Ysgol Gynradd Brynsaron

Highlights from Latest Inspection

The acting headteacher has a thorough knowledge of the school's procedures, understands the needs of all pupils well and uses this to provide it with a firm direction. She has strong support from the governors, the whole staff, pupils and parents, which ensures that a strong sense of family and teamwork continue to be firm elements of school life. One of the school's main features is its caring, respectful and familial ethos.

All members of staff, whatever their role, feel like a core part of the community and are always willing to listen to pupils' concerns and respond appropriately, where necessary. They respond well to the needs of nearly all pupils, including those with additional learning needs (ALN). Nearly all pupils are hap...py, well behaved and take pride in belonging to this school.

Most, including those who have been identified as having ALN, make sound progress in nearly all aspects of their learning. However, a minority of pupils' reading strategies, vocabulary and language patterns are limited. This limits their enjoyment of reading, their ability to gather information from print and their ability to express themselves completely fluently in Welsh.

Teachers provide a broad and interesting curriculum for pupils and consider their views sensibly about what they would like to learn in relation to the themes. This gives them ownership of their work and encourages them to give of their best. However, they do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to apply their digital skills across various areas of the curriculum or ensure that they always understand what they need to do to improve their work.

The school promotes pupils' understanding of their Welsh identity, heritage and culture very well. It takes advantage of rich opportunities to encourage pupils to celebrate their Welshness through a range of purposeful activities that nurture their knowledge, understanding and pride meaningfully and effectively. By building on this, it also gives robust consideration to teaching pupils, not only about their local area and Wales, but also about Brynsaron's place in a wider context.

Recommendations R1 Raise the Welsh oracy standards of older pupils to enable them to express themselves completely fluently R2 Strengthen strategies to enable pupils to better understand what they need to do to improve their work R3 Develop pupils' independent reading skills R4 Increase appropriate opportunities for pupils to apply their digital skills across various areas of the curriculum