Ysgol Penglais

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Effective leadership and a culture of trust has strengthened the teaching and learning experiences at the school over time.

Strong positive working relationships between pupils and staff are a consistent and important characteristic of Ysgol Penglais. Most pupils have mature attitudes towards their education and work with staff to ensure that the school is a calm and pleasant learning environment. Most behave well in lessons, and many have positive attitudes towards learning.

The headteacher provides assured leadership and is well supported by leaders at all levels. Together, they provide a clear strategic direction and know the strengths and areas for improvement of the school well. They improve quality successfully.
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The school has a clear vision for the development of its curriculum which is based on the findings of research on effective education practice. Professional learning is a strength, and the development of teaching is central to these curricular developments. Teachers are involved in a wide range of both whole school and individual initiatives to improve their practice.

This has resulted in consistently high-quality teaching that leads to secure development in pupils' subject knowledge and skills. Pupils who attend the Hearing Resource Centre and Learning Support Centre also make good progress from their starting points. Many teachers plan purposefully to ensure that pupils develop their thinking skills well.

Provision for pupils' literacy skills is strong, and, as a result, pupils' oracy, reading and writing skills are well developed. However, provision to develop pupils' digital skills is at an early stage of development. Pupils who studied Welsh first language in their primary schools continue to do so at Ysgol Penglais and most pupils are entered for a Welsh first or second language qualification in Year 11.

However, the school does not promote a Welsh ethos well enough, and there are insufficient opportunities for pupils to develop their Welsh language skills. The school has a wide range of strategies to support the wellbeing of all pupils, including those that have additional learning needs and those who require emotional support. The school has provided good support for vulnerable pupils as they returned to school life following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leaders make effective use of pupil voice surveys to evaluate well-being priorities and implement plans to improve provision for this aspect. As a result of the care and support provided by staff, most pupils feel safe at the school. However, work to improve the school's provision for personal, social and health education is at an early stage of development.

In addition, the school does not always communicate well enough with parents and pupils on how incidents of poor behaviour or alleged bullying are addressed. Recommendations R1 Increase the opportunities for pupils to develop their Welsh language skills R2 Strengthen the safeguarding culture of the school by communicating clearly with all pupils and parents how incidents of behaviour and alleged bullying are addressed, as well as improving the provision for personal and social education R3 Improve cross-curricular provision to develop pupils' digital skills R4 Address the health and safety concerns shared with the school during the inspection What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to address the recommendations from the inspection. Estyn will invite the school to prepare case studies on its work in relation to its professional learning programme and its work implementing a Curriculum for Wales for dissemination on Estyn's website.