Lixwm Church in Wales Voluntary Aided School joined with Ysgol Yr Esgob, Caerwys, to become the Bryniau Clwyd Federation in 2020. At that time, the headteacher from Ysgol Yr Esgob took on the role of headteacher for the federation. In September 2023, the headteacher took a temporary position with the regional school improvement service. To cover this absence, a headteacher from another local school has taken up the role of headteacher on a secondment basis. This arrangement is set to be in place until April 2025. Pupils at the school have positive attitudes to learning and apply themselves well during lessons and activities. Their behaviour is very good. Pupils have a notable influence on the life and work of their school which they use wisely and with appropriate autonomy to bring about positive change. During their time at school, they make good progress as learners and in their development as compassionate and caring contributors to school and the wider community. There are warm and beneficial relationships between staff and pupils. Teachers and a skilled team of teaching assistants know the pupils, their needs and interests well. They provide an engaging and varied range of learning experiences that capture pupils’ interests well and promote an enjoyment of learning and being at school. Provision to develop pupils’ skills is effective overall and supports pupils to make good progress in writing in English, learning the Welsh language, using number and applying digital skills to research and present their ideas. However, pupils receive fewer opportunities to learn about other mathematical concepts such as shape and measure and their experience of coding and working with databases is limited. Teachers nurture a love of reading in pupils but do not always support pupils to develop a full range of strategies, for example to help them when they get stuck on a challenging new word. School leaders have a clear vision to develop one school over two sites and are making good progress towards this goal. They have established a strong team ethos and are beginning to make effective use of the opportunities that a federation of school presents, for example by enabling leaders, teachers and teaching assistants to begin to share their ideas and practice. In a few instances, this work has had a notable and positive impact on pupils’ experiences at school and their progress. Leaders work well with external partners, and this helps them to have a good understanding of many of the schools’ current strengths and to identify opportunities for further improvement. However, within the federation, leaders’ roles in evaluating the difference that teaching makes to pupils’ progress in lessons and over time are generally at an early stage of development.