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Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Cefn Hengoed Community School is an English-medium 11-16 school maintained by Swansea local authority. The school is based in the Eastside of Swansea. There are 918 pupils on roll. Around 33% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Around 10% of pupils are learning English as an additional language. The school has a specialist teaching facility (STF) for pupils with severe to moderate learning difficulties. The capacity of the STF is 20 pupils.

The percentage of pupils with additional learning needs (ALN) is around 47.4% of the overall school population. The proportion of pupils who have a statutory plan of additional learning needs (Statement/EHCP/IDP) is approximately 6% (including the STF).

The senior leadership team consists of the headteacher (appointed in 2017), the deputy headteacher, two assistant headteachers and two senior teachers.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The planning for the progressive development of pupils’ skills is highly effective in Cefn Hengoed Community School. Leaders maintain a strong focus on improving the provision for pupils’ literacy, numeracy, digital, Welsh language and thinking skills. As a result, many pupils make strong progress.

The school has well-established approaches to the progressive development of literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum and over the past two years has also been successful in coordinating and developing the progressive development of pupils’ digital skills. Leaders share high expectations with all staff and pupils, and have been successful in ensuring teachers provide authentic opportunities for pupils to apply and develop their skills in relevant subject areas.

Through its own quality assurance process, the school identified the need to strengthen pupils’ Welsh language and bilingual skills and this has been a strong focus. Leaders give high priority to the development of pupils’ Welsh language skills and ensure that all staff understand their role in developing this. As a result of this approach, the provision for Welsh language is a notable strength.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

Leaders and staff strive to provide pupils with purposeful and frequent opportunities to develop, extend and apply their skills across the curriculum. They recognise that many pupils enter the school with skill levels that are lower than expected for their age. Leaders in Cefn Hengoed have invested time and resources carefully to provide effective professional learning for their staff in order to develop the provision for the progressive development of pupils’ skills. Each subject area is supported well to develop subject specific resources.

The school employs Literacy, Numeracy, Bilingualism and Digital Competence Framework (DCF) Managers who meet regularly with the Assistant Headteacher with a responsibility for the coordination of cross-curricular skills, to evaluate and plan the school’s approach to cross curricular skills development. Both the Literacy and Numeracy Frameworks (LNF) and the DCF are mapped across all curriculum areas in order to plan for progressive skills development across Key Stage 3.

Each subject area works collaboratively and alongside the Literacy, Numeracy, Digital and Bilingualism Managers to ensure the planning for skills builds purposely on pupils’ prior learning and that opportunities to apply skills are progressive as pupils move through the school. There is a clear focus on creating authentic links between the cross-curricular skills and subject content to ensure lessons are meaningful and have a positive impact on pupil progress. Opportunities for pupils to apply and develop their skills are monitored closely by staff and leaders and this helps to ensure the progressive development of skills well. Leaders and staff regularly review and evaluate this approach and are continually sharing effective practice.

In addition, the school employs an enquiry based model for the development of cross-curricular skills where, following an evaluation of strengths and areas for development, each subject area trials a new initiative to improve an area of literacy, numeracy and digital competence. Best practice is shared with other teaching staff on a termly basis and, along with the other work being carried out, ensures that the progressive development of cross curricular skills is well planned and co-ordinated.

Critical thinking skills

In 2019 all teaching staff completed a self-evaluation exercise based on the 12 pedagogical principles set out in ‘Successful Futures’. This identified the need to enhance the opportunities to develop pupils’ critical thinking skills. Following a professional development session, each subject area developed subject specific resources and lesson activities to enhance the opportunities for progressively developing pupils’ critical thinking. Skills leaders worked with individual subject areas to improve teachers’ planning for the development of pupils’ critical thinking and the use of questioning. This involved creating rich and stimulating activities to encourage pupils to extend their thinking and explore different perspectives. For example, the English department developed an overarching critical thinking question for each unit of work. These questions were supported by smaller critical thinking activities designed to encourage pupils to take risks in their learning. Each subject area evaluated the success of their approach and shared their findings with the wider staff at the end of the academic year. The provision for thinking skills continues to form part of the school’s performance management cycle.

Literacy and numeracy skills

The school employs a strong approach to the progressive development of literacy and numeracy skills across all subject areas through the use of the Literacy and Numeracy Behaviours. Significant time has been invested during staff meetings and INSET to develop a shared understanding of how reading, writing, oracy and numeracy skills should be taught and how these skills can be developed in individual subject areas. The behaviours provide staff with a clear understanding of how to support pupils to apply and develop their skills. For example, the school’s reading behaviours help ensure that pupils activate their prior knowledge, visualise and question aspects of what they have read as well as developing higher order skills such as evaluation, analysis and inference. Similarly, the school’s numeracy behaviours provide clear guidance to support pupils to solve problems in a range of contexts. The effective use of the Literacy and Numeracy Behaviours across the school is evaluated through the school’s quality assurance cycle and informs professional development for staff.

Welsh language skills

To improve the standard of spoken Welsh in Welsh lessons and across the school, the Welsh department has developed a common approach to the teaching of oracy: ‘point, comment, expand, question’. This is used by all Welsh teachers and has helped to improve the quality of pupils’ spoken and written Welsh. The development of pupils’ bilingual skills outside of Welsh lessons is a whole school priority and leaders have maintained a consistent focus on this aspect of their work through their quality assurance cycle. As a result, each subject area has a clear action plan for how they will develop bilingualism in their area in order to encourage natural and spontaneous spoken Welsh in a school where very few pupils speak Welsh at home. The Bilingualism Manager, alongside the head of Welsh, has also developed helpful phrases that are displayed in each classroom and in the canteen. Over the past year, pupils have used these phrases in lessons to increase the frequency of incidental Welsh used both inside and outside of the classroom. Regular use of these phrases are linked to Cymreictod points and pupils are rewarded through the school’s rewards policy for the frequent use of everyday spoken Welsh. This strategy has helped to improve pupils confidence in their use of Welsh, their understanding of Welsh culture and has inspired pupils to be enthusiastic when learning the Welsh language.

Cross-curricular and cross-sector working

Cefn Hengoed Community School works closely with its partner primary schools on common approaches to the progressive development of cross-curricular skills. The Literacy Manager has recently provided update training, for example, on the teaching of reading to cluster primary schools. In addition, the Numeracy Manager has developed a cluster calculations policy to promote consistency in the teaching of maths and numeracy across the cluster. Furthermore, the Welsh department has begun work on a cluster reading project with Year 6 classes that will inform the teaching of Welsh in Year 7 next academic year. This is in addition to the work to develop a consistent approach to the teaching of oracy through the ‘point, comment, expand, question’ technique that is used successfully by the Welsh department.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

The provision to support the progressive development of pupils’ skills is a notable strength of the school. There is a well-planned and co-ordinated approach that ensures that pupils build progressively on their knowledge, skills and understanding. Leaders consistent and strong focus on the development of pupils’ skills has led to effective provision that enables pupils to make strong progress.

Overall pupils’ attitudes to learning, the development of skills and particularly to learning the Welsh language are strong. Most pupils are motivated in lessons, engage positively in discussions and show strong speaking and listening skills. Many read and write for a range of purposes well and work confidently with number concepts. In addition, pupils are motivated to attend school and attendance rates have improved notably over the past year.

Many pupils who attend Cefn Hengoed Community School make good progress in developing their skills across all aspects of their learning. Generally, high quality teaching supports pupils well to develop their speaking, writing, numeracy, thinking, and digital skills.

How have you shared your good practice?

In addition to sharing practice with partner primary schools, Cefn Hengoed is also part of a school to school network with three other secondary schools in the local authority. This work involves a peer review system that this year, for example, includes evaluating the provision for literacy and the provision for numeracy skills in each school. Furthermore, the school is also part of a South Wales schools partnership with other secondary schools.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Pontarddulais Comprehensive School opened in 1982, with a Specialist Teaching Facility added in 2007 for up to 10 pupils with profound and multiple learning disabilities. Located in a community with varied socio-economic backgrounds, pupils are drawn from a widely dispersed catchment area including urban areas, small villages and hill farms. There are currently 866 pupils on roll, around 16% are eligible for free school meals and around 20% are identified as having an additional learning need. The school’s vision of ‘Through inclusion, respect and resilience we will become better people and successful lifelong learners.’ supports the school’s motto of ‘Learn to live…live to learn.’

Description of the nature of strategy or activity identified as effective or innovative practice

A distinctive feature of the school improvement cycle is the annual ‘School Improvement Launch’, a collaborative session involving staff, governors, and pupil representatives. This inclusive process ensures diverse perspectives are considered, fostering shared ownership of strategic priorities. This session shapes the School Development Plan (SDP), a dynamic tool guiding the entire school community towards shared goals.

The SDP triggers the planning phase of the school improvement cycle, which includes Area Development Plans (ADPs) that are similar in style and content to the SDP, though they are also designed to serve their context at an area/subject level. In turn, performance management objectives are natural outcomes of the SDP and ADPs. Aligning these processes ensures synergy and collegiate responsibility for school improvement. The SDP is RAG-rated by the Extended Headship Team and regularly scrutinised by governors, ensuring a clear understanding of progress and areas that require additional attention. Members of the Extended Headship Team lead on individual strategies, providing a continuous feedback loop within fortnightly link meetings.

Distributed leadership plays a pivotal role in the school’s success. All TLR holders collaborate to write sections of the SDP. This active participation engages middle leaders in the process and empowers them to guide school improvement. The involvement of middle leaders ensures a more nuanced and contextualised understanding of improvement priorities at an area and departmental level.

Middle leaders utilise the Subject on a Page (SOAP) evaluative tool each term, offering a concise and current overview of the strengths and areas for development, at a subject level. Likewise, the Autumn Standards Review programme enables subject leaders to present pupil outcomes to the Headship Team for discussion. These evaluative sessions include how item-level analysis is used to inform teaching and learning. Future development plans are tightly aligned with the outcomes of these processes, supplemented with a range of other scheduled and well-embedded self-evaluation processes.

External perspectives are embraced through collaborative work with three local secondary schools, providing valuable viewpoints and fostering the sharing of best practices. This engagement provides a valuable external viewpoint and facilitates the sharing of best practice. Additionally, the annual whole-school review, led by middle leaders who are following the school’s Aspiring Senior Leaders’ Programme, identifies strengths and recommendations on specific aspects to inform the following SDP.

Impact on provision and pupils’ Standards

  • Drive for continuous improvement: The school’s leaders utilise regular and robust self-evaluation activities purposefully to drive continuous improvement. Rigorous and cyclical self-evaluation processes have become a notable strength, encouraging active involvement from all staff and governors.
  • Collective responsibility: The active involvement of staff and governors in shaping improvement priorities and strategies has cultivated a strong sense of collective responsibility. This cohesion is central to the consistently positive impact of leadership.
  • Effective use of data: Leaders are confident in their analysis of a broad range of data, using it wisely to identify aspects that require improvement. The triangulation of findings from various evidence sources and the use of pupil and parent views contribute to well-informed decision-making.
  • Professional learning opportunities: Collaborative work with local secondary schools and internal whole-school reviews provide valuable professional learning opportunities for staff, especially at the middle leader level. This approach ensures that leadership skills are continually developed and refined.
  • Pupils’ standards and outcomes: Pupils’ standards are strong, as are rates of attendance.

Pontarddulais Comprehensive School’s strategic and inclusive approach to school improvement not only contributes to measurable improvements but also enhances leadership capacity. In turn, this develops a sustainable succession strategy and a self-perpetuating model of continuous school improvement.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Idris Davies School 3 to 18 (IDS 3 to 18) is an English-medium 3 to 18 school maintained by Caerphilly local authority. It serves the areas of Rhymney, Pontlottlyn, Abertysswg, New Tredegar, Fochriw and Phillipsotwn. There are around 900 pupils on roll, of whom 42 are in the sixth form and 36 in the nursery. Nearly all pupils speak English as their first language and come from a white British background.

Around 34.1% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. The school identifies that around 8.9% of pupils have additional learning needs. A very few pupils have a statement of special educational needs.

The headteacher was appointed to the school in January 2018, which is the date that the school was opened. The SLT consists of an executive headteacher, two deputy headteachers, three senior assistant headteachers along with five skills leaders.

The school’s vision is summarised in the motto ‘Every Pupil – Every Opportunity – Every Day’, which permeates all aspects of the school’s work at all levels.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The school serves local communities with high levels of social deprivation and a significant proportion of pupils are defined as being disadvantaged and vulnerable learners. Disadvantaged pupils normally have barriers to succeeding in school because of detrimental circumstances beyond their control, whilst vulnerable learners are those who may be more likely to experience emotional, social and developmental barriers to learning.

The profile of pupils eligible for free school meals has changed significantly over the last few years and currently stands at 42.7% across both phases. Fifty per cent of the primary phase learners are currently eligible for free school meals, compared with 28.8% when the school opened in January 2018. In comparison, 40.3% of the school’s secondary phase pupils are currently eligible for free school meals, compared with 31.2% in January 2018.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has compounded the barriers to learning experienced by disadvantaged and vulnerable learners at the school, which have been further exacerbated by the impact of the cost-of-living crisis. To respond to these barriers and challenges it has been essential for the school to develop an agile leadership structure that is able to respond quickly and adeptly to the evolving needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable learners.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

On establishment of the new school, the headteacher along with the governing body, undertook a full consultation process to design and develop the school vision. It was clear from stakeholders that identifying and addressing the needs of disadvantaged and vulnerable learners needed to be a central ambition of the school’s vision. This led to an ambition to secure the best for all pupils: ‘Every Pupil – Every Opportunity – Every Day’. The school aspires to achieve this ambition in all aspects of its work.

To achieve this ambition a new staffing structure was designed and implemented from September 2018 with clear middle and senior leadership roles and responsibilities assigned to addressing and removing the barriers to learning experienced by disadvantaged and vulnerable learners. In addition, the school governing body was restructured and a senior member was designated as a ‘Disadvantaged and Vulnerable Learner Governor Lead’. All full governing body and committee meetings include strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation activities linked to disadvantaged and vulnerable learners.

The school created a new role, namely ‘Disadvantaged and Vulnerable Learner Lead’, who has responsibility for championing these learners and for leading the development of provision, tracking and monitoring key performance indicators for disadvantaged and vulnerable learners.

The Vulnerable Learners Lead collates all monitoring data linked to the engagement and performance of disadvantaged and vulnerable learners through a ‘Closing the Gap’ dashboard. This is then shared with all tiers of leaders, including key monitoring data, in order to inform the deployment of resources and facilitate monitoring the impact of strategies. The dashboard is a live document and is reviewed on a weekly basis in senior leadership meetings and termly governing body meetings, and shared with all staff in half-termly staff meetings.

The dashboard draws together monitoring data covering all aspects of the school’s work including:

  • Skills tracking data (including impact of intervention programmes)
  • Subject tracking data
  • Attendance
  • Rewards and sanctions
  • Curriculum engagement (including access to Key Stages 4 and 5 course provision)
  • Enhanced curricular engagement (for example access to music tuition and sport club provision)

Using this monitoring data, all strategic improvement planning is undertaken with the ‘golden thread’ of raising the achievement of disadvantaged and vulnerable learners weaved through it. All strategic priorities within the School Improvement Plan specifically address this aspect of the school’s work and clearly identify success criteria linked to raising the achievement of vulnerable and disadvantaged learners.

A comprehensive professional learning programme has been designed and delivered to all staff to ensure the effective implementation of all linked initiatives. Staff have a clear understanding of the needs of all disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils and the individual barriers to learning that they may be facing as well as the role they play in supporting pupils overcoming them.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

Raising the achievement of disadvantaged and vulnerable learners is now fully embedded across all aspects of school improvement planning, which has been fully informed by monitoring data collated within the Closing the Gap Dashboard. The school has reviewed and redeployed the allocation of the Pupil Development Grant to ensure that it is targeted to address the areas of development identified through the Closing the Gap dashboard.

There are clear and comprehensive policies, systems, and procedures in place across the school to support staff in removing barriers to learning and success. The provision for care, support and guidance has been identified as being a significant strength and caters for both pupils’ academic and pastoral needs. The school employs key staff to support the provision, such as Attendance and Well-being Officers and the Pupil and Family Liaison Officer who are funded through the Pupil Development Grant. These roles are central in supporting pupils to overcome identified barriers to them attending school. This includes working with external agencies to support learners’ emotional and well-being needs.

The school closely monitors disadvantaged and vulnerable learners’ access to all learning experiences and ensures that at least proportional representation is achieved in all areas of provision. Pupil voice groups are used to develop curriculum provision and identify areas for development and advise on strategies to reduce barriers. For example, feedback from these groups has led to all pupils having access to universal provision of music tuition lessons with funding for disadvantaged learners provided through the PDG. In addition, the school allocates all departments with necessary resources to ensure that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds can fully participate in activities. For example, pupils are provided with cooking ingredients for food technology lessons and physical education kits have been purchased to ensure that all pupils are able to participate in sporting activities.

There is a clear and well-planned programme of activities across the school to raise the aspirations of all pupils and their families. This programme involves formal curriculum provision where raising the profile of careers across the school is built into phase and departmental teaching and learning experiences. In addition, the curriculum is enhanced through initiatives with universities specifically designed to engage pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, and their families, in order to enhance participation rates and raise their aspirations from an early age.

How have you shared your good practice?

Practice has been shared with both the local authority and regional consortium via their dissemination channels. The school has also made presentations at conferences and has hosted best practice workshops and visits from other schools.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Ysgol Maes y Coed is a maintained special school for pupils aged 3-19 with additional learning needs. It has 121 pupils on roll who travel from across Neath Port Talbot local authority and present with complex needs.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

Maes Y Coed was a Pioneer School for Expressive arts, firstly as part of a four-school cluster, then later as an individual school. The teacher responsible was also Arts Champion as part of the Lead Creative Schools project. Arts Champions were responsive to individual or clusters of school needs and then delivered bespoke training for them.

Maes y Coed has always had a strong focus on the expressive arts curriculum as its dynamic nature engages, motivates, and encourages the school’s pupils. By engaging with expressive arts, pupils have actively explored their own culture, the differences within their locality and the history of the local area.

The expressive arts are accessible to all pupils and are, as such, fully inclusive. They enthuse pupils and expand their horizons, developing their creative, imaginative, and practical skills whilst also developing their resilience and curiosity.

Pupil voice is an integral part of the ethos of Ysgol Maes y Coed. The choir was formed by the pupils for the pupils, the school’s music festivals and theatre trips also derive from pupil voice.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

The school’s expressive arts lead teacher designs and delivers bespoke training for all staff. Training is tailor-made to represent the school’s individual needs. Training aims to challenge staff perceptions and to remove barriers to learning. Training delivered includes creativity, integral skills, high impact low-cost arts day, and using Garage Band. Staff are encouraged to explore various art techniques and apply these to planning engaging lessons for pupils.

Musical experiences for pupils include school music festivals where rock bands, acoustic musicians, local schools’ orchestras, and choirs are invited to perform on different stages, the school’s very own version of Glastonbury! In addition, pupils experience samba workshops, harpists, bands, guitarists, brass bands, and choir performances. Pupils have performed at the Wales Millennium Centre, opened at a Childrens’ Commissioner for Wales event at the All Nations Centre in Cardiff and performed with the cast of Les Misérables in the Queen`s Theatre London. Pupils have featured in musicals including ‘Pride Rock’, which was written by pupils. In addition, they selected the music, produced the costumes and scenery, and provided animations for the stampede scene. With support from staff and a dance student from Bristol University, pupils choreographed the dance routines. All senior school pupils took part as performers, filmmakers, or as part of the backstage crew.

In the summer term of 2022, new musical instruments were provided by Neath Port Talbot Music Services. Instruments have been used well in the classes, with all classes having their own set of boom whackers so pupils can start looking at musical notation (using the colours), coloured hand bells and glockenspiels. In addition, the school has untuned percussion, a samba set and an orchestrated sound beam. This has made music composition accessible for all pupils.

What impact has this work had on provision and pupils’ standards?

Pupils are highly engaged and motivated by the variety of practitioners who have visited the school. Specific music skills have been taught and used and pupils are making good progress in this area. A few can read musical notation and play musical instruments with confidence. Staff are more confident in teaching music across the school, and this has resulted in more music being taught and used effectively in other areas of learning and experience.

Pupils’ art skills are developed consistently, and pupils decide on the direction of their learning. Teaching considers Welsh artists as a starting point as well as using different art forms. Expressive arts training has also helped to contribute to staff well-being and morale as demonstrated in staff feedback following training events.

The school has shared its work in a video for the Welsh Government to discuss the impact of its creative curriculum.

How have you shared your good practice?

The school’s curriculum lead has delivered training for schools within the local authority on creativity and music as part of her role as arts champion. Furthermore, the curriculum lead was invited to speak on a panel representing the Arts Council of Wales during an all-Wales conference. The school’s curriculum lead has also delivered sessions at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s and at Cardiff Metropolitan University, regarding expressive arts and additional learning needs. She has also taken part in a podcast on education and has hosted chats for Network Ed on X (formerly Twitter). The school has beneficial links with other special schools, resource units, and mainstream schools within the locality and nationally.

The school has shared its heritage projects with other local schools. Jeremy Miles AS has visited the school as part of his role as Minister for Education, to look at the music provision and how music is taught at Maes y Coed.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Ysgol Maes y Coed is a maintained special school for pupils aged 3-19 with additional learning needs. It has 121 pupils on roll who travel from across Neath Port Talbot local authority and present with complex needs.   

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

Ysgol Maes y Coed is a nurturing, happy and hard-working school that places a significant priority on the well-being of its staff and pupils. Leaders have created a strong culture of mutual support when working together and encourage respect and kindness between staff, pupils, and families.

Leaders recognise that the school’s greatest resource is its staff. They acknowledge the importance that all staff feel valued as an important and integral part of the school. The headteacher asserts that leadership is an interactive process involving noticing, feeling, and sense making in situations and in ways that connect with others. This method of leadership results in improved organisational performance, engagement, pupil outcomes, retention, and the well-being of the workforce.

The school’s vision for compassionate leadership comes down to small, everyday habits; the way that you treat people and the attitude you bring to the school every day. Leaders believe they should be kind to people, consider feelings, and listen to what’s happening in your team’s lives. Working in school leadership requires empathy, patience, and kindness. Leaders at the school strive to ensure that all team members share the same values regarding how others are treated.

In addition, leaders at the school recognise the significant impact of parenting a child with additional needs has and the isolation and lack of inclusive opportunities that families may experience. This was further impacted by COVID-19, which isolated many families and reduced their opportunities to access additional essential support.

The headteacher maintains that compassionate leadership is not a ‘soft’ option. Compassionate leaders are not ‘pushovers.’ They consider the feelings and needs of others, but ultimately, they must make the best decisions for their school. It places the emphasis on both people and outcomes, encouraging high performance through empathy, understanding and support.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

The expertise, compassion, and care shown by all staff at the school is ongoing. At Maes y Coed, compassionate leadership entails caring deeply for everyone within the school’s extended family.

A strong sense of identity and belonging at the school is considered vital by school leaders. These conditions are created by the school through investing in community engagement, building trust, and making connections. These networks are shaped by the school’s leaders who model compassion, empathy, and respect for others.

Leaders recognise the vital impact parents and carers have on their children and life at the school. Staff work extremely closely with parents to create a strong, supportive team around the child. The school enables parents and staff to meet and speak about any issues and concerns. Staff communicate daily with parents via an electronic platform as many of the pupils are unable to go home and talk about their school day due to the nature of their needs.

The school’s work with other agencies is pivotal in supporting pupils. As a result of effective multi-agency working the holistic, social, medical, and psychological needs of a pupil are taken into account when formulating any plans.

Where possible the school hosts clinics, appointments, and multi-agency meetings within school. Examples of these are paediatrician appointments, neurology appointments with the consultant neurologist, palliative care clinics, bi-annual dental visits and a hairdresser visits every week. This approach avoids disruption for pupils and supports families effectively.

Support for families doesn’t stop at the end of the school day. The school offers a range of after-school events that include whole families, and there is always an emphasis to include siblings and the wider family. The school organises special events for families such as the Santa light trail, Halloween and Valentine discos, cinema trips and bowling.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

Staff at the school feel valued, supported, and cared for and as a result they go the extra mile for their pupils. Some ways to encourage kindness and show staff they are valued include:

  • ‘Marvelous – Mondays’ where every week, a range of staff win a free lunch, an extra 10-minute break, a highly prized car parking space!
  • Allowing staff to attend their child’s first Christmas concert or sports day. This means more than you will ever know!
  • Staff prizes at the end of the year recognising excellent attendance.
  • Supporting staff, providing toiletries in all staff toilet areas.
  • Staff team building events.
  • A chocolate egg for everyone who completes the staff well-being questionnaire at the end of every spring term.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic the school secured significant grant funding to purchase a slow cooker and other kitchen equipment for all families. The grant also covered food vouchers to purchase ingredients so that families could participate in a ‘Cook ‘n Cuppa’ session. The aim of the project was to show how to feed a family at a lower cost by batch cooking.  

Sessions with the family engagement officers have improved parental attendance and engagement at a range of events that the school provides. As a result, parents feel well equipped to meet the diverse needs of their children and feel able to implement strategies at home that pupils use at school. This improved consistency and collaboration has led to a reduction of behaviours that challenge at home. This evidence has been collected via care and support meetings, person-centered review meetings and from questionnaire responses. Parents also report feeling empowered to undertake activities that focus on themselves.  

How have you shared your good practice?

The school celebrates staff, family, and pupil successes in the school’s regular newsletters, via its digital platforms, social media posts as well as in governor meetings.

The school has shared its leadership ethos within the local authority.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school or provider

Gilfach Fargoed and Park Primaries have been federated since September 2019. Both schools serve the community of Bargoed and both experience relatively high levels of deprivation. Over 55% of children in Park Primary and over 30% in Gilfach Fargoed are eligible for free school meals. The federation serves 307 children between the two schools with 3% of children speaking English as an additional language. Both schools have full time nurseries and mixed year group classes.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

There is exceptionally strong collaboration between staff across both schools in the federation, with the vision of “two schools, one team” understood by all. Coaching and mentoring activities, as well as other strategies to develop pedagogical practices, maximise the potential of the federation to allow best practice to be shared and developed widely. There are effective strategies in place for all staff to develop their leadership skills, often across the federation. This, not only builds capacity, but benefits the staff, in terms of their professional learning and effective deployment and. Most importantly, pupils benefit from the resulting effective teaching, making better than expected progress from their individual starting points.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

  • Initially leaders developed a supportive, open and honest culture across both schools, establishing expectations of teaching and of pupils’ learning. Securing a shared understanding of the non-negotiables of teaching and learning, the school prioritised their “Ten Commandments”, which link to pedagogical principles. To facilitate this development, staff shadowed others in a variety of roles to share best practice, and took part in professional learning to disseminate excellence.
  • The senior leadership team was expanded to include teachers from both schools. Leaders reviewed staff roles to focus on outcomes for learners and to strengthen leadership. Middle leadership roles were developed, with peer colleagues supporting one another in roles across the schools, and a collaborative approach to appropriate middle leadership training was taken.
  • Shared INSET days and training events enabled staff to work as a team and to facilitate relationships across the schools. For example, staff from both schools worked together to develop expertise in a specific AoLE as teams, attending training together and disseminating to all staff.
  • Involving governors proactively, in joint school visits to support self-evaluation activities, encouraged them to embrace the “two schools, one team” ethos and to reduce the impact of former loyalties.
  • There was an overhaul of existing cycle of self-evaluation practices so that practice aligned.
  • Staff established a shared calendar of events and activities for all pupils.
  • Coaching and mentoring teams worked across both schools, as did triad systems and paired roles such as ALNCo and Well-being lead. This enabled staff to develop a supportive culture of improvement, developing pedagogical practices for example.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

Prior to federation, expectations of pupils at Park Primary were low, a culture engendered by the levels of deprivation in the community. The quality of teaching was inconsistent and the majority of pupils did not make the expected progress. There was very little evidence of pupil involvement in their learning. An Estyn monitoring visit found no evidence of collaborative planning in the school and “too little focus on consistency and progression.”

Following federation and confirmed by the Estyn inspection of 2023:

  • Most pupils at Park Primary School are now making “strong progress from very low baselines”. The strong collaborative work on Curriculum for Wales ensures that “nearly all children are capable and aspirational learners”.
  • Thanks to the effective development of pedagogy, and the consistency of expectations, teachers in Park Primary successfully motivate pupils to persevere and succeed in their learning.
  • Very successful partnership working on well-being, including an innovative approach to interventions, has ensured that standards of well-being are high in the school. Estyn describes this as “a notable strength and a valuable focus of the school’s work.”
  • Pupils now play a crucial role in school improvement, with many taking on useful and impactful leadership roles through a range of inclusive pupil groups.

Gilfach Fargoed Primary, too, has benefited enormously from the partnership, with enhanced opportunities for leadership roles, and wider team working, leading to improved outcomes for learners. In 2023, Estyn found:

  • There is effective use of distributed leadership throughout the federation, which works to the advantage of both schools, both being stronger as a result.
  • The focus on effective teaching and developing leaders has ignited a passion for learning within the school staff.

Collaborative planning and training, as well as shared research opportunities, have developed expertise, ensured a culture of enquiry and innovation and led to a more informed, reflective workforce who consistently demonstrate high levels of sustained professional practice.

How have you shared your good practice?

Gilfach Fargoed and Park Primary Schools Federation shares its good practice with other schools within its cluster regularly, as well as, more widely, in its role as a Partner School for EAS, focusing on wellbeing and numeracy. The Partner School role depends for its success on the thriving partnership between both schools in the federation.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school or provider

Gilfach Fargoed and Park Primaries have been federated since September 2019. Both schools serve the community of Bargoed and both experience relatively high levels of deprivation. Over 55% of children in Park Primary and over 30% in Gilfach Fargoed are eligible for free school meals. The federation serves 307 children between the two schools with 3% of children speaking English as an additional language. Both schools have full time nurseries and mixed year group classes.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

There is exceptionally strong collaboration between staff across both schools in the federation, with the vision of “two schools, one team” understood by all. Coaching and mentoring activities, as well as other strategies to develop pedagogical practices, maximise the potential of the federation to allow best practice to be shared and developed widely. There are effective strategies in place for all staff to develop their leadership skills, often across the federation. This, not only builds capacity, but benefits the staff, in terms of their professional learning and effective deployment and. Most importantly, pupils benefit from the resulting effective teaching, making better than expected progress from their individual starting points.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

  • Initially leaders developed a supportive, open and honest culture across both schools, establishing expectations of teaching and of pupils’ learning. Securing a shared understanding of the non-negotiables of teaching and learning, the school prioritised their “Ten Commandments”, which link to pedagogical principles. To facilitate this development, staff shadowed others in a variety of roles to share best practice, and took part in professional learning to disseminate excellence.
  • The senior leadership team was expanded to include teachers from both schools. Leaders reviewed staff roles to focus on outcomes for learners and to strengthen leadership. Middle leadership roles were developed, with peer colleagues supporting one another in roles across the schools, and a collaborative approach to appropriate middle leadership training was taken.
  • Shared INSET days and training events enabled staff to work as a team and to facilitate relationships across the schools. For example, staff from both schools worked together to develop expertise in a specific AoLE as teams, attending training together and disseminating to all staff.
  • Involving governors proactively, in joint school visits to support self-evaluation activities, encouraged them to embrace the “two schools, one team” ethos and to reduce the impact of former loyalties.
  • There was an overhaul of existing cycle of self-evaluation practices so that practice aligned.
  • Staff established a shared calendar of events and activities for all pupils.
  • Coaching and mentoring teams worked across both schools, as did triad systems and paired roles such as ALNCo and Well-being lead. This enabled staff to develop a supportive culture of improvement, developing pedagogical practices for example.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

Prior to federation, expectations of pupils at Park Primary were low, a culture engendered by the levels of deprivation in the community. The quality of teaching was inconsistent and the majority of pupils did not make the expected progress. There was very little evidence of pupil involvement in their learning. An Estyn monitoring visit found no evidence of collaborative planning in the school and “too little focus on consistency and progression.”

Following federation and confirmed by the Estyn inspection of 2023:

  • Most pupils at Park Primary School are now making “strong progress from very low baselines”. The strong collaborative work on Curriculum for Wales ensures that “nearly all children are capable and aspirational learners”.
  • Thanks to the effective development of pedagogy, and the consistency of expectations, teachers in Park Primary successfully motivate pupils to persevere and succeed in their learning.
  • Very successful partnership working on well-being, including an innovative approach to interventions, has ensured that standards of well-being are high in the school. Estyn describes this as “a notable strength and a valuable focus of the school’s work.”
  • Pupils now play a crucial role in school improvement, with many taking on useful and impactful leadership roles through a range of inclusive pupil groups.

Gilfach Fargoed Primary, too, has benefited enormously from the partnership, with enhanced opportunities for leadership roles, and wider team working, leading to improved outcomes for learners. In 2023, Estyn found:

  • There is effective use of distributed leadership throughout the federation, which works to the advantage of both schools, both being stronger as a result.
  • The focus on effective teaching and developing leaders has ignited a passion for learning within the school staff.

Collaborative planning and training, as well as shared research opportunities, have developed expertise, ensured a culture of enquiry and innovation and led to a more informed, reflective workforce who consistently demonstrate high levels of sustained professional practice.

How have you shared your good practice?

Gilfach Fargoed and Park Primary Schools Federation shares its good practice with other schools within its cluster regularly, as well as, more widely, in its role as a Partner School for EAS, focusing on wellbeing and numeracy. The Partner School role depends for its success on the thriving partnership between both schools in the federation.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Mary Immaculate R.C. High School is an English medium, Catholic, 11-16 comprehensive school in the west of Cardiff.  There are around 786 pupils on roll and the school admits pupils from a wide geographical area. Around 40% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Around 11% of pupils have an additional learning need and a very few have a statement or Individual Development Plan (IDP). A majority of pupils come from a white British background, and many speak English as their first language. No pupils are fluent in Welsh. The headteacher has been in post since September 2014.  

Culture of high expectations

Leaders use their Catholic mission to take a strategic and comprehensive approach to reducing the impact of poverty on pupils’ attainment, removing barriers to learning and developing resilience and aspiration in their learners. The school aims to develop a culture that never drops its standards but ensures pupils meet those standards with support. Leaders strive to ensure that this ethos runs through everything they do.

Over 70% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) at some point. Given that, what the school offers and does is for everyone. They track pupils eligible for FSM but understand that deprivation impacts on many other pupils and families, therefore the support and challenge is for all and not focused on one particular group. Leaders use test data to set very ambitious academic targets for all, but high expectations run through everything – including behaviour, relationships and uniform (which the school provides for pupils if needed).

Curriculum and Learning

The school places a strong emphasis on providing a very broad curriculum and a wealth of enrichment experiences that broaden pupils’ horizons and give them access to opportunities that may not be available to them otherwise. The school runs a timetabled enrichment curriculum for Years 9-11 to support enhanced skills development. This always involves non-examined courses that enhance pupils’ wellbeing and includes activities such as sign language, gardening, first aid, textiles or cake decorating. In addition, ‘Academic Review’ sessions take place during tutor time. These involve a course around building ‘cultural capital’ by giving pupils a breadth of historical and ethical knowledge that enhances their characters and breadth of understanding of their world. Pupils also benefit from a wide range of extra-curricular trips and activities that support learning and provide opportunities to broaden their experiences and develop further skills. This offer includes sports clubs, arts and crafts, trips to businesses or retreats to local areas for outward-bound activities. Pupils can access an after school bus service which supports them attending extra curricular activities

The school captures all the experiences accessed by pupils via their ‘Horizons Programme’. This tracks the cultural, aspirational, transition and careers events to ensure that all pupils have comprehensive access to experiences that enhance their aspirations. The annual culture week builds on this, with a celebration of the diverse nature of the school community.

Removing the barriers to learning

The school’s emphasis on building positive relationships with pupils and their families and the provision for supporting the well-being of pupils is central to its approach to alleviating the impact of poverty. The school’s ‘Bridge’ facility for vulnerable pupils offers bespoke support for pupils to overcome any barriers to learning, whilst nurturing them in readiness for the real world, with the aim of improving their emotional and mental well-being. The ‘Bridge’ provides sanctuary as well as providing bespoke interventions which include bereavement and emotional regulation interventions. The team in the facility includes a number of Mental Health First Aiders that support individuals in a mentoring capacity. Well-being staff work closely and successfully with a range of outside agencies, such Local Authority Specialist Teams, Primary Mental Health Services, School Nurse, external School Counsellor, Social Services and Music Therapist. With an often large number of pupils in local authority care (LACE), the school has appointed a LACE champion to specifically support their needs, along with specific support for the many young carers in the school’s community.

The school’s team approach to safeguarding means that a range of staff are trained to a high level in safeguarding processes. This means that there is a strong shared understanding of the central importance of safeguarding.

The school runs its own canteen facility. Staff in the canteen know the pupils well. They ensure that they have a good diet in school and pupils who may face deprivation are targeted for support.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the school

Ysgol Hiraddug is a community school in the village of Dyserth, which lies at the North-Eastern end of the Vale of Clwyd. The school was opened in 1951 to replace the former National School which had been established as far back as 1863.  

There are 189 full-time pupils on roll and a further 25 children who attend the nursery class on a part-time basis, five mornings per week.

Around 22% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. The school identifies 21% of pupils as having ALN.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

School leaders recognise the importance of providing opportunities for pupils to develop life skills. The school’s curriculum aims to reflect the four purposes of Curriculum for Wales; specifically enabling pupils to become enterprising and creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work. Learning experiences incorporate opportunities for pupils to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding through enterprise.

Description of nature of strategy or activity

Pupils in Year 6 create businesses with the aim of making a profit. Each project requires pupils to complete a five-point business plan, including creating a name, logo and ethos, conducting market research, analysing trends, researching and developing a product. Pupils create a company email and apply for a small loan from the school Parent Teacher Association (PTA). They work with the school finance officer to create a bank account. For each project, pupils work as teams within the company. These teams allow pupils to recognise and improve their skills, for example in managing finances, marketing and social media, design and sales. Every decision made during the project is purely pupil-led. This improves learner confidence, supports them to take risks and to be proactive. The first business pupils created was a clothing brand called ‘Life’s Not a Rehearsal’ (LNR), the motto reflecting a continuous learning company. The company sold hoodies and t-shirts both in school and through an online platform, selling their products as far as Edinburgh and London. Another project saw the creation of ‘Shake Shack Hiraddug’ (SSH), which sold a variety of shakes within school. Both businesses yielded impressive profits. Pupils shared the profits between school investment and local charitable donations.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

The enterprise projects enable pupils to effectively develop a wide variety of skills, such as collaboration, communication and independence. There is a direct impact on standards in the classroom, as pupils transfer their financial literacy and digital skills. Pupils improve their budgeting skills and their understanding of profit and loss as well as learning to be accountable. They enhance their digital and creative skills by designing logos, websites, and social media pages. Pupils benefit from opportunities to reflect on their learning and progress during weekly ‘board meetings’ where they present the company data and discuss how they could improve their products, efficiency, customer service and profits. The school uses these projects to develop learners’ ethical awareness, for example, through discussing, debating and deciding how to spend the profits. Learners produce compelling arguments for spending money on themselves or the school or donating to a charity or other worthwhile cause. For instance, they decide to allocate their profits to funding school trips or buying learning resources for classes.

How have you shared your good practice?

The school’s entrepreneurial practice has been shared with cluster schools, who have visited Ysgol Hiraddug to see first-hand how the projects have been approached. Whilst working as part of a cluster school-partnership programme, the enterprise activities have been identified as a strength and the school is able to support other schools in the area.

Improvement Resource Type: Effective Practice

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Information about the provider

Residential courses are Nant Gwrtheyrn’s speciality and these courses take place for periods of 3 or 5 days at a time. Nant Gwrtheyrn also provides a few virtual 3- or 5-day courses. Nant Gwrtheyrn has unique and purposeful courses for an intensive learning experience from Taster level to Proficiency. During 2022-23, the mainstream at Nant Gwrtheyrn provided 452 individual learning experiences to 411 individual learners. The centre also runs the Use Work Welsh scheme. During the most recent year of the scheme, there were 332 individual learning experiences on 35 courses.

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

The centre that can be seen today on the site of the old granite quarries is the result of the dream of Dr Clowes in the 1970s to create employment locally and support the national campaign to restore the number of Welsh speakers. A decision was made to establish a dedicated centre at Nant Gwrtheyrn that would restore the dilapidated village, create work for local people and give the Welsh language the necessary boost.

Courses at all levels at Nant Gwrtheyrn combine language learning with opportunities to experience and appreciate the history and culture of Wales, including the major national campaign to raise money to develop the Nant Gwrtheyrn site.

Ensuring that our learners understand the history of the Welsh language and the special culture that is unique to it is a means of supporting their relationship with the Welsh language and an opportunity to begin the discussion about ownership.

The combination of hearing the Welsh language being used, learning new vocabulary and patterns in the classroom, language awareness training and discussions about the resilience of the language means that learners acquire language, put their new skills into practice immediately and make a practical plan about where and how to use the Welsh language once they have left the site.

Description of the nature of the strategy or activity

The learning experience here at Nant Gwrtheyrn begins on the Monday morning as learners arrive at the site. A welcome meeting is held to explain the schedule for the week. An important part of the welcome meeting is setting the staff’s expectations of learners. We encourage them to take ownership of the site as a safe place to claim the language, and making increasing use of it as the week progresses.

All members of staff at Nant Gwrtheyrn speak Welsh and have been trained on how to support learners. They are aware of the levels and appropriate patterns to use and encourage learners to communicate through the medium of Welsh at every opportunity. This includes staff at Caffi Meinir, the caretakers of the site, reception staff, accommodation officers and senior officers. They model sound linguistic behaviour.

In the classroom, learning focuses on the target language which encourage the use of language during the week of the visit. This means that learners are equipped to cope with the situations they are likely to experience. This is very important in terms of placing the Welsh language in context, taking ownership of the language, gaining confidence and creating language use.

Experienced tutors also provide language awareness training in a subtle and sensitive way. This is an important opportunity to learners to explore their relationship with the language, have an opportunity to discuss personal challenges and support each other from the perspective of those challenges. Each week ends with a ‘Beth Nesa’ (‘What’s Next’) session, with learners being given information about further learning possibilities, but also drawing up a personal action plan. Therefore, learners leave the site with the intention of making practical, sound and useful use of the Welsh language. Combining the elements of awareness and resilience here leads to a change in behaviour and, in the context, to increasing the use of the Welsh language.

The resources at the Nant Gwrtheyrn site are also important in terms of the immersion experience. The chapel, the surgery and the period house include heritage exhibitions to enrich the learners’ experience. They share information about the history of the site and the area, but also about the history of the Welsh language. Tutors use these resources in full through questionnaires, treasure hunts, opportunities for learners to respond in writing, presentations etc.

Beyond the more formal learning, every element of informal learning has been tailored carefully to ensure that learners continue to be immersed, not only in the language but in positive messages about language use. An example of this is visiting Tafarn y Fic public house and being able to listen to a choir of young local boys rehearsing – a wholly Welsh experience.

Similarly, individuals or groups who provide entertainment for learners are chosen carefully. The aim is to open the door to the world and culture of the Welsh language in a safe environment. This can mean a walk with someone who has learned Welsh to acquire nature vocabulary which is rooted in the Nant Gwrtheyrn area, listening to someone singing a popular Welsh song and the opportunity to sing along or having a conversation with people who are part of establishing Nant Gwrtheyrn to learn about the journey of the Welsh language.

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

The result of the immersion experience and these interventions is that learners who come to Nant Gwrtheyrn commit themselves fully to their language journey. They are eager to learn and are able to see themselves as part of the life of the Welsh language and Wales and are therefore able to take ownership of it. They have the confidence to be part of events where the Welsh language is prominent and, by doing so, choose to use the Welsh language actively at community level. This confidence means an increase in use which, in turn, means an increase in skills. This positive cycle means that learners are able to make swift progress in a short period of time.

The variety of formal and informal learning methods, the various spaces on the site, the opportunity to provide entertainment and trips mean that learners are given an opportunity to relax and enjoy this learning experience. The week of learning is also a week of exploring their relationship with the language. This means that we have happy learners who choose to visit time and time again on their language journey.