Ysgol Bro Teifi received a positive report of good practice by Estyn, following their inspection at the start of the year.
In February 2019, Estyn held their first ever inspection of Ysgol Bro Teifi since opening in September 2016. During the inspection, the school’s good practice was praised for a system that identifies pupils’ needs and how this led to pupils receiving excellent care, support and leadership.
This is a system created to identify pupils’ needs so they could provide continuous provision for them. The system helps to track progress, behaviour, attendance and wellbeing. Pupils who have underdeveloped social and emotional skills can join “Clwb Cwtch”. Here, they receive extra support to build their confidence and develop a positive self-image. The school maintains close contact with home, which allows for a more immediate response to concerns about low attendance.
Headteacher of Ysgol Bro Teifi, Robert Jenkins said, “When the school was established in 2016, a need was identified at an early stage to create structures to facilitate pupils’ journeys throughout their time at the school so that they were as smooth as possible. A phase system was established with Phase 1 including Nursery to Year 4, Phase 2 including Year 5 to Year 8, Phase 3 including Year 9 to Year 13. This has led to effective transition and information-sharing systems in order to ensure the best identification of all pupils’ needs, and therefore continuous provision for them. The fact that there is one additional learning needs co-ordinator for the whole school strengthens identification of individual pupils’ specific needs and ensures that suitable and early intervention programmes are tailored for them.”
Thanks to the additional support, pupils behave exceptionally well, treat others with respect and show positive attitudes to learning.
In order to target appropriate and timely intervention for pupils across the age range, the school makes effective use of information to track progress, behaviour, attendance and wellbeing. The school considers provision for pupils’ wellbeing to be just as important as curricular provision and that the two aspects cannot be separated.
Meinir Ebbsworth is the Corporate Lead Officer for Schools. She said, “As a result of rigorous progress-tracking systems, the school provides additional support in order to give pupils every opportunity to reach their potential. Provision for additional learning needs ensures appropriate levels of intervention, which enables pupils to have rich curricular experiences. This work ensures that pupils have full access to the curriculum as well as ensuring appropriate qualifications.”
Ysgol Bro Teifi is a bilingual school for pupils from 3 to 19 years old, with over 900 pupils.
The full information is on the Estyn website: https://www.estyn.gov.wales/effective-practice/identifying-pupil-needs
27/11/2019