School Penllwyn Primary School is in Pontllanfraith, near Blackwood. There are 142 pupils between three to eleven years of age on roll, including 30 nursery children who attend on a part-time basis. There are five classes, including a morning nursery class. The numbers on roll are more than when the school was inspected in October 2010. About 51% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is well above the national average. The school identifies around 39% of pupils as having additional learning needs. The home language of all pupils is English. The current headteacher took up her role in September 2017. The school is currently a pioneer school and is working with the Welsh Government and other schools to take forward developments relating to the curriculum. Further information is available from the Welsh Government My Local School website at the link below. http://mylocalschool.wales.gov.uk/Schools/SchoolSearch?lang=en 1 A report on Penllwyn Primary School January 2018 Summary The headteacher, staff and governors work together effectively. They are committed to tackling disadvantage and to reducing barriers to pupils’ learning. Most pupils make good progress in their learning as they move through the school. The provision and teaching are good. Teachers and teaching assistants work very well together to provide pupils with interesting activities through which to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills. Effective monitoring and tracking help staff to ensure that they intervene quickly and appropriately if a pupil is underachieving. Nearly all pupils have positive attitudes to learning. Most pupils understand the importance of attending school regularly. They are well behaved and polite towards peers and adults. The school engages effectively with parents through regular events and social media. Across the school there are good opportunities for pupils to use the literacy and numerical skills that they learn in English and mathematics in other subjects, such as science and topic. Pupils use the opportunities in different subject areas well to improve their ICT skills and many pupils develop good skills in programming. Inspection area Judgement Standards Good Wellbeing and attitudes to learning Good Teaching and learning experiences Good Care, support and guidance Good Leadership and management Good 2 A report on Penllwyn Primary School January 2018 Recommendations R1 Improve pupils’ spelling of high frequency words and the handwriting skills of pupils in the foundation phase and key stage 2 R2 Improve pupils’ independent working skills R3 Improve the opportunities for staff to observe effective practice in other schools What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to address the recommendations from the inspection. Estyn will invite the school to prepare a case study for dissemination on Estyn’s website about its work in relation to its detailed monitoring and tracking of pupils which ensure pupils’ progress.