Effective practice |

Enhancing family engagement and learner well-being

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Provider
Ysgol Trefonnen Church in Wales Community Primary
Number of pupils
214
Age range
4-11
Date of Inspection
Information about the school
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
Description of nature of strategy or activity
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
How have you shared your good practice

 

Developing positive relationships with families and emphasising learner wellbeing has resulted in a range of issues being identified and resolved early on.

Information about the school

Ysgol Trefonnen Church in Wales Community Primary is situated in Llandrindod-Wells, Powys. There are 214 learners on roll who are organised in two language streams, with four English-medium and three Welsh-medium classes. Forty-three per cent of learners are in the Welsh-medium classes but only a very few learners come from homes where Welsh is spoken. Thirty per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is well above the national three-year average of 21.3%, and 30% are on the register of pupils with additional learning needs, including one with a statement of special educational needs. This is above the national average of 20.6%

Context and background to the effective or innovative practice

Estyn 2022: Partnerships with parents and specialist agencies are highly effective and make a profoundly positive difference to the school community.

The school has been consistently recognised as a caring and nurturing community where learners are supported effectively to thrive, both academically and in terms of their wellbeing. Ysgol Trefonnen has built year-on-year strong working relationships with its learners, parents, carers and support agencies. These impact positively on children’s attitudes to learning and well-being and ensure that Ysgol Trefonnen is an effective community focussed school. 
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Description of nature of strategy or activity

Estyn 2022: School staff and a team of volunteers involve pupils and their families in many exciting projects to improve pupils’ health and well-being.

In 2020, leaders sought grant opportunities to create and deliver lockdown craft and food boxes to over 30 families a week for a three-month period. This began a cycle of successful school projects, which are now run with learners and their families. The school’s highly effective Family Engagement Officer (FEO) works successfully with local businesses, agencies and national organisations to give learners and their families the support they need. The FEO has put in place a number of supportive approaches. These include:

  • providing learners with essential uniform, shoes, stationary, headlice treatments and period products
  • generating learner well-being bags containing sketching/writing journals, age appropriate games and activities 
  • creating and distributing Christmas food hampers and toy sacks
  • making significant referrals to the local foodbank to help ensure that families do not go hungry 
  • producing ‘grow your own’ vegetable bags to ease the rising cost of family living 
  • operating a community fridge, which alleviates food poverty and lessens local food waste 
  • delivering live cookery demonstrations that accompany learner recipe bags bringing much enjoyment into many households
  • organising popular and exciting school holiday enrichment, through which learners develop friendships, take part in a variety of exercise sessions, learn about nutrition, listen to and play a variety of musical instruments such as Indian drumming and the harp, enjoy trips across Wales and eat a selection of healthy meals together with their family 
  • running an enjoyable Walking Bus that ensures enhanced learner fitness and attendance levels
  • leading a Parent Council group with whom important information is communicated and discussed

Estyn 2022: The school knows its pupils, their backgrounds, and the local community very well. All staff place a high priority on the well-being of pupils. This strong focus on improving pupil well-being is a key aspect of the school’s provision.

Dedicated and highly trained school staff provide further care for the school’s families and learner well-being by:

  • meeting, greeting, checking-in with and being emotionally available for everyone, which ensures that a strong rapport is built with learners and their families
  • delivering well researched interventions that help the school to get to know its children better on an individual basis
  • ensuring that opportunities exist for learners to plant, grow and harvest their own produce in the planters and polytunnel, which fosters a love of nature, nutrition and sustainability
  • offering regular outdoor learning opportunities in an enhanced Forest School area that includes a woodland trial, willow tunnel, bird hide and vibrant pond, within which learners develop greater curiosity, self-confidence and teamwork
  • providing occasions for learners to explore the calming influence of animals through a visiting pop-up farm and off-site alpaca walking
  • running ‘Family Friday’ reading sessions in the outdoors, which give families the opportunity to enjoy a quality reading time together in a peaceful on-site environment
  • taking an identified group of learners on a residential stay that incorporates much fun, challenge and problem-solving activity
  • encouraging learners to adopt a ‘have a go’ attitude, which builds their resilience and perseverance
  • referring families or individuals to on-site agencies, such as the health visitor, therapist teams, Action4Children, Calan DVS or Kooth counsellors who each offer tailored support as required 
     

What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?

Estyn 2022: School leaders place a high priority on supporting pupils and families to thrive.

Through developing positive relationships with families and supporting learner wellbeing effectively, the school is able to intervene early if they identify that there are difficulties with, for example parenting through tough times, mental health, learner attendance or behaviour. In most cases, this means that they are able to support families and learners before things become a bigger issue and this has led to improved attendance and punctuality, higher levels of well-being and good behaviour across the school.

Pupil questionnaires show that most learners enjoy attending Ysgol Trefonnen and would recommend the school to another child. Most learners feel safe and know that there is someone here to help them if need support. Learner well-being assessments conclude that most learners show improving well-being assessment scores.

All parents note, through questionnaires, that they would recommend this school to another parent/carer. They all feel that the school helps all children to settle in well when they start and nearly all believe their child feels safe in school. 
 

How have you shared your good practice

The school is sharing its good practice with parents, governors and the local community through the school newspaper, school website, social media platform, and the headteacher’s termly reports to the governing body.

The headteacher shares good practice via regular school-to-school working within the cluster and through the local authority’s Team Around the Family improvement group.
 

Resource tags

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Care, support and guidanceParentsWellbeing