How Glasllwch Primary School achieved an excellent Estyn rating

It might not sound revelatory but in its own quiet way, it stands out.

There is no disorder, no pupil speaking over their teacher and no bad behaviour; just studious and enthusiastic learners getting on with their task, asking questions and co-operating with their fellow classmates.

For headteacher Mrs Christine Jackson, that is no coincidence.

She says the school’s emphasis on pupil voice is key.

“Children having a voice is huge for us and pupils having a say in everything they do in school life is important,” she said.

“The children have a say in what they learn, how they want to learn and how they want to record their findings.”

Indeed, all pupils are involved in choosing their own projects. Of course, it is informed by the curriculum.

But “the aim is to ensure learning is purposeful,” she adds.

Giving the children a sense of agency does this.

And a term’s project is kicked off with a “launch event”.

“For example, Year 1 children came to school dressed to go on a cruise earlier this week to launch their project ‘Waves and Caves’.

“They were issued with their tickets and the classroom was arranged so the children sat as though they were travelling on a cruise ship.”

Then, when the project is finished, there is a “sharing or celebration” event and parents are often invited in to look at what the children have been doing.

There are often performances and parents have the opportunity to talk to children about their project.

The projects are given broad, encompassing titles – this way, there is more room for flexibility.

Year 6 pupils recently completed a ‘Shooting Stars’ project, which incorporates space and WWII.

“It is trying to get those snappy, catchy and broad projects that encompass the learning and the skills that we need to be delivering.

“But children having a say in those really engages their learning.”

Clearly, it is working.

The school were recently rated as excellent by Estyn following a surprise visit in November.

The Estyn report of that inspection graded the school as excellent in five key areas: Standards; wellbeing and attitudes to learning; teaching and learning experiences; care, support and guidance; and leadership and management.

“We are absolutely thrilled, especially because since 2014 (when the school was last inspected) we’ve had a lot of change in teaching staff,” Mrs Jackson said.

“Very few of our teachers were here at the previous inspection.

“We have an amazing team here.

“The staff are so dedicated, so committed, so hardworking, and we have fantastic children who are really engaged in their learning.”

One aspect of the school that inspectors praised was the commitment to inquiry based research – in fact, they picked it out as a best practice and will be encouraging other schools to follow suit.

The research – carried out by both staff and pupils – looks at how best to deliver both the curriculum and learning.

It means the school is continually trying new ways to engage pupils and improve their teaching.

But its not just in the classroom where pupils get an education; they are also schooled in the outdoors.

Pupils can channel their inner Bear Grylls by building dens, lighting fires and sawing logs.

Each term, a year group is given control over a plot of nature, with tasks aligned to their project.

Mrs Logan, who supervises and co-ordinates the outdoor sessions says it helps pupils “learn how to work together as a team”.

“It also helps to build confidence and brings it out of the quieter ones.”

And Mrs Jackson adds that the school have worked hard to ensure a “balance in terms of the areas of learning and experience”.

“A major focus this year has been the development of expressive arts.

“Learning squad carried out research into expressive arts across the school and the results have been the development of a drama club after school as well as a singing club.

“They also carried out research into languages and as a result staff are incorporating a range of languages in their lessons such as French, Spanish and Japanese.”

There is now a French after-school club for both Foundation Phase and KS2 after pupils expressed a desire for one.

Moreover, the school achieved the Healthy Schools National Quality Award in July 2019 and have recently been given the Cymraeg Campus Bronze Award, which recognises their efforts to implement Welsh.

So, when Mrs Jackson says that the school’s values, “belief, opportunity and high expectations”, are underpinned by their motto – “Today’s learning for tomorrow’s stars” – it’s not a lie.