Ysgol Rhys Prichard is a community primary school that is situated in the town of Llandovery in Carmarthenshire local authority. There are 187 pupils on roll, including nursery age children who attend school on a full-time basis from the term in which they reach their fourth birthday. Over a three-year-period, around 11% of pupils have been eligible for free school meals. This is slightly lower than the national percentage of 18%. The school has identified around 15% of its pupils as having special educational needs, which is slightly lower than the national percentage of 21%. Around 30% of children come from Welsh-speaking homes. Very few pupils speak English as an additional language and very few are from ethnic minority backgrounds. The school was last inspected in March 2014 and the current headteacher was appointed in September 2018. A new building is being built for the school, with the intention of opening it in February 2021. 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 Ysgol Rhys Prichard September 2019 Summary The school is a caring and inclusive community which promotes positive attitudes towards pupils’ wellbeing successfully. The school has a strong Welsh ethos and provision encourages pupils to make use of the Welsh language in all aspects of their life and work. As a result, most pupils take pride in their bilingualism and feel that they are an important part of their local area. Many pupils take advantage of the opportunities that are provided for them to develop as skilful learners. Many pupils develop their literacy and information and communication technology (ICT) skills regularly. When they are given purposeful opportunities to use their numeracy skills across the areas of learning, a majority of pupils make appropriate progress. However, many pupils do not concentrate for extended periods or show enough pride and care in the presentation of their work. A minority of pupils also do not show enough respect towards staff and their peers. Staff work together successfully and establish a supportive working relationship with pupils, which fosters a supportive learning environment for them. They plan a suitable range of relevant experiences that develop pupils’ skills appropriately, on the whole. However, a majority of staff over-direct learning and, as a result, pupils are not given enough opportunities to influence their own learning or to be enterprising and independent learners. The headteacher has a robust vision and succeeds in sharing it purposefully. Leaders develop improvement planning processes consistently. However, the school does not act on the outcomes of monitoring and evaluation astutely or purposefully enough in order to prioritise specific areas for development. Leaders’ judgements are too generous and the school’s priorities do not reflect the obvious weaknesses well enough. As a result, leaders do not have enough of an effect on improving provision and raising standards. Inspection area Judgement Standards Adequate and needs improvement Wellbeing and attitudes to learning Adequate and needs improvement Teaching and learning experiences Adequate and needs improvement Care, support and guidance Adequate and needs improvement Leadership and management Adequate and needs improvement 2 A report on Ysgol Rhys Prichard September 2019 Recommendations R1 Ensure that leaders act more effectively in setting a strategic direction and challenging the school’s performance R2 Strengthen self-evaluation processes in order to identify clear priorities for improvement and monitor them effectively R3 Ensure consistency in teaching in order to ensure pupils have a positive attitude towards their learning R4 Analyse and make efficient use of progress-tracking information R5 Ensure that pupils are given regular and suitable opportunities to apply their skills across the curriculum R6 Improve pupils’ independent learning skills and increase the effectiveness of pupils’ voice groups in influencing the school’s life and work What happens next The school will produce an action plan to show how it will address the recommendations. Estyn will review the school’s progress.