Whole-school planning for developing pupils’ skills across the curriculum
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Information about the school
Ysgol Cwm Banwy is located in the centre of the village of Llangadfan, Mid Wales, and is maintained by Powys Local Authority. It is also under Voluntary Control of the Church in Wales. Ysgol Cwm Banwy opened its doors for the first time during the lockdown in September 2020, as part of Powys County Council’s transformation strategy.
It is a small, rural school, and the rural community is at the core of its ethos.
Ysgol Cwm Banwy is a Welsh-medium school with 50 pupils on roll. Approximately half the pupils come from Welsh-speaking homes. Approximately 11% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. The percentage of pupils with additional learning needs (ALN) is approximately 26% of the school’s overall population.
‘The Melodiousness of Many Colours: Colouring the World Together’ is the vision at the core of all the school’s work.
The curriculum provides a coherent means of planning experiences in order to achieve the vision, together with guiding the school’s Christian values, which are seven values incorporated into the school’s logo.
Provision is rich and personal for pupils and the community. This is an adventure along a colourful, exciting and exuberant path. The impetus behind the school’s logo and the vision contained in the curriculum convey this successfully.
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
Following the need to restructure staffing as a result of maternity leave over a period of two years, and the challenge of employing Welsh-medium teachers, change was managed effectively through joint thematic planning across the school. There was a need to ensure quality and consistency by planning the curriculum purposefully to provide valuable and coherent experiences across the school that responded to the principles and requirements of the Curriculum for Wales.
The clear vision of all the school’s stakeholders underpins the planning of a broad and balanced curriculum which succeeds in developing an agreed ambition.
Through planning at whole-school level, it became clear that the rich provision of cross-curricular experiences ensures that pupils benefit from a progression model in terms of experiences, skills and knowledge as they advance along the learning continuum. Experiences have been combined naturally with the requirements of the Four purposes and the six areas of learning and experience, and there is a clear commitment to the What Matters Statements.
Description of nature of strategy or activity
Teachers’ main aim was to involve all school stakeholders in the curricular journey of achieving the vision of the curriculum, ‘An adventure on the colour path.’ As such, it was necessary to ensure the staff’s ethos and attitude to accepting change.
It was recognised that solid cooperation and joint planning is the foundation for success, as teachers, with input from Cylch Meithrin staff, parents and school governors, used their expertise to design the curriculum in an imaginative way. This was done by providing purposeful and valuable experiences that advanced pupils’ cross-curricular skills, which developed naturally into rich inquiry activities with a thematic approach.
Staff set out clearly the purpose of the learning, with What Matters Statements guiding learning paths naturally.
Examples of whole-school themes:
- Go for it! (Deryn story and production)
- An adventure on the colour path (the outset of our vision for the curriculum)
- This is where I’m supposed to be (Habitat)
- My happy world (Differences and ethnicity)
- Turning back the Clock (History of Wales)
Examples of differentiated whole-school thematic mats (rich tasks):
- Planning and development of the Memorial Garden (numeracy, well-being, Science and Technology)
- Colour Windows (numeracy, literacy, digital, humanities, expressive arts, well-being)
- Planning the Foel Eisteddfod (numeracy, literacy)
- Come to Maldwyn (numeracy, digital, humanities, expressive arts)
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
Exciting catalysts at whole-school level develop all pupils’ natural curiosity, and there is a deep sense of belonging. Teachers plan purposefully and can now offer pupils firm opportunities and new learning, as they also acquire the key skills of creativity and enterprise. As a result, pupils engage well with their learning, and catalysts and experiences bring curiosity to their lives from the beginning of their time at school and along the learning continuum. Pupils respond favourably to the whole-school method of thematic learning, which has encouraged them to make their own decisions by solving problems, and to explore in inquiring ways. Through this method of planning and leading learning, teachers assess progress across the school naturally and purposefully.
Rich experiences at whole-school level enable pupils to apply their literacy, numeracy and digital skills constantly, leading to progress and deeper learning relative to their starting points.
The school’s timely marking strategies also help pupils from Year 1 upwards to be aware of their next steps and to upgrade their work as a natural part of their work in the classroom. This leads pupils to become independent learners who work together successfully to gain advantage from each other’s expertise as they reach their final year. They are more willing to learn from mistakes and to reflect on their ways of thinking. As a result, robust development is clearly evident in pupils’ resilience, knowledge and successes.
How have you shared your good practice?
The school gives parents information about what pupils are learning, either as theme titles or thematic mat objectives. Input from all the school’s stakeholders, including governors and the wider community, is crucial to the success of their work. Catalysts in terms of new themes or rich tasks are shared regularly with the wider community through a page each month in the “papur bro”, video clips or a web page on social media. The school has also shared a number of thematic, differentiated mats at whole-school level with cluster schools, within Powys County Council, and beyond. The creative, stimulating and imaginative element of the tasks is recognised as good practice.