Pontarddulais Primary School is in the town of Pontarddulais in the City and County of Swansea. There are 481 pupils aged three to eleven years on roll, including 75 part-time pupils in the nursery. There are 16 single-year classes, including two nursery classes. Around 21% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. This is slightly above the average for Wales of 19%. The school identifies 34% of pupils as having additional learning needs, which is higher than the national average of 21%. A very few pupils have a statement of special educational needs. A very few are in the care of the local authority. Most pupils are of white British ethnicity and a very few pupils have English as an additional language. A very few pupils speak Welsh at home. The school is currently a pioneer school and is working with the Welsh Government and other schools to proceed with developments relating to professional learning. The current headteacher took up his post in September 2017. The school’s previous inspection was in January 2011. 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 Pontarddulais Primary School June 2018 Summary Pupils at Pontarddulais Primary School are proud of their school and show high levels of engagement during lessons and other learning experiences. As they move through the school, most pupils, particularly those with additional learning needs, make at least good progress in their learning. Pupil focus groups contribute increasingly well to the life of the school and nearly all pupils show a good understanding of their rights and responsibilities as ethical and informed citizens. The new headteacher and deputy headteacher set the strategic direction of the school and share their vision effectively with the whole school community. The school’s focus on developing leaders across the school contributes well to the strong team ethos and the implementation of the priorities for improvement. They have high expectations of staff and pupils and communicate these clearly. This is having a positive impact on the provision and pupils’ standards across the school. 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 Pontarddulais Primary School June 2018 Recommendations R1 Improve the quality of pupils’ extended writing skills in key stage 2 R2 Ensure that all teachers’ planning is of a consistently high quality R3 Sharpen monitoring so that it identifies more clearly the specific aspects that require improvement 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 on its work in relation to the purposeful use of the outdoor areas to develop pupils’ skills progressively in the foundation phase, for dissemination on Estyn’s website.