Wellbeing, Care, Support & Guidance

Play, Learn and Grow:

LPS is a very caring and welcoming community where staff place a high emphasis on the wellbeing of all pupils and daily practice supports the school’s vision ‘Play, Learn and Grow Together.’

Pupils show good levels of respect, care and concern for others. Members of staff know pupils well and use this knowledge to provide effective support and guidance for individuals. This helps to raise pupils’ self-esteem and wellbeing. Nearly all pupils feel cared for and valued. Pupils’ responses to our online questionnaire demonstrate that children enjoy coming to Llangyfelach. Nearly all learners feel they are taught to be healthy and that they are supported in their learning. 99.3% of learners feel teachers and other adults help them with their learning and that helps them make good progress.

The school has developed and embedded a range of agreed policies and systems which effectively promote healthy living, pupil’s emotional and physical well-being, and positive behaviour. All staff are aware of these and are consistent in their approach to implementing them. Numerous systems throughout the school, along with effective partnerships with outside agencies, help children develop self-awareness, manage their feelings and gain self-respect. The views of pupils and parents are sought through questionnaires and discussions. Parental response is strong, which enables the school to improve and meet the needs of our community. 92.3% of parents feel that their child settles into LPS well and 100% of their children feel safe and secure at LPS.

Healthy Lifestyles:

The school makes appropriate arrangements to promote exercise and healthy eating and drinking, for example fruit at snack times and the effective use of the LPS Outdoor Gym and the LPS Allotment, which sells produce to the whole community. Every day the Healthy Happy Helpers record how many children have healthy snacks. This information is shared and celebrated within our weekly awards assembly. This provides the opportunity to allow pupils to improve and promote their healthy choices and lead on whole school initiatives.

Healthy lifestyle opportunities are further enhanced through after school clubs; inter school sporting events, cluster transition projects, residential centres and community events. There are established weekly programmes, across the school, to promote health related exercise through our links with the Cluster Sports Events Calendar, Swansea City Football Club (Premier League Primary Stars), Swimming Sessions and our Cluster Rugby Development Officer. This enables the school to offer very good health, fitness and well-being education. Experienced staff are timetabled across the school for this quality provision to impact all learners. They also offer our effective training for staff professional development and ensuring continuity of excellent practice. This is further enhanced by extensive experiences through the curriculum in areas such as health related exercise projects, science topics and the school’s commitment to promote healthy lifestyles. The curriculum provides engaging activities for pupils to participate in sports, such as gymnastics, invasion games, fitness classes and swimming. A range of after-school sports clubs promotes pupils’ fitness and team building opportunities.

Nearly all pupils demonstrate a good understanding of keeping healthy through regular opportunities to participate in health-related exercise, developing their awareness of eating a balanced diet and understanding the dangers of harmful substances. These opportunities are provided through our school curriculum, working in partnership with cluster schools, educational visits, community groups and external agency visits. For example, our Police Liaison Officer carries out a rolling programme across the school focusing on substance misuse, safety, stranger danger, anti-social behaviours and cyber bullying. These experiences provide all pupils with excellent opportunities to develop their understanding of health, safety and wellbeing issues. Lessons learned from pupils’ experiences inside and outside of school are used and reflected on with skills and understanding learned within these sessions. As a result, the content of these sessions enables pupils to develop their citizenship skills within our community. The school has received very positive feedback from families regarding these sessions.

Transition:

The school provides effective support for pupils regarding the next steps in their next phase of learning. Transition arrangements between classes and phases in the school are very strong, with well-planned and enacted continuity and progression in all key teaching and learning practices. Information shared is directly focused on wellbeing and cognitive aspects, and ensures seamless transition.

All aspects of transition to secondary school are very strong especially in teaching and learning that explicitly focuses on pupils vulnerable to under-achievement. Nearly all pupils move to new classes very successfully and continue to progress very well, especially learners vulnerable to under-achievement.

At LPS we believe that change is a normal part of life and can provide opportunities for children to develop their resilience. Whether a child is starting primary school, changing schools, changing class, moving through Progression Steps or Primary to Comprehensive school, this transition period needs to be carefully supported. During any transition period, LPS offers children the opportunity to talk about their concerns and are supported to cope with any readjustments.

Intramural Transition: All children from Nursery to Year 5 are given the opportunity to visit their next teacher and classroom. They spend a full session in their new classroom getting to know their next teacher. They will discuss a range of topics regarding their transition to the next year group, these will include building relationships though fun games and activities, discussing learning projects, day-to-day organisation and opportunities for the children to ask questions. Additionally, for more vulnerable learners, bespoke support packages are organised to ensure their transition experience is effective and may be over a longer period of time.

Transition to Secondary School: Year 6 children participate in a range of activities to help them prepare for their transition to Comprehensive school. These include transition days spent at their relevant Comprehensive School, class visits from older pupils and staff and work on a transition project which begins at LPS and is continued during their transition experience. Additionally, the Year 6 Teacher and ALNCo meet with staff from each Comprehensive School to pass on a range of information and discuss the specific needs of each pupil. Furthermore, more vulnerable learners will receive additional packages of support to ensure their transition runs smoothly.

The school has provided an extensive transition information page for learners and parents that will support them through this process:

https://www.llangyfelachprimaryschool.co.uk/year-6-leavers-to-comprehensive-school/

Wraparound Full Day Care:

The school supports pupils’ wellbeing successfully, through our wraparound full-time care. LPS Wraparound is a Full Day Care Service for families in the local area and wider. We are CIW registered and can provide families with childcare from 7:30am to 5:30pm every day. The LPS Wraparound service provides high quality day care that enhances the development, care and education of all children in a safe and stimulating environment, where they learn through play and collaboration. This philosophy promotes the development of positive self-esteem and confidence in children. The provision uses ‘The Foundation Learning’ approach and ‘The Development Pathways’. The service aims to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, supporting the physical, emotional, social and intellectual development of each child.

Pupil Voice:

The Pupil Voice Groups (PVGs) are very strong, purposeful and successful when making decisions and improving provision for all pupils across the whole school. They contribute effectively during LPS Review Fortnights, gathering and analysing information, organising events and gauging opinion. PVGs communicate with each other to utilise each other’s specialists’ skills. For example, the LPS iTeam to offer their technical support, such as generating online surveys, creating adverts and producing PowerPoints for the Criw Iaith assemblies. They communicate and present their work and achievements to the Parents, the Governing Body and Challenge Advisors effectively. They increasingly support the SLT to develop aspects of school life and its environment, such as achieving the Healthy Schools Award and Eco Schools Award. LPS have recently achieved its second Online 360 Safety Award, Swansea Healthy Schools Scheme, the Green Flag Status, Siarter Cymraeg Bronze Award and the Bronze Award Rights Respecting. They are also involved in Local Community decision making, for example the Eco Warriors have been working alongside Local Community Councillors to redesign and improve their local park with an allocated budget. They surveyed the school to collate ideas, presented their findings and offered their opinions on how the development should look, giving reasons. The Creative Crew helped the whole school design artwork for the pupil toilets, main foyer, stairwells, Early Years Entrance and Main Hall working alongside a local artist, in order to improve facilities and develop interactive areas for all learners. These development initiatives led by our PVGs are creating a positive environment of awe and wonder to inspire our learners, while having a positive impact on their wellbeing.

Wider Community:

The school has very strong links with the wider community. Various projects, events and visits enrich the curriculum and impact on and develop children’s skills, their understanding of citizenship, responsibilities, attitudes to others and life beyond school. For example by providing food for local food banks, perform in numerous sporting competitions, take part in our very successful LPS Choir events and contribute to local developments. As part of our Learning Projects, classes take part in developing a sustainable working sites or initiatives, for example, the Cae Felin project. Working in partnership with Swansea Bay University Health Board (SBUHB) we were able to create a local community agriculture project to supply local households with organically grown local vegetable boxes, focusing on promoting biodiversity at the site and across the wider area. This involved identifying what was already there, how to manage a site and identify opportunities to enhance or create new habitats. Our older learners had the opportunity to participate in this process by visiting the site to help develop and carry out a plan of work.

Learning experiences and collective acts of worship, promote pupils’ personal development well, including their spiritual, moral and social development. The children enjoy the various forms of worship and are developing their reflective skills. Extensive links with local churches and the community have enriched pupils’ learning and pupils benefit from a varied programme of visits and visitors to school. For example, the local community police officer supports the provision for personal and social education, through a variety of workshops such as promoting pupils’ understanding of internet safety. Additionally, a local business (Three) provides support for the school on eSafety during assemblies, class sessions and Parent Workshops.

Positive Behaviour:

Behaviour is excellent whilst in school, during educational visits and when involved in community events. This has been commented on by governors, school visitors, members of the community and by the leaders of venues visited. The school has a range of reward systems which contribute effectively towards establishing good behaviour and positive attitudes. Our positive behaviour policy sets out clear expectations for behaviour and sanctions when these are not met. The LPS Code was co-constructed by all stakeholders through a consultation process and forms the large part of our Home/School Agreement, signed and agreed by pupils, parents and staff.

100% of children feel safe and secure at LPS, with 98.5% of pupils having positive attitudes to school; as a result, they behave very well and participate in lessons with confidence, enthusiasm and enjoyment. Nearly all pupils are courteous and show consideration and respect for each other and school property. Nearly all staff, pupils and parents conduct themselves according to the community generated ‘LPS Code’, which forms a large part of the LPS Community Agreement. Behaviour is excellent across the school, due to the effective application of the LPS Positive Behaviour Policy. We use an amalgamation of Good to be Green, House Points and Class Dojo systems, which enable all to strive towards our LPS Code and policy aims. These systems recognise and reward effort, achievements and positive attitudes within our community. This results in excellent wellbeing across the school.

Incidents of bullying are rare but when they occur, they are dealt with swiftly and appropriately, following agreed guidelines. The school curriculum, class Jigsaw assemblies and weekly assembly themes enable pupils to develop understanding of issues relating to equality and diversity which instils tolerance and respect for all. All staff are trained in identifying issues regarding discrimination, bullying or extremism which enhances their delivery of these topics when teaching pupils.

UNCRC Rights:

The Health and Wellbeing Leader works closely with the PVG 'Happy Healthy Helpers' to develop understanding and awareness on the UNCRC Rights Respecting Schools and have developed an action plan to enhance provision across the school. They are regular members of the Local Authority’s Pupil Voice Forum which gives all attendees positive experiences to bring back to school to disseminate to all pupils and staff.

Nearly all pupils continue to develop their awareness of respect, care and concern for others. Most children are confident in their approach to learning and social situations and have good levels of self-esteem. Through our development on the Rights Respecting programme, we have introduced a ‘Right of the Fortnight’ during a focused assembly. As a result, the school has achieved the Bronze Rights Respecting Award. Our Happy Healthy Helpers have set up a pupil drop in system, called ‘Turn your frown upside down’, and those who attended could talk about how it supports their understanding of emotions and social situations. Additionally, the school systems for supporting all pupils ensure effective strategies and support are put into place for those children identified as having low self-esteem and lack of confidence. Very good support is offered to pupils who are supported through our work with multi-agency professionals such as; Access to Learning, EWS, EHH, Social Services, Platform, Health Service, Educational Psychologist and the LA Behaviour Support Team.

Pupil Voice:

"The iTeam are a strong pupil voice and stakeholder group within the school that have had external training via Three, to ensure the group have the appropriate skills. As well as dealing with a number of core ICT tasks, they are also effectively used to share Online Safety messages and develop resources such as assembly materials and posters. Staff are keen to point out how helpful the iTeam have been throughout the school for both staff and pupil training on different aspects of digital learning"

The impact of their work is also reflected in our pupil questionnaire responses where 99.3% of leaners state that our school help them feel safe whilst online.

PVGs communicate and present their work and achievements to the Parents, the Governing Body and Challenge Advisors effectively. They support our SLT to develop and improve aspects of school life and its environment, such as achieving the Healthy Schools Award and Eco Schools Award. LPS have recently achieved Phase 4 of the Swansea Healthy Schools Scheme, the Green Flag Status, Siarter Cymraeg Bronze Award and the Bronze Award Rights Respecting. They are also involved in local community decision making, for example the Humanity Heroes have been working alongside Local Community Councillors to redesign and improve their local park with an allocated budget and successful in securing of the Llangyfelach Road Pelican Crossing. They surveyed the school to collate ideas, presented their findings and offered their opinions on how the development should look, giving reasons. The Creative Crew helped the whole school design artwork for the pupil toilets, working alongside a local artist, in order to improve facilities for all pupils. The excellent work that our PVG groups are doing for the school is published on our school website.

The school has introduced many initiatives to improve health and wellbeing provision such as eSafety programmes. As a result, nearly all pupils are able to explain the reasons and importance of security online and the purpose of passwords. Nearly all older learners are able to explain cyber bullying in great detail with clear understanding of what to do if they found themselves in such a difficult situation. Furthermore, the Happy Healthy Helpers have visited a local Primary School to receive Emotion Coaching training. This has enabled them to embed a ‘Turn your Frown Upside Down’ pupil drop in club, led by the Health & Wellbeing Leader. As a result of our success, the school has achieved the Online 360 Safety Award.

The curriculum is further enriched by the provision of a variety of extra-curricular activities. These have proved effective for raising self-esteem, developing talent, promoting health, developing entrepreneurial skills, broadening opportunity and social interaction. The school is consistently involved in a variety of activities within the local community. This has proved to effectively develop an understanding of citizenship and community responsibilities. Our Green House and Allotment Area is used to effectively to deliver Wellbeing sessions.

This has been a great success in improving standards of wellbeing across the school. Children in each class are responsible for various areas within the allotment. They grow and harvest crops such as, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, herbs, radishes, beetroots and flowers to sell or donate to the community during our summer fete.

Safeguarding:

The school’s arrangements for safeguarding are very good, this due to range of co-constructed policies that comply with all legislation, that are shared with all stakeholders and are carried out effectively.

The school is highly effective in promoting and supporting a culture of safety and well-being in the school community, both on-site and off-site, including online safety aspects. Staff and governors understand well, and consistently implement the school's safeguarding requirements and procedures. The school's arrangements to keep pupils safe meet requirements and demonstrate excellent practice. Documents are updated proactively and reactively as required.

The child protection policy refers to the All Wales Child Protection Procedures and has sections on its aims, the designated teacher’s role and responsibilities, the designated governor’s role and responsibilities, the action to be taken by the school, and prevention. The procedures for identifying and reporting cases are outlined in the section ‘action to be taken by our school’ and instructs staff to report any concerns to the designated teacher. In the same section, the policy outlines the school’s commitment to supporting learners who may have been abused by working with outside agencies to ensure best possible outcomes. The child protection policy and safeguarding suite of policies are reviewed annually.

Two written references are required before a member of staff commences employment. A clear enhanced DBS check is also required and copies taken of an individual’s qualifications. There is a record of DBS checks for all staff regardless of when they commenced work in the school. All volunteers in the school are required to undertake a DBS check. On the rare occasion when an individual is permitted to work in the school before a clear DBS check is received, a risk assessment is carried out and kept on file.

The designated senior teacher is Lee Burnell, the Headteacher. The designated governor is Michelle Kidwell. These people have also been designated responsibility for LAC children. In the absence of these people the vice senior teacher is Claire Bate (Deputy Headteacher) and vice designated governor is Ruth Tancock. Staff are aware of who these people are.

Staff are aware of the need to be alert to signs of abuse as they have received regular training from the LA. Staff are aware of what to do should they see abuse by a colleague, and that is to report the matter directly to the designated senior teacher (Lee Burnell). Staff understand that should a child make a disclosure to them that they cannot and should not promise anonymity or that the disclosure will not be shared with others. They know not to question the child further as this is the job of professionals (e.g. child protection police officers).

The school strives to be an inclusive school that has is a happy, safe community. Children know that if they have concerns they can talk to any adult in the school. This message is echoed in circle time, PSE lessons, PCSO lessons, Online Safety Workshops, NSPCC Workshops and assemblies. The SLT is aware of how to make a referral to Social Services and keeps a record of those referrals. The school is a vital part of the multi-agency approach to child protection issues. All staff are aware that if they witness or are made aware of a potential child protection concern whilst acting in their personal capacity, then they should refer that matter through to social services individually. The Headteacher (Designated Safeguarding Person - DSP) informs Social Services and relevant people if a child on the protection register is excluded or if there are absences that cause concern.

Staff know that allegations against the Headteacher should be reported to the Chair of Governors (CoG) and they will then inform the LA. Staff are aware of the requirement for confidentiality and the importance of keeping accurate and thorough records. Staff log concerns using ‘MyConcern’ and the SLT monitors actions and task related to the progress of a concern. Staff do not contact parents regarding concerns as they report to the designated senior teacher (Lee Burnell). The senior teacher would then contact parents if necessary but would not do so if assessed, or had been advised, that this would put the child at risk.

Staff and leaders at all levels know what to do if they have concerns about a pupil, or about adult behaviour towards pupils. Consequently, they take all actions necessary, record details precisely, and in a timely manner. The school builds capacity well in terms of child protection awareness and skills. The school has robust procedures to ensure the suitability of staff and other persons in contact with pupils. Records are up-to-date and exemplify very best practices.

Senior Leaders are qualified Designated Safeguarding Person Training to Level 4/Group D.

All staff receive Local Authority Level 1/2 training relevant to their role and capacity within the school. As part of our induction process, temporary staff, visiting staff, volunteers and new staff are made aware of the child protection policy and procedures through our robust and comprehensive induction and staff training manual. This is revisited annually with all staff during a designated INSET Day. The whole booklet is explored which contains policy topics such as safeguarding, child protection, health and safety, LPS procedures and LA HR policy. All staff are asked to complete electronic signing forms to confirm their understanding and compliance of the policies and practices contained within the manual.

Parents are aware that the school has a child protection policy and is available on the school website. When the school communicates with parents over a child protection related matter the school informs parents that it is duty bound to share information with other agencies as necessary. Learners are aware that they can speak to teachers if they have concerns. The school has organised NSPCC assemblies and workshops to promote this message.

The school has recently renewed its anti-bullying policy and references the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The school records any instances of bullying. Should the school receive complaints regarding bullying from parents or children then a member of staff is asked to investigate the incident. Sanctions will depend on the severity of the incident and parents are informed of the outcome of any investigation.

Security:

The school grounds are enclosed by boundary walls and security fencing, with access to the building via a buzzer system at the main entrance. All children enter the school grounds via the school gate which leads to the main office during wraparound breakfast club time (7:30am to 8:15am), the main gate at the top yard for the Free Breakfast Club (8:15 to 8:25am) or the main gate at the top yard for the start of the school day (8:40am to 9:00am). During the school day, the gates are locked. Visitors and late arrivals buzz the intercom to be granted access through the main door. All visitors sign in and out of the building using our electronic system and provided with visitor badges. Visitors are asked to take a seat while the member of staff is contacted. All visitors are expected to wear a badge before they are allowed into the main building.

All parents are asked to wait outside the school buildings for their children. No child is allowed out of school for an appointment during the day, unless a known adult arrives to collect him or her and reports to the office first. Prior notice should be given to the school. Any pupil leaving the premises must be signed out and back in again once they return from their appointment.

An effective intruder alarm is in operation. This is always set when the school is empty. The Headteacher, Caretaker and PSM Security are designated key holders and are responsible for the security of the building. It is the responsibility of the Caretaker to check that all locks and catches are in working order, that the emergency lighting is working, that the fire alarm has no faults and security system are working properly. Before leaving the premises, the Caretaker has a duty to double check that all the windows are closed, that the doors are locked and secure, that the security alarm is set and that all gates are locked.

Health & Safety:

The school’s health & safety policy covers fire safety, blood borne diseases, first aid procedures, electrical equipment, evacuation procedures, medication, PPE, maintenance, asbestos, violence etc. The H&S policy is reviewed annually and forms part of the safeguarding policies.

Two members of staff have received the full 3-day First Aid training and a further two members of staff have received the 2-day training. It is these members of staff who take responsibility for checking first aid supplies and ordering as and when necessary. If there is an accident on the premises then a First Aid trained member of staff is called to attend as soon as is reasonably practicable to do so. Accidents are reported by completion of a HS2 form and injuries are notified to parents via a slip which can be sent home if necessary. All head injuries and any injuries considered above a knock, such as a graze or bruise are notified to parents. The members of staff involved in completing the necessary records (HS1 form for adults /staff and a HS2 form for pupils) will be:

The member of staff who first dealt with / witnessed the incident / injury.
The First Aider who attended the incident / injury.

The school has never had a drug and substance misuse incident but if it did, the drugs or substance would be confiscated, parents informed and the police would be contacted. Should any member of staff be involved in an incident of drug or substance misuse then disciplinary procedures would be followed and the police would be informed.

Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) is provided through the curriculum. Health professionals or other appropriate external visitors may be involved in some RSE lessons and will follow their own professional code of conduct when in their professional role. A teacher will always be present throughout lessons involving an external visitor. The school places an emphasis on enabling pupils to develop the relevant attitudes, values and skills rather than merely gaining knowledge and understanding. In other words, the ‘Relationships’ aspect is seen to be more important than the ‘Sex’ aspect. The school’s provision is tailored to the age and physical maturity of the pupils and this is reflected in the schemes of work.

The school complies with the LA guidance on educational visits. Teachers are required to carry out a risk assessment of the activity and submit using the LA’s Evolve system for approval before the visit may proceed. Providers are also required to submit a risk assessment for the school’s records. Risk assessments are reviewed after trips.

Teachers are instructed not to allow their pupils access to the internet until parents have returned and signed the responsible internet use agreement. Staff have been made aware of the acceptable use policy and the school benefits from the LA’s firewall and internet safety protocols. Class based workshop sessions are held across the school regarding Internet Safety by our PCSO and NSPCC.

Should a child or adult exhibit racist behaviour towards another person (or there is a complaint by a pupil/parents of such behaviour), this is dealt with swiftly following the stages outlined in our policy entitled ‘Equal Opportunities’. Each incident is investigated by a senior member of staff. Any incidents are recorded on a LA pro-forma and sent to the LA. The results of any investigations are communicated to those involved in the incident.

The school makes extensive provision to develop pupils' knowledge and understanding of unsafe or emotionally harmful behaviours, for example nurturing inappropriate relationships, harassment, discrimination, bullying and extremism, according to their stage of development. This is provided in a coherent way through rich, contextual learning and high-quality curriculum content through our Jigsaw Scheme. Furthermore, the school keeps pupils safe from the dangers of radicalisation and exploitation, through effective content within our curriculum and inviting external agencies to school to provide specific topic sessions to age-appropriate levels across the school.

Staff are aware that the use of restrictive physical intervention needs to follow the policy on physical intervention. Any complaint, whether verbal or written, which is received by the Headteacher or member of the Education Department staff about the use of any physical restraint or contact (however apparently slight) will be referred immediately to the Manager of the Pupil and Governor Unit (County Hall), before further action is taken. The Manager of the School and Governor Unit will consult with the Social Services Department. As a result of this consultation, there will either be an investigation by the Police and Social Services under the local Child Protection procedures or by the school or establishment under staff disciplinary procedures.

As there are several different elements to safeguarding, there are a variety of ways in which ‘safeguarding’ issues are reported to school governors. For example:

The school has a H&S committee that meets at least once a term and reports to the full governing body via minutes. The committee reviews any H&S incidents/concerns and makes recommendations. The committee also reviews relevant policies and recommends them to the full GB for ratification.
All incidents requiring first aid require a HS1/2 form to be completed and sent to the LA. Any serious incidents requiring first aid or emergency service involvement are reported in a H&S meeting and to the full GB via minutes.
Health care plans are created by the ALN Leader and reviewed at least annually. The ALN Leader meets termly with the ALN Governor to discuss provision for all children with additional learning needs in the school.
The child protection policy is reviewed annually. In every Headteacher Report to Governors there is an update on the number of children on the child protection register, the number of LAC children, the number of children in need and the number of recent referrals to social services.

Positive Attitudes Towards Learning:

The school ensures that learners influence the life and work of the school very well, developing leadership skills that have a positive effect on themselves as learners and school improvement.

Nearly all learners at LPS develop their independence well, selecting their preferred approach and application, as reflected in our learner questionnaire feedback where 95% of learners believe that they are doing well with their learning and 90% believe that they receive interesting learning experiences.

Pupil led learning is embedded and successful in most classes. Through these experiences, pupils use their own ideas, plan, make decisions and solve problems. During lesson observations, most pupils demonstrate the ability to sustain concentration and show resilience. A strong feature of the school is high level of enthusiasm for learning, as identified in numerous external agency reports.

LPS has enhanced its approach to pupil voice through creating more opportunities for pupils to lead and self-determine their own learning through our LPS Matrix approach and our LPS Learning Projects. At the start of new themes and topics, all teachers routinely provide rich, divergent, and highly engaging opportunities for pupils to influence what they learn, and how they learn. Teachers use this information exceptionally well to build bespoke learning experiences that ignite and inspire pupils.

All learners can talk about how the questions they generate at the start of each topic are used to develop their ideas, learning direction and next steps. Nearly all learners can talk about how they independently researched questions that were generated during pupil voice sessions. These strategies are contributing well to child-initiated learning across the school and empowering pupils to have ownership over their learning.

Pupil voice and self-determined learning is further enhanced with the application of our LPS Personal Learning Journey (PLJ), designed to develop understanding and embed the concept of the 4 Purposes, Cross-curricular and Integral Skills. The aim of the PLJ is to steer learners and teachers to adopt an Andragogical and Heutagogical approach. This strategy empowers all pupils to reflect, self-evaluate and improve themselves as lifelong learners. The development and work around this strategy is shared via our website in order to guide all stake-holders in developing, promoting and sustaining an environment that will enable all pupils to progress within the new curriculum.

There are fortnightly foci from the Personal Learning Journey, which focus on elements of the 4 purposes. This is introduced and modelled by members of the SLT during weekly assemblies. The focus of the fortnight is discussed, applied and evaluated within learning, across the school, and throughout the week. Success on progress and application is celebrated in weekly assemblies and good practice is shared via our school website.

The introduction of the PLJ has led to a number of significant improvements in important areas of the school.

Pupils set their own learning targets, demonstrating a greater understanding of the learning process.
Pupils are able to demonstrate their improved understanding of learning strategies during plenaries and through verbal and written evaluations of their learning.
Pupils have an increased knowledge of what makes an all-round learner and are able to identify their strengths and recognise how and where they can improve.
Improved quality in self and peer assessment.
Improved standards of Oracy skills.
Improved communication of curriculum and learning with school community.
It is providing all learners with the opportunity to develop the skills required to access the Curriculum for Wales.
It is enabling teachers to recognise and provide opportunities to develop and prepare learners for life and the wider world.

Workbook Scrutiny activities demonstrate that nearly all teachers ensure skills have a clear focus and ensure opportunities for learning are not missed. Half termly workbook scrutiny demonstrates that nearly all pupils are able to apply and develop their Cross-curricular Skills within their learning projects across Areas of Learning. Nearly all teachers ensure skills have a clear focus and ensure opportunities are not missed. Most pupils recognise the skills that they are proficient with and are beginning to select their own approaches. Most pupils make connections to previous learning and transfer these skills effectively in a range of subjects across the curriculum. Nearly all learners experience high challenge and respond with enthusiasm. As a result, nearly all pupils make good, and in most classes, excellent progress.

Learners are increasingly involved in their own progress. Teachers and pupils co-construct strategies for peer and self-assessment. Due to good teacher modelling pupils are regularly shown how to assess their own work and that of others. Most identify ‘next steps’ with increased precision and act on achieving them with success, which is fully in line with the LPS Marking Policy. However, in some classes pupil progress is excellent due to pupils independently selecting strategies for peer and self-assessment. Within these classes, the success and accuracy of self and peer assessment enables nearly all learners to be confident about their learning progress, to achieve very well and do so with increased independence.

The high level of care and very good working relationships between staff and pupils has a positive impact on pupils' wellbeing and engagement in learning. All staff strive to be good role models for children through their use of language and relationships with colleagues, parents and children. This enables all pupils to realise the LPS vision, ‘Play, Learn and Grow Together’. This has a positive impact on behaviour and attitudes to learning. This is a very strong feature of the school. Nearly all pupils behave well in all aspects and contexts of school life, both inside and outside of school.

Robust analysis, of the pupils’ needs and the precise and sustained provision changes in classroom and break times occurs exceptionally well. Impact on reducing exclusions and securing excellent and sustained progress, in learning and attitudes is significant. As a result, the school has administered only 1 short term fixed exclusion over the past 12 years.

Attendance:

Improved wellbeing and attitudes towards learning is reflected in the continued upward trend in our attendance data over time. However, there is evidence that persistent absenteeism is increasing. The school has developed systems to address this, such as attendance awards, the reintroduction of a behaviour (attendance dependent) reward scheme, weekly class attendance awards – the class with the best attendance record over time are rewarded with a trip to the Cinema. These are celebrated every week in awards assembly and shared using a whole school display. The school ensures that parents and pupils are aware of the value of attending school regularly and of arriving on time.

Our Attendance Officer & Admin Team monitor the registers first thing each morning with a “first call” system implemented for any ‘N’ codes (no reason for absence). Parents can be contacted either by email, telephone call or app notification service. Daily monitoring process includes strategies that ensure consistency of practice and policy from all members of staff. Our robust policy is included within our student, supply staff and induction booklets to ensure everyone who completes registers are fully informed of our approach. The main objective for daily monitoring is that no child should end the day with an “N” code on the register.

The school holds strong partnerships with the relevant services to secure improved attendance for all our learners. The Attendance Officer holds regular meetings with Education Welfare Officer where they rigorously monitor ‘I’ codes, persistent lateness and discussions around pupil referrals. Our EWO will regularly use late door monitoring undertaken, administering letters where necessary.

The school undertakes termly and annual monitoring of attendance to identify strengths and areas for improvement:

Attendance is a weekly focus agenda point for all Admin Meetings.
The Admin Team undertake regular reviews of attendance codes in order to reduce persistent absenteeism.
The Admin Team undertake termly analysis of broken weeks to establish patterns and persistence.
During LPS Review Fortnight the attendance officer and SLT analyse attendance issues and strategies for improving. Focusing on: