Ysgol Hafod Lon is a special day school that is situated on the outskirts of the village of Penrhyndeudraeth. It is one of two special schools that are maintained by Gwynedd local authority. Nearly all pupils have a statement of special educational needs or an individual education plan. The school provides for a wide range of additional learning needs, including severe learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties and autistic spectrum disorders. There are currently 110 pupils between 3 and 19 years old on roll. Most pupils come from the Meirionnydd and Dwyfor area and a very few come from the Arfon area and nearby local authorities. Around half the pupils speak Welsh at home. Approximately 36% of pupils are eligible for free school meals. Very few pupils are looked after by the local authority. Since the last inspection, the school has moved to a new site. During the last fifteen months, pupil numbers have increased significantly. This means that there has also been an increase in the number of staff who work at the school and, during the last two years, the school has developed a new leadership structure. Ysgol Hafod Lon is currently a lead creative school that is working with creative practitioners. The headteacher has been in post since September 2004. The school was last inspected in December 2010. 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 Hafod Lon February 2018 Summary During their time at the school, most pupils at Hafod Lon make sound progress from their starting points and develop beneficial skills to prepare them for adult life. The progress that most pupils make in using the Welsh language is an exceptional feature. Many strive to communicate in Welsh with their peers, staff and visitors. Pupils’ standards of wellbeing at Hafod Lon are robustly good, and most have very positive attitudes towards learning. Pupils develop as respectful and proud citizens who communicate eloquently with staff, visitors and members of the community. Many pupils participate actively in school life and are keen to undertake leadership roles and responsibilities across the school. All members of staff have an extremely positive, supportive and close relationship with their pupils and know their needs, personalities and talents well. Overall, the quality of teaching at Ysgol Hafod Lon is adequate and needs improvement. The school has had a new leadership structure since September 2016 to meet the requirements of a larger school on a new site. However, this structure has not yet been embedded in full and, as a result, quality assurance processes have not matured. Leaders do not currently ensure that provision and teaching are consistent enough across the school. Inspection area Judgement Standards Good Wellbeing and attitudes to learning Good Teaching and learning experiences Adequate and needs improvement Care, support and guidance Good Leadership and management Adequate and needs improvement 2 A report on Ysgol Hafod Lon February 2018 Recommendations R1 Raise pupils’ standards of information and communication technology (ICT) across the school, in line with their needs R2 Develop a strategic plan for literacy, numeracy and ICT provision in order to ensure that pupils build on their previous skills as they move through the school R3 Ensure consistency in teaching and share best practice across the school R4 Strengthen the self-evaluation and quality improvement process so that leaders have a rigorous knowledge of the areas for improvement and plan purposefully for whole-school improvement R5 Address the health and safety issues that were raised during the inspection What happens next The school will produce an action plan to address the recommendations from the inspection. Estyn will review the school’s progress.