St David’s Catholic School has been praised for its welcoming, caring and inclusive environment following a recent Estyn inspection.
The report highlights a strong sense of belonging across the school community, with inspectors noting that every individual is valued and that the school celebrates the diverse culture of its community with pride.
Staff at the primary school in West Cross provide a nurturing environment, build strong relationships and have clear expectations for behaviour and learning. They display nurturing and respectful attitudes towards pupils to ensure pupils feel safe, happy and ready to learn.
Headteacher Elizabeth Rogers has established a clear vision and staff work well as a team with robust systems in place to secure continuous improvement resulting in positive outcomes for pupils.
The report states: “These effective strategies ensure that most pupils remain engaged and develop confidence as learners.”
“Most pupils, including those with additional learning needs (ALN) and those new to English, make good progress across the curriculum from their individual starting points.”
“Most teaching is effective, with appropriate challenge and support provided. Teachers use purposeful planning, effective questioning and consistent approaches to assessment to help pupils understand how to improve their work and to foster positive attitudes to learning.”
The school’s provision for literacy is a strength and there are frequent opportunities for pupils to develop their speaking and listening, reading and writing skills and to apply them in their work across the curriculum. Pupils make good progress in developing their Welsh language skills.
Mathematics is taught well with flexible approaches and pupils have regular opportunities to apply their numeracy skills across the curriculum.
Ms Rogers said: “We are delighted that the inspection recognises the caring, inclusive ethos of our school and the dedication of our staff. Our pupils and families are at the heart of everything we do, and we are proud of the strong sense of belonging within our community. This report reflects the hard work of our whole school and motivates us to continue improving outcomes and experiences for every child.”
