Ysgol Bryn Gwalia C.P.

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Ysgol Bryn Gwalia is a nurturing, inclusive school, which provides exceptional care and support for its pupils.

Relationships across the school are strong and parents, pupils and staff feel valued. Provision for pupils' well-being is a strength of the school. The school offers a range of beneficial initiatives to help pupils to improve their self-esteem and recognise their emotions.

For example, the school's nurture class, Dosbarth Derwen, supports small groups of pupils to regulate their behaviour and to make effective progress in their learning. Leaders and staff know their pupils well. Approaches to teaching match pupils' developmental needs well throughout their time at school.

Staff use questioning, assessmen...t and feedback effectively to check pupils' understanding and to move learning on. Provision for pupils with additional learning needs (ALN) is strong. This includes carefully tailored support from the school's teaching assistant.

Despite their low starting points, most pupils engage well with their learning and make strong progress in their literacy, numeracy and digital skills during their time at the school. The school curriculum is broad and balanced and teachers provide a progressive range of activities to develop pupils' literacy, numeracy and digital skills. However, across the school, opportunities for pupils to apply their skills in relevant, real-life situations are inconsistent.

Teachers support pupils to develop their sense of 'cynefin' (belonging) and their understanding of life as modern-day citizens in Wales effectively. This work supports pupils to gain a good understanding of their own identity and to develop empathy with other people. The headteacher is a compassionate, caring leader who works successfully alongside the governing body and staff to drive school improvement.

Self-evaluation procedures are robust and this supports leaders to identify school strengths and areas for further improvement effectively. Leaders adopt a worthwhile, collaborative approach embracing the input of parents and the community. This provides beneficial additional support to the school and helps pupils to make strong progress with their learning.

Recommendations R1 Refine provision to ensure that there are consistent opportunities for pupils to apply their literacy, numeracy and digital skills in relevant, real-life situations