Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Y Login Fach

Highlights from Latest Inspection

The school is a homely community that promotes pupils' well-being successfully. Nearly all pupils behave very well and most make good progress from their starting points. Nearly all pupils feel safe and know whom to approach for support.

Pupils' well-being and positive attitudes to learning are a clear strength at the school. A priority is placed on ensuring that pupils develop a sound understanding of their rights and of the importance of encouraging equality and being moral citizens. Nearly all pupils are proud to attend a Welsh-medium school and use the language regularly in classes and during break times.

Most teachers and support staff have high expectations of all pupils. They know their pupils well, praise them for ...their efforts and encourage them to succeed. As a result, pupils have the confidence to try and are happy to learn from their mistakes.

An interesting and balanced curriculum is provided for pupils and staff consider their ideas when planning to ensure that they have ownership of their tasks. However, they do not always provide enough opportunities for pupils to develop their numeracy skills or extended writing skills, where appropriate, across the curriculum. Although the school's leadership situation has been unstable over the past few years, a new headteacher has now begun her work.

What is important to her is that the school provides broad, exciting and interesting experiences for pupils, which motivate them to develop as independent and enthusiastic learners. She is keen to work with the governors, parents, teachers, support staff and members of the senior leadership team to ensure that the school is a happy and safe place that respects the contribution of all members of the community. Although the school has self-evaluation processes to try to identify its strengths and areas for improvement, they are not incisive enough or established strongly enough to have the best effect of provision or standards.

Governors support the school well. However, they rely too much on guidance from staff to improve the school and have a tendency to provide more support than challenge in their role as critical friends. Recommendations R1 Ensure that leadership processes become stable and lead to improvement R2 Strengthen the role of governors to enable them to act effectively as critical friends R3 Provide regular opportunities for pupils to apply their numeracy and extended writing skills across the curriculum What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to show how it will address the recommendations.

Estyn will review the school's progress. Main findings Learning Most pupils, including those with additional learning needs and those who are eligible for free school meals, make good progress from their starting points. In the nursery and reception classes, many pupils use an increasing range of vocabulary purposefully in various situations.

By Year 2, many listen attentively to instructions from adults and respect the views of their peers. In Year 4, most discuss various topics confidently, such as the advantages and disadvantages of school uniform. By Year 6, most communicate fluently in both languages.

They listen well to each other and respect the views of others when discussing various topics. They use suitable vocabulary, for example to provide a voiceover for a film about online safety. Nearly all are proud to be able to speak Welsh and do so enthusiastically in formal and informal situations.

Most pupils' reading skills are developing well. The youngest ones use an appropriate range of phonic strategies to read familiar and unfamiliar words. By Year 2, most use their reading skills confidently, for example when following instructions on how to cross the main road.

Most older pupils read accurately in various contexts in both languages. They develop their higher order reading skills appropriately to gather information from different sources, for example when researching the Aberfan disaster. Many of the youngest pupils' early writing skills are developing well.

In the nursery class, many practice creating patterns successfully by using different materials. By Year 2, they begin to write in an appropriate range of contexts, which include a review of their favourite Welsh book. Many Year 4 pupils have an increasing understanding of the structure and accuracy of the language, which includes the correct use of verbs and mutations.

Many pupils at the top of the school develop their extended writing skills appropriately, for example by creating the diary of a child who worked in the coalmines in 1862. However, opportunities for pupils in Years 3 to 6 to apply their extended writing skills across the curriculum are limited. Most pupils' mathematical skills develop well as they move through the school.

They calculate confidently at a level that is appropriate for their age and ability and apply their understanding in a range of mathematical contexts, such as money, shape and measurement. In the foundation learning classes, namely nursery, reception, Year 1 and Year 2, most pupils count confidently and use money in different contexts. For example, one group in the reception class writes a shopping list and buys the contents in the shop with cash.

By Year 2, most place numbers in the correct order, understand place value and number bonds and know how much change to give to their peers from a pound in the flower shop. By the time they reach the top of the school, most understand how to use their mathematical skills in different situations. For example, they count the cost of using electrical equipment for a specific amount of time or the cost of making a Welsh breakfast.

Most pupils use their mathematical skills confidently in the daily theme challenges. Less regularly, they also use them in a few other areas of the curriculum, such as in scientific investigations. However, they are given very few opportunities to apply and improve their numeracy skills in real-life situations across the curriculum.

Most pupils' information and communication technology (ICT) skills develop effectively as they move through the school. Most of the youngest pupils use apps with increasing confidence to support their linguistic and mathematical development, such as matching a sound to a picture or creating a simple graph to convey how they travel to school. By Year 4, many create interesting presentations about themselves and use suitable websites to research information.

Most older pupils use a variety of suitable programs confidently across the curriculum. For example, they use coding skills to move digital devices from Swansea dock to other places around the world. The Digital Wizards support their peers effectively to use technology and develop their understanding well of how to stay safe online.

Across the school, many pupils develop their creative skills appropriately. For example, they work with a local artist to create a colourful mural 'O Bont i Bont' to illustrate images of important buildings in the village. A number of pupils have musical instrument lessons and develop their musical skills well by performing for different audiences occasionally.

Well-being and attitudes to learning Pupils' well-being and positive attitudes to learning are a strength. Nearly all pupils feel safe at school and know whom to approach for support. They are proud to be a part of a Welsh-medium school and feel that adults respect them and treat them fairly.

This contributes to the friendly ethos that is such a prominent part of the school's everyday life. Most pupils treat their peers and adults with respect and respond appropriately to situations that affect their emotional well-being. Nearly all pupils feel confident that the school deals quickly and effectively with any disagreements or alleged cases of bullying that arise.

As a result, nearly all pupils feel safe from physical and verbal abuse. Nearly all pupils are very well behaved. They are ready to undertake the activities that are provided for them and complete their tasks with enthusiasm and resilience.

They concentrate well for extended periods and show perseverance when solving problems. For example, Year 2 pupils persevere well to find the most suitable materials to create a dam to stop the flow of a river. Most pupils have a sound understanding of the need to keep fit and eat a balanced diet and they use this understanding to make healthy choices in their everyday lives.

They explain why it is beneficial to eat healthy snacks during break time and avoid foods with too much fat and salt. Most value the importance of regular exercise and enjoy taking part in physical sessions and extra-curricular sports clubs. Pupils have a sound understanding of their rights and the importance of encouraging equality and being moral citizens.

In their assembly on Goodwill Day, they share the important message about the need for them to act fairly and promote anti-racism in their everyday lives. Pupils from different classes convey this message clearly in different languages, including sign language. Most treat others with empathy and often support humanitarian activities, such as fundraising for local hospitals.

Most pupils undertake their leadership responsibilities conscientiously and effectively. Many represent their peers enthusiastically on the different school councils. They discuss their leadership responsibilities confidently and provide valid reasons for making decisions.

They share their knowledge and experiences with their peers to encourage a strong sense of team. The pupil's voice is prominent in the school's day to day life. For example, pupils contribute ideas to their learning and it was their idea to place a 'quiet time bench' on the playground to promote their well-being.

Teaching and learning experiences The school provides a broad and balanced curriculum based on what matters to pupils within their community and beyond. Staff ensure that provision is based on the staff's curricular vision and is a means for pupils to make good progress in their literacy, numeracy and ICT skills, among others. Activities build systematically on pupils' current knowledge, understanding and skills in these areas.

Staff promote the advantages of learning Welsh and being multilingual very effectively. As a result, the school has a strong Welsh ethos and most pupils are very proud to attend a Welsh-medium school and use the language with pride. Staff work together appropriately to create an overview of themes that provide interesting and relevant learning experiences that motivate and challenge the full range of pupils.

They lead the areas of learning and experience in line with their interests and expertise. On the whole, they plan appropriately to ensure that pupils are given valuable experiences that develop their skills appropriately. By planning the theme 'Wrth ein Traed', for example, they provide opportunities for the youngest pupils to learn about their local area, while the work of the pupils in the older classes is based on 'Un Llun', which is a picture of Swansea that was illustrated in 1840.

However, teachers do not always plan enough opportunities for pupils to improve and reinforce their extended writing or numeracy skills across the curriculum. By promoting a series of challenge themes on a weekly basis, teachers introduce appropriate tasks for pupils based on their own ideas. This develops their knowledge and understanding of different aspects of the curriculum and develops their independent learning skills and their ability to work together successfully.

For example, pupils compare old pictures with recent ones or research a character in a picture and create a short performance for the class based on it. Visitors are used effectively to enrich the curriculum further. For example, a parent who specialises in painting works with pupils to create artwork based on the local area and wider areas on one of the walls and another parent leads scientific sessions.

Most teachers and support staff have high expectations of all pupils. They foster positive and supportive learning practices that encourage pupils to take responsibility for their learning from a young age. Teachers have sound subject knowledge.

This enables them to provide interesting and relevant learning experiences for pupils that develop their knowledge and understanding continuously. A majority of teachers model language exceptionally well and explain their expectations clearly to ensure that all pupils understand what they need to do. Most teachers identify pupils' needs well and ensure that they provide an appropriate challenge to enable them to make consistent progress.

The learning environment includes stimulating and engaging areas in which all groups of pupils can learn productively. Displays are a combination of the work of pupils and adults and support learning successfully. However, there are very few learning resources in the outdoor areas that support learners to apply their skills in authentic learning activities.

Teachers use information from daily learning outcomes well, including the observations of support staff, to plan lessons and the next steps in pupils' learning. They know their pupils well, praise their efforts and encourage them to succeed. As a result, pupils have the confidence to try and are happy to learn from their mistakes.

Staff's oral and written feedback helps pupils to know how well they are doing and what they need to do to improve. They use a shared marking code regularly to expand pupils' understanding of the good features in their work and also how to improve it. Staff provide appropriate opportunities for pupils to self-evaluate their work in line with the success criteria, although opportunities for them to assess the work of their peers are limited.

Processes for tracking pupils' progress, although fairly new, are a sensible means of recording all the information that staff have about pupils' progress in specific areas in one place. However, these processes have not had time to become established in order to provide a complete picture of pupils' progress over time. Care, support and guidance The school is a homely and inclusive community that promotes pupils' well-being successfully.

The supportive and friendly relationship between staff and pupils is an excellent feature. Teachers and support staff ensure that pupils with additional learning needs (ALN) or emotional well-being needs receive effective support. This ensures that nearly all pupils succeed in engaging well with their learning and enjoy the school's life and work.

The school's arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet requirements and are not a cause for concern. The school has appropriate processes for recording the progress and well-being of pupils with ALN. Staff identify the needs of these pupils at an early stage and provide them with appropriate and effective support.

Under the guidance of the ALN co-ordinator, staff support pupils successfully. They use a range of intervention methods effectively to improve pupils' well-being and develop their social skills. The school provides a range of appropriate support programmes that develop pupils' literacy skills effectively.

Staff have a productive working relationship with the parents of pupils with ALN. They include parents in the progress review process before setting further attainment targets for them. Calming sessions during registration periods at the beginning of the day are effective in ensuring that pupils are given time to discuss any concerns they may have before starting their learning tasks.

The school provides beneficial opportunities for pupils to identify with the local community and the wider world. They are given valuable opportunities to take part in community activities, such as concerts at the local chapel or the carnival. The school provides valuable opportunities for pupils to develop their understanding of the importance of being conscientious and sensitive citizens.

For example, older pupils are encouraged to provide sports sessions for their youngest peers during break time. Staff also plan appropriate opportunities for pupils to take part in competitions and performances. For example, the school choir visits the local community and pupils compete in the Urdd Eisteddfod each year.

Through a range of purposeful opportunities, the school promotes pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development appropriately. In mass and class assemblies, staff discuss children's rights regularly and how they can be good citizens within their society. Opportunities are provided for pupils to take part in national humanitarian events, such as fundraising for local and national charities.

In the school's older years, teachers provide appropriate opportunities for pupils to develop their understanding of sustainability. They do this by undertaking different specific projects, such as the 'climate helpers' project, where they plant seeds and flowers around the school to make it attractive. Through interesting themes and educational visits, staff develop pupils' understanding of Welsh identity, heritage and culture well.

For example, staff plan valuable opportunities for pupils to visit historical places, including St Fagans and the Mumbles lifeboat station, and teach them about Welsh traditional legends, such as the Bells of Cantre'r Gwaelod. The school's various committees provide regular opportunities for them to make important decisions, including the lunchtime seating arrangements and holding sports activities during break time. The school provides valuable opportunities for older pupils to develop their understanding of business enterprise, for example by being responsible for running the book fair.

The school's arrangements for monitoring attendance and punctuality are sound. Leaders contact parents promptly do discuss any concerns and use the local authority's attendance and welfare officer effectively, when necessary. Leadership and management The school's leadership situation has been unstable over the past few years.

During this time, the deputy headteacher stepped in as the acting headteacher until a new headteacher was appointed, who took up her post at the beginning of the summer term. During this period, the acting headteacher and the remaining members of the senior leadership team introduced a number of strategic procedures to try to move the school forward. The new headteacher has a clear vision for the school.

This is based on providing broad, exciting and interest learning experiences for pupils, which motivate them to develop as independent and enthusiastic learners. She is keen for the school to provide broad opportunities for pupils to contribute their own ideas to plans to ensure that they have good ownership of them. She is also keen to continue with the deputy headteacher's aim to establish a workforce that works together effectively as a team.

In a very short period, since taking up the post, the new headteacher has identified the school's strengths and important areas for improvement well. She has responded promptly to the most important areas for improvement. These include ensuring that the building and school grounds are secure and introducing comprehensive processes to record and track pupils' progress.

The headteacher is supported increasingly effectively by members of the senior leadership team. Together, they place a firm priority on ensuring that all staff understand and promote a culture of safeguarding and the well-being of pupils within the school. As a result of the significant instability in leadership, not all of the school's strategic objectives and procedures are incisive enough at present, nor do they focus enough on provision and standards.

For example, staff performance management procedures have not been established. This means that not all teachers and support staff always receive praise for undertaking their work effectively or receive advice and support to enable to them improve their practice in specific areas in a timely manner, where necessary. Historically, on the whole, members of the senior leadership team undertake the monitoring activities, and leaders engage very little with a range of partners, including the remainder of the staff, pupils and parent in the process.

Although the current priorities for improvement are sensible, they do not derive directly from the self-evaluation processes. Leaders' monitoring methods to evaluate progress against the priorities are not incisive enough to see the true effect on standards. However, teaching is sound in nearly all classes and the care, support and guidance for pupils is effective.

As a result, the well-being of most pupils is sound and they make good progress in their learning from their starting points. Although it does not derive from the performance management arrangements, the school's culture for promoting and supporting the teachers' professional learning has improved during the last couple of years. There is now a clear focus on sharpening the skills of staff to deliver the Curriculum for Wales and run specific programmes to improve pupils' literacy and mathematics skills and well-being.

This is beginning to have a positive effect on standards in these areas. Leaders have begun to address a number of national and local priorities appropriately, such as safeguarding pupils, introducing the requirements of the ALN bill and implementing the Curriculum for Wales. They make sensible decisions in relation to expenditure and ensure that money is earmarked to develop the priorities in the development plan appropriately.

They use the pupil development grant efficiently to target the well-being and literacy of vulnerable pupils. On the whole, governors understand and fulfil their statutory duties appropriately in most areas, such as ensuring that the school's staffing situation is suitable. They ensure that the food and drink that is provided by the school comply with legislation and that is has appropriate arrangements to promote healthy eating and drinking.

Although governors have a general knowledge of the school's strengths and areas for development, their knowledge of these aspects is basic. They rely too much on guidance from staff when setting priorities for improvement and have a tendency to provide more support than challenge in their role as critical friends. Leaders have well-established productive relationships with parents.

They ensure that they have effective communication methods to raise any issues relating to their child's learning and well-being. There are highly effective links between the majority of the classroom teachers and parents to share information about their children. Evidence base of the report Before an inspection, inspectors: • analyse the outcomes from the parent and pupil questionnaires and consider the views of teachers and the governing body/members of the management committee through their questionnaire responses During an inspection, inspectors normally: • hold a meeting with parents to hear their views on the school and its effectiveness • meet the headteacher, governors, senior, middle leaders, and individual teachers to evaluate the impact of the school's work • meet pupils to discuss their work and to gain their views about various aspects of their school • meet groups of pupils in leadership roles, such as representatives from the school council and eco-committee • visit a broad sample of lessons, including learning support groups and the specialist resource base (where appropriate), and undertake a variety of learning walks to observe pupils learning and to see staff teaching in a range of settings, including classrooms, support groups (where appropriate) and in outdoor areas • visit the specialist resource base within the school to see pupils' learning (where appropriate) • observe and speak to pupils at lunch and break times and at a sample of after-school clubs • attend assemblies and daily acts of collective worship • look closely at the school's self-evaluation processes • consider the school's improvement plan and look at evidence to show how well the school has taken forward planned improvements • scrutinise a range of school documents, including information on pupil assessment and progress, records of meetings of staff and the governing body, information on pupils' well-being, including the safeguarding of pupils, and records of staff training and professional development After the on-site inspection and before the publication of the report, Estyn: • review the findings of the inspection alongside the supporting evidence from the inspection team in order to validate, moderate and ensure the quality of the inspectionCopies of the report Copies of this report are available from the school and from the Estyn website (http://www.

estyn.gov.wales) 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].

wales This and other Estyn publications are available on our website: http://www.estyn.gov.

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