All Saints RC Primary, Ebbw Vale, praised for inclusivity

All Saints R.C Primary School in Ebbw Vale recently had a report from Estyn published, after the inspection in April. 

The main strength of the school seen in the inspection was the focus on pupil wellbeing, with this resulting in a "warm, friendly and inclusive environment" that has left children feeling happy and enjoying coming to school. 

All pupils behave very well, and show suitable respect to both staff, other adults and their peers, as well as a noticeable concern for each other. 

Many take advantage of the variety of strategies available to support their learning and know to go to for care and advice if required. 

This clear understanding results in the majority of students emerging as "happy, healthy individuals" during their time at the school. 

The majority of pupils have very "positive attitudes" to their learning, and are able to contribute well, when given an opportunity to how and what they learn. 

The curriculum is beginning to develop in line with the principles of Curriculum for Wales and is allowing pupils to engage well in their learning, thus meaning positive results. 

However, there is some concern that the expectations that teachers are placing on students are "often too low" and a level of "over-direction" from adults has been hindering the students' ability to develop as independent learners. 

As part of the overwhelmingly caring ethos of the school, all staff are consistent with their praise for pupil achievements, however inspectors found that some written feedback does not assist students with improving their work in a good enough manner. 

Children often come to the school with lower literacy and numeracy skills than ideal for their age groups, however teaching is able to develop the skills, particularly within the speaking and listening category, "effectively". 

The work put in by staff for student development had resulted in most pupils now having a "sound understanding" of numbers and are showing a burgeoning ability to apply these and their digital skills to other areas of learning. 

However, there was some concern that pupils' ability to write at length is not as well developed in tandem. 

The variety of extra-curricular activities and use of school trips to places of interest to support learning has been noted, such as Big Pit, and the focus on learning and understanding the history, geography and culture of Wales is highly commended. 

All staff, including the headteacher and governors have a "good understanding" of the school's strengths and where there may be areas for further development. 

Inspectors have deemed that staff abilities to "identify the most important areas for improvement", including the quality of the curriculum, are not effective enough. 

Overall, the headteacher, staff and governors have a good understanding of many of the school’s strengths and areas for development.

However, their ability to identify the most important area for improvement, such as the quality of the curriculum, is not effective enough.

Inspectors have given the school three key recommendations for improvement:

• Strengthen self-evaluation and planning for improvement procedures in order to address the most important areas for improvement
• Ensure that the curriculum builds systematically and coherently and allows pupils to make choices in how and what they learn in order to develop their skills as independent learners
•  Ensure that teaching consistently provides appropriate challenge and feedback from staff helps pupils improve their work

The school will now be expected to draw up a plan which will describe how they will address the recommendations, and Blaenau Gwent Council will work closely with Estyn to monitor the school's progress.