Ysgol Gynradd Tanygrisiau

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Very recently, Ysgol Tanygrisiau has merged formally in a federation with Ysgol Bro Cynfal and Ysgol Edmwnd Prys.

Together, they create the Bro Tangelli federation. Most pupils enjoy school. They are confident that the school responds promptly to any concerns they have.

On the whole, pupils are not given enough purposeful opportunities to develop their leadership skills by contributing their ideas to their learning and to the wider life and work of the school. Most pupils are polite and thoughtful, behave well and treat their peers and visitors with respect. Nearly all members of staff have a close and effective working relationship with pupils.

They have an appropriate understanding of their needs and, overall, p...rovide purposeful activities for them. However, teachers in the school's upper years do not provide opportunities for pupils to apply their extended writing and numeracy skills purposefully enough across the areas of learning. Where teaching is at its best, teachers across the federation work together effectively to plan stimulating and interesting areas that meet pupils' needs appropriately.

This has a positive effect on the enthusiasm and participation of the youngest pupils and supports them consistently to make good progress in their skills. However, the oldest pupils' teachers do not work together purposefully enough to share effective teaching practices. As a result, the quality of teaching is inconsistent and teachers have a tendency to over-direct learning, which limits the ability of a minority of the oldest pupils to develop their skills, including their independent learning skills.

The headteacher of Ysgol Tanygrisiau is currently the headteacher in charge of the federation. He is supported enthusiastically by staff and governors and, with parents and pupils, they have worked together to create a purposeful vision for the new federation. Leaders have recently identified the need to evaluate provision and pupils' standards.

However, the school's current self-evaluation and planning for improvement processes have not identified important weaknesses in provision. This slows pupils' progress over time. As a result, many recommendations from previous inspections continue to be important areas for improvement.

Recommendations R1 Ensure that the school's self-evaluation processes evaluate pupils' outcomes thoroughly to prioritise specific areas for improvement in provision to raise standards R2 Ensure consistency in effective teaching methods to support pupils to make progress in line with their age and stage of development R3 Provide purposeful opportunities for pupils to apply their numeracy and extended writing skills across the curriculum R4 Provide valuable opportunities for pupils to develop their leadership skills so that they contribute proactively to the school's life and work and improve their attitudes to learning