Inspectors have praised a Cardiff primary school as ‘welcoming and friendly’ and commended pupils for their ‘compassion, empathy, honesty and fairness’.
The report, into Glyncoed Primary in Pentwyn, said a strength of the school is the sense of co-operation and collaboration pupils show and how they value each other’s differences and celebrate the cultural diversity of the community.
The school has 370 pupils, with almost a third (29.4%) eligible for free school meals, more than a quarter (26.8%) for whom English is not their first language and 18.5% with additional learning needs (ALN).
“Overall, pupils enjoy attending school,” said the report. “They are very keen to talk to adults and speak confidently about how proud they are to be in their school. Most make good progress, especially in reading and writing, and there is effective provision for ALN pupils.”
Inspectors highlighted how many pupils make rapid progress with their reading and developing their writing skills. “Older pupils,” they said, “use an increasingly ambitious vocabulary, in particular when showing empathy with prisoners in concentration camps during the Second World War.”
Many pupils, too, develop their oral skills in Welsh appropriately and show enthusiasm for the language while most make good progress in developing their maths and numeracy skills.
The staff work together effectively, said the report, and beneficial relationship between adults and pupils has “a positive effect on nearly all pupils’ behaviour and well-being” while the governors are highly supportive and have a “sound understanding of pupil progress”.
The report noted, however, that pupils are not always given enough opportunities to make “increasingly independent choices about how and what they learn”.
These points will now form part of an action plan for the school to address the recommendations in the report.
Glyncoed headteacher Elizabeth Keys commented: “The staff, pupils and governors are extremely pleased with the outcome of the recent Estyn Inspection. Glyncoed Primary is a lovely school, with a real community feeling. We are glad that this has been recognised in the report.”
Cllr Sarah Merry, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, said she, too, was pleased with the overall report and delighted by how the school celebrates its diversity.
“Glyncoed is clearly a wonderful environment in which to learn and the children are right to be so proud of their school,” she said.
