October 2014

Annual Report of the Governing Body for Danygraig Primary School Group S33

Under the Provision of the School Standards and Organisation (Wales) Act 2013.Governing bodies will provide parents of registered pupils with an annual report.

It will no longer be necessary for Governing bodies to hold an Annual meeting with parents.

Parents have the right to petition a meeting with Governors up to 3 times a year, signed by either 10% of parents of registered pupils or 30 parents whichever is the lower. Discussion will be on issues relating to the school and not individual pupils.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We the Governors of Danygraig Primary take this opportunity to outline a summary of the responsibilities of the Governing body in the discharge of their duties.

Much of the life of the school, its statistics and achievements, of which there are many are listed in this report. I as chairperson wish to thank my colleagues for their support and commitment throughout the past year.

I also wish to thank the Headteacher and the whole school staff for their unfailing dedication to the education and wellbeing of our children. Most sincerely, I thank you our parents. Your co-operation and continued support in all aspects of school life is greatly appreciated.

Danygraig is making every effort to address the needs and demands of education in the 21st century. It is our aim to ensure that all pupils achieve their full potential.

Working together staff, parents, governors and pupils we can face the challenges ahead.

Cllr Clive Lloyd (Chairperson).

Governing Body Members Category End of term of Office

Mr N P Morgan Headteacher

Mrs S Driscoll Clerk

Cllr C Lloyd (Chairperson) LA Governor August 2016

Cllr J Hale LA Governor August 2016

Mr G Wheel Community February 2016

Mrs G Knill Community October 2015

Mrs M Renzi-Davies Parent December 2014

Mrs S Hyett Parent December 2014

Mrs M Fairhead Parent December 2016

Mr Khandaker El-Wahid Parent December 2016

Mrs S Stokes Staff October 2015

Mr M Cummins Support Staff October 2015

There are currently vacancies for 1 LA and 1 Community governor.

Appropriate ballots are held when the term of office ends apart from LA governors. Vacancies will arise for parent governors in December 2014.The School will advise nearer to that date of procedures for application.

The School is due to be inspected through Estyn, the Welsh Assembly Government Inspectorate in Spring Term 2015.

Governing Body Meetings

In discharging its duties, the Governing body meets regularly. Topics discussed have included staffing, school organisation, curriculum, finance, premises and future development.

As governors we are always available for consultation.

During the past year governors have:

: Received and considered reports from the Headteacher on school organisation, curriculum, training, educational visits and pupil achievements.

: Ensured that resources have been properly managed and finances have been correctly accounted for in accordance with the authority’s regulations.

: Monitored the employment of teaching and non teaching staff.

: Received reports on SEN/ALN and Child Protection issues.

: Monitored the implementation of the Wales Curriculum.

: Approved and received school policies and service level agreements.

: Implemented and discussed Welsh Assembly initiatives.

: Ensured premises are well maintained and safe.

The School Prospectus is available on Swansea Edunet Portal. Content remains as at publication date 2014.

Term Dates for 2014-2015

Term Term HalfTerm

HalfTerm

Term

Autumn2014

September 1st

October24th

October27th

October31st

November 3rd

Dec19th

75

Spring 2015

January 5th

February13th

February16th

February 20th

February23rd

Mar27th

55

Summer2015

April 13th

May22nd

May25th

May 29th

June 1st

July20th

65

Total Days 195Bank Holidays

GoodFriday

EasterMonday

MayDay

SpringHoliday

Inset Day

April 3rd April 6th May 4th May25th Sept 1st

Session Times

Morning Nursery 8:50am -11:20am

Afternoon Nursery 12: 50pm -15:20pm

Specialist Teaching 8:50am -15:00pm

Foundation –Year 6 8:50am - 15:20pm

Lunchtime 11:55am - 12: 55pm

Staffing and Pupils: Pupil Numbers. At present the pupil numbers stand at FTE :255 Junior :128 Foundation:99 Nursery:29 PT:29 FSTF :7 JSTF :8

Teaching Staff

Mr NP Morgan Headteacher

Mr AP Byrne Deputy Head/Head of KS2 Year 6

Mrs B Currenti Asst Head/SENCO/LNF Manager FSTF

Mrs S Stokes Asst Head/Head Foundation Reception

Mrs Z Morelli Nursery

Mrs H Morgan Reception/Yr1

Mrs S Stark Year1

Mrs R Williams Year2

Mr D Field Year3

Miss S Flower Year3/4

Mr B Curtin Year4

Mrs L Smedley Year5

Mr P Hobbs /Miss S Richards JSTF

Mrs S Jeremiah ALN/Boys Learning

Mrs A Thomas PPA Cover

Teaching Assistants

Mrs V Harris HLTA Mrs H Phillips Mrs A Stevens

Mrs S Dicataldo Mrs S Lewis Miss E Raven

Mrs C Boat Mrs K Rees Mr J Hopkins

Mrs S Driscoll Miss L Stephens Mr D Nevis

Mrs D Llewellyn Miss G Coates Mrs D Davies Mrs C Merriman Mrs L Harris

Pastoral Support Officer

Mrs K Jones

Literacy/Numeracy Support

Mrs H Lawrence, Mrs Q D’Silva

Lunchtime Supervisors

Mrs E Davies, Ms J Martin, Mrs G Woods, Mrs B Thomas, Mrs M Norris, Mrs D Davies .

Administration/Clerical

Mrs J Griffiths, Mrs G Pennock, Mrs D Lancey.

Cleaning Staff

Mrs K Rees, Mrs B Thomas, Mrs P Betty

Canteen/Catering

Mrs K Bevan, Mrs P Richards, Mrs S Mages

Breakfast Club

Mrs K Bevan, Mrs B Thomas, Mrs M Norris, Mrs S Moore

Caretaker/Site Manager

Mr M Cummins

Community Links

The School is involved in a variety of community/School projects.

Police and community (PACT).

Recycling- Eco Schools.

Healthy Eating

Art in the Community

Waterfront Community Church

Fabian Bay Congregational Church

St Stephens Church

Design to Smile

The school has good links with our local churches, police and Library. We are involved in Sports projects with the Ospreys, Swansea City FC, WRU, and the tennis centre. Business Links include Tesco, Sainsbury, Amazon, Admiral, Rees Davies Funeral Directors, East Side Printers, Leyland Paints and Lovells. We have continued our links with Swansea University, Swansea Metropolitan University and Gower College.

The Friends Association continue to support the school in a range of activities. The Governing body would like to express its gratitude and appreciation to those members.

The local Brownie Group have use of the school hall one evening per week.

We now take part in the Welsh Assembly free breakfast initiative. The facility operates daily and is well attended.

Extra curricular activities

A school choir, instrumental group, science club, ICT web team and board games club are held during lunchtimes. After school clubs include rugby, football, athletics, netball, rounders, cricket, badminton, tennis and gymnastics.

PE and Games Skills are included for all pupils with curriculum provision. We also provide a programme of school and inter school sports activities and competitive matches, enabling pupils to develop sports and social skills, together with a positive attitude towards a health regime .As well as the sports above pupils are involved with cycling, swimming, dance and keep fit. The WRU and Swansea City continue to hold training sessions and pupils have visited Wimbledon for the last two years.

Achievements:

Basic Skills Quality Mark (Twice)

Eco Green Flag

Recycling Silver and Gold Awards

Dyslexia Friendly School Award

Health Promoting School

Internet: Internet, e-mail is now established throughout the school. The school adheres to a policy for safe use of the internet.

School uniform: We believe the wearing of school uniform helps bring a sense of pride and belonging to the school and community.

School Council: The school council has elected representatives from Yr2-Yr6 they are encouraged to contribute positively. Their opinions and views are invaluable to school evaluation and development

School Assembly: A multi-cultural assembly is held every morning. These are taken by the Headteacher, teaching staff and occasionally local clergy. Pupil

achievements and attendance are recognised and celebrated during a weekly awards assembly.

Health and Safety/Wellbeing: All policies are updated regularly, these include medical and health care plans, discrimination and equal opportunities, educational visits, risk assessments, security and internet safety .A full emergency evacuation plan is in place and fire safety training has been completed by all staff. Regular fire drills are carried out and a full business continuity plan is in place.

Premises: The school is monitored annually for asbestos, we are graded as black which is very low risk. Staff and contractors are informed of the location and the current plan includes risk assessments and control measures. The boiler house roof has water ingress presenting a danger to the boiler and electric, quotes are being obtained for the completion of safety work. Work is underway to install a poly-tunnel and a memorial garden has been installed in memory of Mr Ian Warden.

Finger guards have been fitted on all doors and fire safety doors are to be installed in the computer suite. UPVC doors and windows have been installed in the foundation building, canteen and arches. An emergency lighting system has been installed. Negotiations are ongoing with the LA regarding repairs to the playground. The school continues to use an access intercom system and CCTV for security has been installed. A current accessibility plan is in operation.

Accessibility Plan and Policy: Under the schools accessibility plan a ramped access has been installed. The main office is situated on the ground floor along with a physiotherapy medical room. Disabled changing and toilet facilities are also available. All toilet facilities are on the ground floor, have hand dryers and are cleaned and replenished daily.

Inset (In Service Training): Members of staff are continuing to attend local authority organised and school based training activities in accordance with the schools policy on CPD .(Continuing Professional Development).

Attendance/Exclusions: Attendance has improved from 91% with an average attendance of 93.8%. A pastoral support officer has been employed to deal with emotional welfare, attendance, social services, admissions, looked after

children, and liaison with asylum families and the community. The school is pleased that there have been no exclusions.

Bi-lingual Policy: Danygraig fully promotes bi-lingual policy and practise. Welsh is encouraged in all aspects of school life, activities, subject lessons and displays .It is our aim to also promote the use of welsh in less formal situations ie: breakfast club, canteen and playground.

ALN/SEN: (Additional and Special Learning Needs) Mrs Currenti Assistant Head is the ALN/SEN manager. The school operates two specialist teaching facilities and also provides for the needs of several other children with statements of SEN within mainstream. School action plus entails support from outside agencies such as speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and local health centres. Danygraig also works with EMLAS to provide support for pupils with English as an additional language. A MAT (more able and talented) register is kept and constantly reviewed in order to focus on specific talents and skills. New schemes of work have also been implemented to improve boys learning.

Development Plan and Strategies: The school has an on-going SDP (School Development Plan) with the main aim of raising standards in key skills, pupil performance and attainment. It also addresses Post inspection issues and ongoing challenges. The school uses standardised NFER tests in Maths and English from reception – Year 6 to obtain benchmark data. INCERTS are also used to produce an acceptable format for recording individual progress and reporting LNF (Literacy and Numeracy tests) results to parents.

Monitoring of Standards: The monitoring and evaluation of standards is carried out by the Headteacher and Senior Management Team, curriculum leaders and class teachers. We have developed a culture of self evaluation for staff and governors. A full programme of subject leader monitoring is in place there is a one year cycle for core subjects and two year cycle for others. Classroom observations take place taking particular notice of the development of Literacy and Numeracy skills within subjects.

Data/Targets: Teacher assessments of learner standards are completed in Year 2 and Year 6.The information is fed into the all Wales Core Data. The school is ranked in a quartile table system along with other similar schools across Wales It is necessary for the school to dissagregate STF(Specialist Teaching Facility)

learners from the data to present an accurate picture. A recent report from the ERW places Danygraig in the top quartile the overall judgement being: Learner Outcome and Capacity to improve both GOOD.

Primary /Secondary School Liasion: Danygraig works closely with our secondary school partner Cefn Hengoed.Staff from partner schools provide curriculum links, transition, meet to discuss pupil information and attend open evenings. Pupils from Danygraig visit on induction and selected activity days. Most Year 6 leavers go on to attend Cefn Hengoed, some however choose to attend other comprehensive schools. Sports tournaments for partner schools have featured strongly.

Finance: The main expenditure in providing an educational establishment has been met by the schools delegated budget. End of 2013/14 financial year report see Appendix A.

The budget includes grants for PDG (Pupil Deprivation Grant) and SEG(Strategic Education Grant). Income has been generated from the schools training partnership with Swansea Metropolitan University together with a nominal amount from school lettings. Fundraising and donations from the Friends Association have assisted in school resourcing and the maintenance of the school mini bus. The above are in addition to the school budget.

A recent quote from the ERW report states:

Danygraig is a Good to Outstanding School, with

. Good outcomes and Good capacity to improve.

DANYGRAIG PRIMARY SCHOOL

Headteacher:

Mr. N. Morgan B.A. Hons.

Tel: Swansea (01792) 650946

Fax: Swansea (01792) 641704

E-mail: Danygraig.school@swansea-edunet.gov.uk

https://swansea-edunet.gov.uk

Ysgol Street,

Port Tennant,

SWANSEA

SA1 8LE

Portal: www.danygraig.swansea.sch.uk

Headteacher’s Annual Report 2014

Dear Parents,

The report covering the period September/Medi 2013 to July/Gorffennaf 2014 is as follows:

Changes to staffing since September 2013: - Mrs Currenti has been appointed as Assistant Headteacher, with classroom responsibility for the Foundation STF. She will also manage and oversee all matters of Additional Learning Needs, and will implement and manage the Literacy and Numeracy Framework (LNF)

Mr Hobbs elected to work on a part-time basis – 0.6 (three days a week) in the Junior STF. Mrs L Tashara-Johansen has been employed on a temporary basis at 0.4, for the Junior STF.

Mr Hobbs will continue to work on a Flexible-working scheme, at 0.6. during academic year 2014-15.

Mrs Sarah Jenkins, Assistant Headteacher, took well-deserved early retirement at the end of the summer term 2014. I’m sure you’d like to join me in wishing Mrs Jenkins good health and every happiness for the future.

The school has since appointed Miss Sarah Flowers to replace Mrs Jenkins. We have also appointed Miss Stacey Richards to work in the Junior STF and in other teaching roles around the school.

Standards and Performance:

The following is from a report from ERW and the school’s System Leader - December 2013 Dear Head and Chair of Governors of Danygraig Primary School, I’m sure that you are aware that, as part of a regional approach to school improvement, Swansea LA has been working closely with all schools to help them improve: Main Strengths – Danygraig Primary SchoolUpward trend in Foundation Phase across all areas of learning and performance above the family average after disaggregation of the pupils attending the STF

In Foundation Phase, the attainment of FSM (Free School Meal) pupils is comparable and in some cases exceeds that of the non-FSM pupils At Key Stage 2, after disaggregating the results of pupils attending the STF results are above the family average (NB The school will, however, aim to ensure the gap is narrowed, and that FSM learners can attain at a favourable rate to non FSM learners)A focus on utilising approaches to improve the performance of boys at higher levels has impacted positively Extent and impact of strategic partnerships is a strength of the school Self-evaluation practices are utilised very effectively to plan for school improvement

Areas for development (All addressed in the School Development Plan)Improve the performance of pupils in Foundation Phase at the higher levels especially in PSD to be in line with the family average.NB – End of Foundation Phase Outcomes for 2014 is showing significant improvement in this area of learning. Improve pupil performance in extended writing especially boys to be in line with the family average - 2014 shows an improvement, but Writing in both Foundation Phase and KS2 will remain a main priority for Improvement in the 2014-15 School Development Plan.Improve pupil performance in Mathematics at Key Stage 2 to above the median for ‘Family Group’ Benchmarking. Implementation of the LNF to be led by the appointment of an Assistant Headteacher… NB Mrs Currenti has been appointed as Assistant Headteacher with responsibility for leading the implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Framework.Increase attainment of FSM pupils at expected level plus one in Key Stage 2 Utilise FFT to its full potential as part of the school’s data analysis processes

Our overall judgement on your school is as follows :Learner Outcomes - Good Capacity to improve - Good

As a result we have placed your school in the following category:

Good to outstanding

Safeguarding – Child Protection:

The school’s Safeguarding and child Protection Policies are reviewed regularly. The named person for reporting all matters of Child Protection is Mr. N Morgan, Headteacher. The Governor responsible for overseeing child Protection is the Chair of Governors. There have been seven referrals to Social Services (CCARAT) of a Child Protection nature since September 2013. None of the referrals relate to incidents on school premises or involving school staff. There are three children currently on the Child Protection Register, and two children on the ‘Child in Need’ category. All are monitored by the school.

Pastoral Support Officer, Mrs Katie Jones attends most Child Protection conferences and reviews on behalf of the Headteacher.

DBS (CRB) checks are updated and checked regularly. Members of Staff are updated regularly on Child Protection procedures.

Safe recruitment continues to be a main priority – Pre-employment process (Evaluated under Safeguarding Evaluation) Apart from DBS checks on potential employees; the school has complied with regulations and has obtained at least two references for each candidate during recruitment.

Governors of the school do not have to be DBS checked – it will depend on whether Governors work with children.

The Governing Body has taken part in full Child Protection Training during September 2014.

A full system of CCTV, with recording facilities is in operation around the school.

Safeguarding Evaluation has been completed for academic Year 2013-14

Health, Safety and Wellbeing:

All policies are updated regularly. Safeguarding, together with strategies to support Health, Safety and Wellbeing, helps cover all aspects of health and safety. The school’s policies include Anti-bullying, Racist Abuse, Medical provision (including sun protection) and Health Care Plans, Discrimination and Equal Opportunities (A full Strategic Equality Plan is in place) First Aid, substance Misuse, Educational visits and risk assessment, School security and Internet Safety.

The school carried out a full Fire Safety inspection (with Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service) in October 2013. A full Emergency Evacuation Plan (EAP) is in place, along with the NOP –

Normal Operating Procedures for dealing with Fire Safety. Full Fire safety training was carried out with staff in November 2013 and all emergency signage has been updated.

The Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher have attended the full Fire Safety training courses. The school site caretaker will also attend the training.

A Fire Safety Action Plan is in place. The school has successfully upgraded the detection and alarm system and the emergency lighting system.

Evacuation drills and training are carried out regularly and an evacuation log is kept.

Finger Safety guards on the doors – A programme to fit finger guards (phase one) has recently been completed with all priority doors upgraded (with finger guards) Some doors still remain un-guarded; these will be addressed in phase two of the project.

The Fire Risk Assessment confirms that the school complies with all requirements. All policies and plans can be found on the school’s Portal Web-site – www.danygraig.swansea.sch.uk

Premises:- The school operates a current accessibility plan. Asbestos – The school is monitored for Asbestos risk. The school is currently graded as Black Grade – Very low risk. The school is monitored annually. An Asbestos Plan is in place. Staff are informed of the location of Asbestos, and of the risks. Contractors working on site are informed of the location of asbestos and of the levels of risk. The Asbestos Plan includes Risk assessments and control measures.

Poly Tunnel and Garden improvements – work is underway to ensure the school’s Poly Tunnel will be in place at the earliest convenience. Work has commenced in clearing the garden area adjacent to the boiler house and Ysgol Street.

Significant works have been completed on the Memorial Garden (including the memorial to Mr Ian Warden), adjacent to Jersey Terrace.

Work is now in an advanced stage to complete the facility of a Poly-Tunnel green-house, which will provide many learning opportunities for our children.

A Business Continuity Plan has been updated for 2014-16. This plan covers procedures for continuing the service, should the premises suffer disaster. Copies, paper and electronic are with the Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher and SLMT, Caretaker, Chair of Governors and Administration Manager. Copies are available on the school’s Portal website.

School Budget and Finance: The School Budget for 2014-15 was set by the Headteacher and Primary Support Officer. It was formally accepted by the Governors’ Finance Committee on 26th March 2014, and revised on 16th May 2014. The level of ‘Reserve’ forecast for the Financial Year 2014-15 is below 5% of delegated budget, at £17,345

The budget includes a grant for PDG (Pupil Deprivation Grant) of – £67,014

In addition, the budget includes a grant for £11,000 (SEG – Strategic Education Grant) – See School Development Plan Priorities, below.

Looked After Children (LAC):

Children cared for by the local Authority, and most often in foster care. Currently there are two ‘Looked After’ children at Danygraig. The Headteacher is the Named Person with overall responsibility for LAC. The Governor with responsibility for LAC is Cllr J Hale. There are expectations for staff and Governors with responsibility for LAC to undertake regular and appropriate training. Representatives from the school attend LAC reviews or submit information on the children’s development within education.

Additional Learning Needs (ALN):

Mrs Currenti, Assistant Headteacher, is the ALN manager.

The school operates two Specialist teaching facilities (STF). In addition, we provide for the needs of several other children with Statements of Special Educational Needs. We have a programme of ‘School Action’ (School provision for additional needs) and ‘School Action Plus’ (The school is supported by outside agencies, for example, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy etc.) Danygraig works with the EMLAS service in providing support for children with ‘English as an additional language’ (EAL). As part of our ‘Wellbeing’ provision, the school works with the Health Authority in devising and implementing Health Care Plans.

A very important aspect of ALN is provision for More Able and Talented children. A MAT register is kept, and is constantly revised in order for us to focus on very specific talents and skills.

Funding is delegated to the school to cover staffing required for complex needs. This budget is managed by the Headteacher and ALN manager (subject to audit from LA)

For academic year 2014-15, the school will have ten children in the Foundation STF (One child is of Nursery age, and will attend for a half day session each day) The numbers in the FSTF, therefore are 9.5 children FTE (Full Time Equivalent)

Danygraig also provides education for children with Statements for Educational Needs who are not placed in STF. In two cases, the severity of the children’s needs are such that they are awaiting placements in other schools (including Special Schools) However, the LA are holding long waiting lists for other such children across the authority. Danygraig will meet the challenge by setting up a designated room for four children with severe needs and challenges. Staff will be paid-for from the school’s delegated budget (Some from the Severe and Complex Needs allocation and some from the main delegated budget) The Room will operate as an area designated to catering for the needs of children on the autistic spectrum, and for children displaying particularly challenging behaviour. With adequate support and enthusiasm, the project could be seen as ‘Sector Leading Practice’.

Performance Management (PM) – Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and Pay Policy:

A full Performance Management programme is ongoing. Professional Development requirements are addressed as part of PM. In addition, the school supports professional development through the School Development Plan (SDP) and through the ‘Early Professional Development’ Programme for teachers at the early stages of their professional careers.

Performance Management will include Performance Related Pay recommendations. A Pay Policy has been adopted by the Governing Body, which will include Performance Related Pay, with recommendations coming from the Performance Management process and outcomes.

Performance management and work/career appraisal programmes include ‘support-staff’. The team leaders for PM are the Senior Management Team (Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher, and Assistant Headteachers). The appraisers for the Headteacher’s Performance Management include two Governors and a representative from the Local/Regional Authority.

Staff Training – All Classroom-based support staff have undergone Training for the LNF – Literacy and Numeracy Frameworks. PDG and SEG Grants have enabled the school to support 4 Support Staff and 4 Teaching colleagues in Literacy and Numeracy Training.

Five Teachers have attended training in Welsh Language, and one Teaching Assistant has undertaken a long term (2 month) Secondment training in the Welsh language.

Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher have undertaken Training in ‘Premises Management’ (As has Mr Cummins, School Site Caretaker) Fire Risk assessment, Supporting Colleagues’ Well-Being at Work and Managing Accidents at work.

In Addition, all staff have undergone training in Fire Safety (With Fire Safety Direct)

3Teachers and 5 Teaching Assistants have undertaken CPI Training (Acceptable physical intervention)

Pastoral Support Officer and two teachers (along with older children) have trained in Restorative Practice.

Partnerships and PLC – Professional Learning Communities

Danygraig Primary works in partnership with Cefn Hengoed Community Comprehensive School, and five other Primary schools. Headteachers meet every half term to plan and prioritise development, including the implementation of LNF.

Core subject Leaders work on a process of Standardising and moderating samples of Learners’ work. The impact is that all schools in the cluster have a clear understanding of levels of attainment, and also the specific needs for improvement.

The cluster schools work together in setting common priorities, and work together in formulating bids for PDG and SEG funding. Colleagues meet in professional discussion groups to evaluate outcomes and further needs.

The Cluster Partnership enables partner schools to share expertise, facilities and good practice. The Impact - All contribute to the maintaining and raising of Standards in Core subjects, and also in areas such as sport and music.

The school also works in partnership with ‘The City Consortium’. Priorities are identified, as above, and expertise, facilities and resources are shared. The impact is ‘value for money’, with expertise, ideas and resources shared, as well as clear benchmarks for the raising of standards.

Danygraig works in partnership with Trinity St David’s University (Teacher Training) Swansea University and Gower College, in providing training for many young people (including

medical and child-care training) We also provide placements for work experience to young people from Cefn Hengoed and other Comprehensive schools.

The school works closely with Health Authority, Social Services and Emergency Services professionals. Danygraig’s Pastoral Support and Emotional Welfare Officer provides strong links between the school, the Educational Welfare Service and families in the school community. One of the positive outcomes (Impact) is that we have a significantly upward trend in attendance. By the start of the summer term, Danygraig was showing attendance of 93.8%, putting the school in the top quartile (Top 25% of similar schools across Wales) Another positive impact is the improvement in attainment of children in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM)

The EMLS service (LA) provides support and guidance with children and families who have English as an additional language.

Other partnerships include professional sports clubs – Swansea City FC and The Ospreys. Apart from supplying resources to our school, we are able to access the expertise of sports coaches.

The school undertakes many visits as part of our programmes of study – these include shops, supermarkets and other places of work. The impact is that children are able to gain a much wider understanding of Literacy and Numeracy in the ‘real world’, and also insight into some of the transferable and specific skills required in the world of employment.

Equality – Strategic Equality Plan (SEP)

The school continues to promote Inclusion, Racial, religious, gender, age, employment and all other forms of equality in policy and in practice. Prejudicial and discriminatory behaviour of any form is not tolerated at Danygraig.

The SEP has been in place for two years, and has recently been reviewed. Part of the plan includes sending questionnaires to all members of the school and local community. This practice will continue during 2014/2015.

A full analysis of the replies will be published by the end of autumn term.

So far, responses are overwhelmingly in favour of what the school is doing in terms of promoting equality.

School Development Plan and Priorities

i) Literacy features as a priority – Writing at KS2 for Level 4 and above and at Foundation Phase, for Outcome 5 and above. Catch-up Programmes and support for More Able and Talented children are in place. We also use the ‘Language Link’ programme and assessments to support Learning. – The positive impact of the Language Link Programme is that nearly all the children participating improved their Reading Age significantly (measurable success)

The National Literacy Framework (LNF) has been implemented. Testing was carried out during May and we are developing reporting procedures. This year’s annual reports to parents/guardians will include narrative comments relating to each child’s skill progress in relation to the LNF. The reports will also include National Literacy and Numeracy Test results (Children from Year 2 to Year 6)

We are also working with the INCERTS organisation to produce an acceptable format for reporting LNF (within every subject) to parents/carers for summer 2015.

ii) Numeracy – Numerical Reasoning and iii) Mathematics MAT (More Able and Talented) will be school development priorities for academic year 2014-15. The Cefn Hengoed Cluster of schools will work together on these priorities for all our children.

Catch-up programmes are in place (NFER and National Numeracy Framework testing are being used to determine children to be targeted for improvement) More Able and Talented learners are included in programmes.

Boys’ Learning will remain an area for improvement, as will the focus on the performance and attainment (particularly in Literacy and Numeracy) of children in receipt of Free School Meals By visiting the school, Governors would be able to see some of the strategies for improving Boys’ Learning in action.

Cornerstones – The school introduced a new, thematic scheme of work in September 2013. The Cornerstones Curriculum offers exciting learning experiences along with different levels of challenge, development and reinforcement in learning. Some areas of learning, particularly in Literacy and Numeracy are still taught discreetly. The Cornerstones scheme has been used as a vehicle to deliver teaching and learning; the skill programme of the Literacy and Numeracy Framework has been and will continue to be the driver of all teaching and learning

Safeguarding and Wellbeing always feature in school improvement, as does the aim to improve attendance.

The full school development/improvement plan can be accessed on the school’s Portal Website.

Attendance – Attendance is showing a significant upward trend (as mentioned above) – the impact of having employed a Pastoral Support Officer to deal with all matters of attendance, emotional welfare, liaison with families and the community, and Restorative Practice has been measurably positive. By Easter 2014, the school was ahead of target with an average attendance of 93.8%. This puts the school in the top quartile (top 25% of similar schools across the country) Holidays taken during school time can pull the figures down , but we are confident that the upward trend can continue.

Free School Meals (FSM) – As of July 2014, 93 children are entitled to free school meals, representing 36% of the school roll. The PDG grant, of £67,014, will be used to help improve attendance, and with it the attainment and performance of children in receipt of free school meals. Strategies include continuing with a Pastoral Support Officer, Intervention Groups in Literacy and Numeracy, and the use of core-subject leaders to train other colleagues, to monitor planning and classroom practice and to scrutinize samples of children’s work.

Strategic Education Grant (SEG) - £11,000 will be used to enable Subject Leaders to be released for training, to train others and for further Intervention strategies in Writing, Reading, Numerical Reasoning and Maths MAT.

Bi-lingualism:

Danygraig fully promotes bi-lingual policy and practice. Bi-lingualism is encouraged in all aspects of school life and in all subjects, lessons/ activities and displays. It is our aim to promote the use of Welsh language in less formal situations (Playground, Breakfast Club etc.) as well as in formal settings.

Reported Incidents of Racial Abuse – I am pleased to say that there have been no reported incidents of racial abuse or other racist incidents. Danygraig Primary School will not tolerate any incidents of prejudice and/or discrimination

Performance and Attainment assessment

Teacher assessments of learners’ standards are carried out at Year2 and Year 6. The information is fed into the All Wales Core Data Set. The school is ranked in a quartile table

system along with other, similar (Free School Meal percentages) schools across Wales. It is necessary for the school to disaggregate STF learners from the data in order to present an accurate picture.

National Literacy and Numeracy Tests (Year 2 to Year 6) Reading tests, and Numeracy Procedural and Reasoning tests – Data is analysed and used for School planning – addressing strengths and needs. During autumn 2014, a full analysis will be carried out for the outcomes of tests taken during this summer term.

The school continues to use NFER tests (English/Literacy and Maths) in every class from Reception to Year 6 as a means of bench-marking individual progress – (Individual ‘value added’ progress is very important to the assessment of learning needs)

The school uses a sophisticated system of recording individual (and class) progress in all subjects. The electronic tool is called INCERTS

All data contributes to the School SER – School Evaluation Report. (An update of the SER takes place every autumn term)

Monitoring of Standards, Observations and Educational Consultancy

Monitoring of standards is carried out by The SLMT – Senior Leadership and Management Team, The Headteacher, and subject leaders. The school has also bought the services of educational consultant, Mr Mike Thomas. Mr Thomas is an Estyn Inspector; he carries out regular classroom observations, scrutinises children’s work and will observe the standard of teaching, planning and assessment. He has also given regular and constructive advice on all matters of teaching and learning. Over the last year he has worked with staff and Governors.

A full programme of Subject-Leader monitoring is in place – Each subject leader will work to a timetable of monitoring (a one-year cycle for the core subjects, and a two year cycle for other subjects)

Subject leaders will carry out classroom observations (of their subject), will scrutinize samples of children’s work, listen to learners, and monitor the plans of colleagues, displays and resources. They will take particular note of the development of Literacy and Numeracy Skills (The Literacy and Numeracy Framework) within their subjects, (For example, the skills of Literacy and Numeracy within Science, Geography, Art, etc.)

Breakfast Club

A Local Authority sponsored breakfast club continues to operate successfully. Pupil Numbers attending are currently, on average, around forty to fifty children per day.

However, I regret to say that, after seven years, the leaders of the After School Club (an independent enterprise) Mrs Helen Phillips and Mrs Angelique Stevens have decided to bring an end to the club. I should like to offer my sincere thanks for all the work they have done and for the wonderful service they have provided.

Lettings: Danygraig Brownies – every Thursday, 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm

School’s Council – Voice of the Child. The school continues to operate a successful and vociferous school council. In addition, we have a system of prefects, together with and elected Head Girl and Head Boy and deputies. Representatives from all classes from Year 2 (including STF) are elected and sit on the School Council. They contribute to many areas of school life and development. The council, with their elected President and Secretary, members meet to discuss facilities – needs and plans, Restorative Practice, Buddy Systems, Fruit Tuck Shop and school uniform amongst many other items. The councillors have been involved in the Poly-Tunnel project and the development of our Memorial Garden. Their Voice is very much heard and contributes to the development of Danygraig Primary School.

Events:

Mr Hobbs and Mrs Jenkins have taken a group of pupils to Wimbledon.

On Friday 4th July 2014 we held a very moving commemoration of the centenary of the start of the First World War. The school has spent the last few weeks visiting venues across Swansea, including the Waterfront Museum, Cwmdonkin Park and Dylan Thomas’ birthplace as part of a commemoration of the birth of our city’s great bard.

Last December we enjoyed very successful Christmas celebrations. The school also visited The Waterfront Church for an Easter service. Several educational trips and residential courses have been undertaken and will continue to be used to support the curriculum.

Progress since Previous Inspection:

Good and steady progress can be reported. In terms of standards, the school has featured mostly in the upper quartiles (Top 50%) and often in the top quartile (Top 25%)

A main development is the improvement of the role of the subject leader – Subject-leader training has been carried out by Consultant, Mr Mike Thomas. In addition, programmes and timetables are in place for full subject-leader monitoring – see above.

Challenge: – Governors are expected (By Estyn and the Regional Authority, ERW) to have a good knowledge of the performance and procedures of the school, and are expected to challenge the school. Governors are busy (on a collective and individual basis) in promoting good standards, and engaging with the community, local authority and other agencies in the promotion of school policy and procedures. Everyone should be challenged to perform more effectively. We need challenge, but we have to ensure that a good level of positive support accompanies the challenge.

NP Morgan, Headteacher, October/Hydref 2014

Foundation Phase Outcomes 2014SCHOOL & NATIONAL

The following table shows the percentage of pupils attaining each outcome.

N D W 1 2 3 4 5 6+ 5+

Language, Literacy, and Communication Skills in English (LCE)

School 0 0 0 0 0 3 9 57 31 88

National 0 0 0 0 1 2 11 56 30 86

Language, Literacy, and Communication Skills in Welsh (LCW)

School 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

National 0 0 * 0 0 2 11 58 29 87

Mathematical Development (MDT)

School 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 49 40 89

National - 0 0 0 1 1 10 59 28 87

Personal and Social Development, Well-being and Cultural Diversity (PSD)

School 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 40 54 94

National - 0 0 0 0 1 5 47 46 93

There were 35 pupils in the group.

Foundation Phase Outcome IndicatorSchool 89

National 83

Foundation Phase Outcomes 2014SCHOOL & NATIONAL

The following table shows the percentage of boys attaining each outcome.

Boys N D W 1 2 3 4 5 6+ 5+

Language, Literacy, and Communication Skills in English (LCE)

School 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 63 26 89

National - - - - - - - - - 82

Language, Literacy, and Communication Skills in Welsh (LCW)

School 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

National - - - - - - - - - 82

Mathematical Development (MDT)

School 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 47 42 89

National - - - - - - - - - 85

Personal and Social Development, Well-being and Cultural Diversity (PSD)

School 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 53 37 89

National - - - - - - - - - 90

There were 19 boys in the group.

Foundation Phase Outcome IndicatorSchool 89

National 79

Foundation Phase Outcomes 2014

SCHOOL & NATIONAL

The following table shows the percentage of girls attaining each outcome.

Girls N D W 1 2 3 4 5 6+ 5+

Language, Literacy, and Communication Skills in English (LCE)

School 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 50 38 88

National - - - - - - - - - -

Language, Literacy, and Communication Skills in Welsh (LCW)

School 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

National - - - - - - - - - -

Mathematical Development (MDT)

School 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 50 38 88

National - - - - - - - - - -

Personal and Social Development, Well-being and Cultural Diversity (PSD)

School 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 75 100

National - - - - - - - - - -

There were 16 girls in the group.

Foundation Phase Outcome IndicatorSchool 88

National 87

Summary of National Curriculum Assessment results of pupils in the school (2014) and nationally (2013) at the end of Key Stage 2 as a percentage of those eligible for assessment.

N DNCO

1, 2, & 31 2 3 4 5 6+ 4+

English School 0 4 0 0 0 17 50 29 0 79

National 0 0 0 1 2 10 51 35 1 87

Oracy School 0 4 0 0 0 8 46 42 0 88

National 0 0 0 1 2 9 50 36 1 88

Reading School 0 4 0 0 0 17 38 42 0 79

National 0 0 0 1 2 10 48 38 1 87

Writing School 0 4 0 0 0 33 50 13 0 63

National 0 0 0 1 3 15 53 27 1 81

Cymraeg School 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

National 0 0 * 0 2 11 56 30 1 87

Oracy School 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

National * 0 0 0 2 9 55 33 1 89

Reading School 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

National 0 0 * 0 2 11 53 33 1 86

Writing School 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

National 0 0 * 0 3 17 57 22 0 79

Mathematics School 0 4 0 0 0 13 54 29 0 83

National 0 0 0 0 2 9 52 35 1 88

ScienceSchool 0 4 0 0 0 13 54 29 0 83

National 0 0 0 0 1 8 54 36 0 90

Core Subject Indicator

School 75

National 84

% boys at each level

N DNCO

1, 2, & 31 2 3 4 5 6+ 4+

English School 0 8 0 0 0 23 46 23 0 69

National - - - - - - - - - 84

Cymraeg School 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

National - - - - - - - - - 83

Mathematics School 0 8 0 0 0 23 46 23 0 69

National - - - - - - - - - 86

ScienceSchool 0 8 0 0 0 23 46 23 0 69

National - - - - - - - - - 88

Core Subject Indicator

School 61.54

National 81

% girls at each level

N DNCO

1, 2, & 31 2 3 4 5 6+ 4+

English School 0 0 0 0 0 9 55 36 0 91

National - - - - - - - - - 91

Cymraeg School 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

National - - - - - - - - - 91

Mathematics School 0 0 0 0 0 0 64 36 0 100

National - - - - - - - - - 89

Science School 0 0 0 0 0 0 64 36 0 100

National - - - - - - - - - 92

Core Subject Indicator

School 90.91

National 88