Wrexham primary school praised for “happy and inclusive” environment

A Wrexham primary school has been praised for its “happy and inclusive” environment by inspectors.

Estyn, His Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales, has released a report of its finding following a visit to St Giles VC Church in Wales Primary School in June 2024.

The inspectorate found that the school “supports the emotional, health and social needs of pupils well”.

During its visit Estyn focused on five areas, learning, well-being and attitudes to learning, teaching and learning experiences, care support and guidance and leadership and management.

The school received praise in all five areas, with the inspectorate noting that “St Giles Church in Wales Primary School is a happy, inclusive school where leaders place a high importance on the well-being of pupils.”

In its report, Esytn said: “Nearly all pupils are happy and enjoy coming to school.

“They are proud of their school, support one another and feel that they are treated fairly. They know who to talk to if they have a problem or concern and are very confident that staff will deal with it appropriately.

“They feel safe at school and understand how to stay safe when working or playing online.

“Nearly all pupils behave well, are polite to staff and visitors and show positive attitudes to their learning. Relationships between pupils and adults are strong across the school.

“Pupils in leadership roles take them seriously and make appropriate contributions to the life and work of the school.

“For instance, the pupils’ eco committee and school council collect information about snacks brought in from home and promote the importance of them being healthy. This helps most pupils to know the importance of a healthy diet and exercise.”

The inspectorate also praised the care, support and guidance at the school, stating that: “Positive relationships are a strong feature of the school, both between pupils and between the pupils themselves.

“Staff create a warm and caring environment where pupils feel valued and safe.

“The school’s provide effective support for pupils with ALN. Staff liaise purposefully with outside agencies and receive valuable support and guidance from them.

“The school has established strong links with the local special school. This enables pupils from the LRP class to benefit from their facilities and expertise.

There is also praise for the teaching at the school, with the inspectorate stating: “The school has developed a vision for the school curriculum with the focus of ‘inspire, nurture and succeed’.

“Teachers collaborate successfully to develop enquiry questions at the beginning of each termly topic which engage pupils and encourage
them to consider the direction of their learning.

“When teachers plan stimulating and interesting activities, pupils engage purposefully in their learning.

“For example, when a ‘dinosaur egg hatches’ in a Year 2 classroom, pupils develop an action plan for how to go about finding the dinosaur.

“In the LRP class, staff plan an inclusive curriculum and respond well to the interests of learners.

“For example, following a pupil expressing an interest in pollution, the class learnt about plastic pollution and carried out a litter pick.

“Staff know the pupils’ individual needs and adapt planning and learning activities to meet these successfully.

“They differentiate activities to provide appropriate challenge and support.

“Teaching assistants provide highly effective support for pupils’ additional learning and emotional needs in a safe and caring environment

Estyn also provides feedback for further improvement, highlighting that: “Teachers plan a range of learning activities that focus well on the termly topics.

“However, teaching often lacks pace and does not meet the needs of all pupils well enough.

“Staff tend to over-direct learning activities and do not regularly provide feedback for pupils to improve their work. As a result, pupils do not develop sufficiently strong independent learning skills.”

Just four recommendations were put forward for staff at the school to improve on:

• Address the health and safety concerns raised during the inspection
• Improve leadership and self-evaluation in order to identify and address areas for improvement more accurately and promptly
• Improve the pace and challenge of teaching so that it meets the needs of all pupils and develops their skills as independent learners
• Improve provision for the systematic development of pupils’ reading, digital and numeracy skills

The school will now draw up an action plan to address the recommendations. Estyn will monitor the school’s progress about 12 months after the publication of this report.