Plasmarl Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Plasmarl is a highly inclusive school where pupils thrive. The headteacher is an inspirational and compassionate leader and along with her leadership team, teachers, and support staff she provides outstanding well-being and learning opportunities for pupils. The school community values each child for their individuality and the contributions that they make to the Plasmarl family.

Staff create a warm and welcoming environment where pupils feel valued and safe. School leaders know their families well and work sensitively with them to understand the challenges they face and provide appropriate support. There is a strong sense of belonging within the school.

School leaders ensure that a rich and purposeful curriculum and high-...quality teaching lead to all pupils, including those from low-income families, making strong progress. The school's holistic approach to well-being is outstanding. Staff in the nurture classes provide exceptionally high levels of care and support for vulnerable pupils and their families.

They plan relevant and bespoke workshops and visitors to school to support pupils and their families. Staff constantly adapt and adjust their practice to improve pupil outcomes. Pupils with additional learning needs (ALN) and social and emotional needs make strong progress as a result of the individualised and expert support they receive from highly skilled and motivated teachers and support staff.

This thoughtful and highly effective practice has impacted significantly on pupil attendance and parental engagement, Teachers use purposeful research and enquiry to improve their practice. They reflect on what works well for Plasmarl pupils and skilfully plan exciting and stimulating lessons alongside the pupils. Senior leaders work with teachers to develop highly effective assessment strategies throughout the school.

This results in high levels of pupil engagement and strong teaching and learning experiences. There is a shared understanding of what good learning looks like across the school. This enables pupils to develop well as reflective and independent learners.

The well-designed curriculum reflects the context of the school. It provides valuable opportunities for pupils to make sense of their learning and to relate what they learn to their own life experiences. Across the school, nearly all pupils achieve well.

They develop literacy, mathematical and numeracy skills systematically. Nearly all pupils apply their skills across other areas of the curriculum effectively. The rich and engaging curriculum enables pupils to develop their creativity, thinking and problem-solving skills in purposeful and real-life contexts.

Younger pupils' Welsh language skills develop well. However, older pupils' use of Welsh language does not develop well enough. Recommendations R1 Continue to improve pupils' Welsh speaking skills 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 a case study on its work in relation to 1. Raising the attendance of the most vulnerable pupils with the implementation of highly effective individualised wellbeing support 2. Improving pupil outcomes, engagement and understanding of how they learn through the use of purposeful assessment strategies for dissemination on Estyn's website.