St. David’s Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School was built in the 1950s and is situated in the suburb of West Cross about three miles west of Swansea city centre near the seaside resort of Mumbles. The school adjoins a separate community primary school and a Welsh-medium primary school. It caters for 219 pupils between the ages of three and eleven, who are taught in eight single age classes, including the nursery, which contains 38 part-time children. The number on roll has declined over the last three years, but has increased in the current year. During the inspection there were 31 pupils in the reception class under the agreed exception rules. Pupils are drawn from a wide geographical area, including the city of Swansea and the Gower Peninsula. Around 7% are entitled to receive free school meals, which is well below the national and local authority (LA) averages. The intake represents the full ability range. Approximately 17% are identified as requiring additional learning needs (ALN) support, which is also below the national average, of whom five have a statement. About 20% come from an ethnic minority background and around 23% speak English as an additional language (EAL), covering 14 different languages and dialects, all of whom receive extra support. According to the LA, this is the fifth highest EAL percentage in Swansea. No pupils are looked after by the LA or come from homes where Welsh is their first language. The school was last inspected in May 2005. There have been several staff changes since then. In 2008 the headteacher was seconded to another LA for two terms and during the inspection the deputy headteacher was on secondment to another school. The 2010-2011 individual school budget per pupil for St. David’s Roman Catholic Primary School is £3071 which compares with a maximum of £5744 and a minimum of £2550 for primary schools in Swansea. The school has the 55th highest budget per pupil out of the 89 primary schools in Swansea.