Inspection Report Ysgol Gynradd Tudweiliog ENG 2012
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A report on Ysgol Gynradd Tudweiliog Tudweiliog Pwllheli Gwynedd LL53 8ND Date of inspection: January 2012 by Estyn, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales During each inspection, inspectors aim to answer three key questions: Key Question 1: How good are the outcomes? Key Question 2: How good is provision? Key Question 3: How good are leadership and management? Inspectors also provide an overall judgement on the school’s current performance and on its prospects for improvement. In these evaluations, inspectors use a four-point scale: Judgement What the judgement means Excellent Many strengths, including significant examples of sector-leading practice Good Many strengths and no important areas requiring significant improvement Adequate Strengths outweigh areas for improvement Unsatisfactory Important areas for improvement outweigh strengths The report was produced in accordance with Section 28 of the Education Act 2005. Every possible care has been taken to ensure that the information in this document is accurate at the time of going to press. Any enquiries or comments regarding this document/publication should be addressed to: Publication Section Estyn Anchor Court Keen Road Cardiff CF24 5JW or by email to [email protected] This and other Estyn publications are available on our website: www.estyn.gov.uk This report has been translated by Trosol (Welsh to English). © Crown Copyright 2012: This report may be re-used free of charge in any format or medium provided that it is re-used accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the report specified. A report on Ysgol Gynradd Tudweiliog January 2012 Context Ysgol Tudweiliog is located in the village of Tudweiliog, which is approximately four miles from Nefyn in Gwynedd. In addition to the children in the village, children from the village of Llangwnnadl attend the school. There are 43 pupils on roll, including seven part-time, nursery age pupils. Eighty-one per cent of pupils come from Welsh-speaking homes. There are no pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds. Five per cent of pupils are entitled to free school meals, which is much lower than the Wales average. Ten per cent of pupils are on the additional learning needs register, which is lower than the national average. No-one has a statement of special educational needs. The headteacher has been in post since September 1996. The school budget per pupil for Ysgol Tudweiliog in 2011-2012 is £4,163. The maximum in terms of schools’ budgets per pupil in Gwynedd’s primary schools is £7,732 and the minimum is £2,674. Ysgol Tudweiliog is 28th out of the 102 primary schools in Gwynedd in terms of its school budget per pupil. 1 A report on Ysgol Gynradd Tudweiliog January 2012 Summary The school’s current performance Good The school’s prospects for improvement Good Current performance The school’s performance is good because: all of the school’s pupils are developing as confident and independent learners and they achieve good standards; pupils’ oral skills in Welsh are good and are having a clear effect on standards; the school provides a wide range of experiences for pupils in order to enrich teaching and learning; teaching is consistently good throughout the school, and there is effective use of classroom assistants; and the school is a happy and caring community. Prospects for improvement Prospects for improvement are good because of: the headteacher’s robust vision that sets a clear strategy for the school; the effective use of data to track pupils’ progress and raise standards; and the close link between self-evaluation and the school development plan, which identifies clear priorities for improvement. 2 A report on Ysgol Gynradd Tudweiliog January 2012 Recommendations In order to improve, the school needs to: R1 improve standards of written English across the curriculum; R2 ensure consistency in marking pupils’ work effectively and subsequent responses from pupils; R3 develop global citizenship further across the school; and R4 develop the role of governors to contribute more effectively to the self-evaluation process and provide more of a challenge to the school. What happens next? The school will produce an action plan that shows how it will address the recommendations. 3 A report on Ysgol Gynradd Tudweiliog January 2012 Main findings Key Question 1: How good are outcomes? Good Standards: Good Ysgol Tudweiliog’s pupils are making good progress and are developing across the school to be confident and independent learners. In the Foundation Phase, pupils are making good progress in their Welsh literacy skills. Oral skills are strong, and pupils communicate completely naturally in polished spoken language that reflects the local area’s phraseology. Pupils use Welsh naturally when conversing with one another and when discussing their work. The reading skills of most pupils in the Foundation Phase are good and some of them are developing into confident readers to a standard appropriate to their age and ability. Most pupils have a firm understanding of phrasing and punctuation. By the end of the Foundation Phase, the majority write independently and appropriately for different purposes. By the end of key stage 2, most pupils are making good progress in their reading. They show a fondness for books and are developing into confident readers in Welsh. The majority of pupils use advanced reading skills confidently in order to collect information in both languages. Pupils who receive additional support with reading are making good progress. Most key stage 2 pupils are making appropriate progress in their written work in Welsh. However, pupils are not redrafting their work in order to improve their first attempts. Pupils’ writing standards in English have not sufficiently developed. A minority of pupils use awkward syntax and spell phonetically. Pupils with additional learning needs are making appropriate progress according to their individual targets. Care is needed when responding to the school’s performance data at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2 because pupil numbers are small. The percentage of Foundation Phase pupils attaining the expected level (level 2) compares favourably with the family of schools’ averages over the last four years. The percentage reaching level 3 or higher in Welsh and mathematics has been significantly higher than the family of schools’ averages over a period of three out of the last four years. There are no obvious trends between the performance of boys and girls who reach the expected level in a combination of Welsh, mathematics and science Pupils’ achievements at the end of key stage 2 in the core subject indicator (namely level 4 in a combination of Welsh or English, mathematics and science) have been higher than the family’s averages and the all-Wales averages in three out of the last four years. The pattern for the separate subjects has been uneven over a period of four years. The trends in pupils’ achievements at level 5 or higher are uneven in Welsh, mathematics and science. Pupils’ achievements at level 5 and higher in English are considerably lower than the family’s averages and the all-Wales averages. 4 A report on Ysgol Gynradd Tudweiliog January 2012 In both key stages, achievements have varied between the top 25% and the bottom 25% over the last four years in comparison with those of similar schools in terms of the percentage of pupils who are entitled to free school meals. Wellbeing: Good Most pupils have a firm understanding of the importance of eating healthily. All of the school’s full-time pupils take part in the ‘Dal i fynd’ club twice a week, which contributes to their good understanding of the importance of a healthy body and mind. All of the school’s pupils enjoy their learning activities and show high levels of motivation and enthusiasm. All of the school’s pupils work independently and work together well. Standards of behaviour are very good, and pupils are polite and show respect and care for adults and for their peers. Attendance at the school is good. Members of the school council and the ‘Green Group’ are developing their role effectively and are having a positive influence on the school’s work. They contribute to decisions by organising activities and raising money for charities. There is a close link between the school and the local community and, through visits and activities, pupils develop good awareness of their local community. Most pupils have very strong interpersonal skills across the school and this is reflected in their confidence in working together and problem-solving. Key Question 2: How good is provision? Good Learning experiences: Good The school provides a wide and balanced variety of learning experiences that respond fully to the requirements of the Foundation Phase, the National Curriculum and religious education. Those experiences stimulate pupils’ interest and meet their needs in full, as well as those of employers and the community. Visitors come to the school to share their experiences and various activities and visits are arranged to places of interest in order to reinforce learning. The opportunities for pupils to develop and build on their key skills are planned well across the range of subjects. Valuable opportunities in Welsh are provided for pupils to develop their communication skills and this provision enables pupils to discuss and express an opinion confidently. The Welsh dimension has a central place in the school’s programme of work and the Welsh nature of the community is reflected effectively in activities. This develops pupils’ understanding of their culture and their environment effectively. The school has developed a productive garden and the produce is sold in the fruit shop.