Ysgol Derwen

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Ysgol Derwen is a friendly and inclusive school, which promotes a caring ethos successfully. There are purposeful working relationships between pupils and staff that support a positive environment and instil a strong sense of learning and well-being among pupils.

Pupils enjoy learning both indoors and around the school grounds, and they are enthusiastic during lessons and tasks. During their time at school, pupils develop effective social, literacy, numeracy and digital skills. However, the provision for Welsh does not improve pupils' oracy skills well enough.

Pupils' outcomes are particularly successful where the teaching is challenging and consistent. They respond enthusiastically when they receive feedback from teachers... that challenges them to perform at their best. The planning of the school's curriculum and the school environment promotes beneficial learning opportunities.

For example, staff use the woodland and orchard creatively to engage pupils in outdoor learning. Staff demonstrate positive attitudes towards pupils, and they support and care for them diligently. This contributes to pupils' eagerness to learn and their resilience to persevere with tasks.

Staff effectively encourage pupils to take responsibility for their own well-being and behaviour and the emotional support for pupils is a strong feature of the school. The headteacher leads the school with the pupils' care and well-being at the heart of his vision. He works well with senior leaders, staff and governors to ensure that the school is an inclusive learning community that promotes positive opportunities for pupils.

Generally, leaders evaluate the school's work effectively, using regular self-evaluation processes, which lead to purposeful development plans. However, they do not hold staff to account robustly enough for the effectiveness and consistency of their teaching. The school's monitoring activities lead to relevant training opportunities for staff to develop their skills through agreed and purposeful professional learning.

Recommendations R1 Ensure that the rigour of monitoring processes improves the consistency and effectiveness of teaching R2 Ensure that provision for Welsh improves pupils' oracy skills