they are included in the life of the school.

Governors are suitably involved in ensuring that the school is a safe and happy place to be. Throughout the school, most pupils' behaviour is good, and pupils often engage positively with their learning. Th...ey enjoy opportunities to learn more about how relationships are formed and maintained, about the aspects that make someone's identity and about world religions.

They are beginning to explore the history and culture of Wales but there are too few opportunities for pupils to develop their Welsh language skills and, as a result, the progress they make over time is insufficient. The school is developing its understanding of how pupils make progress aligned to the principles of Curriculum for Wales, but this is at an early stage of development. Across the school, pupils develop positive attitudes to reading and make good progress in developing their literacy skills.

They use digital skills well and make the most of opportunities to be active. Many develop good mathematical skills and knowledge but do not use these skills often enough or at an appropriate level in their work across the curriculum. Teachers include pupils' ideas when planning learning experiences.

Older pupils benefit from opportunities to choose how they learn during lessons. From a young age, pupils develop as confident and articulate learners. Many pupils, including those with additional learning needs (ALN) develop well as independent learners.

In many classes, teachers use questioning well and provide pupils with appropriate guidance to support their learning during lessons. Staff enable the youngest pupils to be curious and creative in their play-based learning and the oldest pupils develop mature thinking skills. However, in a few lessons, learning experiences do not challenge all pupils to make the progress they should or to develop sufficiently as independent learners.

Recommendations R1 Sharpen the focus of school self-evaluation and improvement planning to improve outcomes for all pupils in a timely manner R2 Improve the school's understanding of progression in Curriculum for Wales to ensure all pupils make the progress they should R3 Ensure that the school's policies and procedures for addressing the needs of pupils with ALN meet statutory requirements