Dear Parents,

As you will be aware, the school was visited by a team of ESTYN Inspectors between 25^th and 27^th November 2024, and we now have the report to share with you. You can also find the report on both the school and Estyn websites, as well as through the link below. The report has been scrutinised by Estyn for consistency and confirmed as the formal reflection on our school.

 I would like to offer an insight into the immediate take outs from the Governing Body, and once you have read and reflected on the report, we would value any feedback that you have.

Firstly, I would like to invite you to celebrate this statement:

 ‘Archbishop Rowan Williams Church in Wales School is a caring and supportive learning community’

This it is an ethos that the school has actively nurtured, and we are proud that this culture has been validated through the recent Estyn Inspection Report

Within the report, the inspectors have also demonstrated a keen focus on the most important people, the children, and I am sure you will share the great pride that we have taken from the wonderful observational comments made about our pupils. There was strong evidence gathered which exemplified how children ‘enjoy their learning’ and ‘feel happy, safe and behave consistently well’.

 Reflections on the teaching team were equally positive, and we were delighted that ESTYN recognised ‘the emphasis staff place on encouraging pupils to understand how they learn and how to evaluate what they are doing during lesson’. This shared language of learning that personifies the relationship between teachers and pupils, as well as how children learn, was strong enough to warrant a Spotlight in the Report. This means that ESTYN believes this strength is worthy of highlighting to encourage sharing with other schools, shining a light on the exemplar activities observed at the school.

 During COVID, we appointed Mrs Swann as our Head Teacher. She arrived at the most challenging time, overseeing the difficulties of the pandemic and the introduction of a new curriculum. It is wonderful to see the Report outline that Mrs Swann, and her leadership team ‘place wellbeing at the heart…promoting respect and inclusivity and fostering a happy and safe learning environment’  Its also very assuring to see it outlined that ‘Leaders have a broad understanding of the School’s strengths and development areas that derive from monitoring activities’ and I hope this fills you with confidence that the team will not become complacent at a time of positive recognition.

 The Report reflects positive whole school relationships, and please take credit as a parent community for the part you play, as it is identified within the Report and recognised as important.

 To conclude on the positive detail, the Governing Body was particularly pleased to see that the ‘schools arrangements for safeguarding pupils do not give any cause for concern’. This is an important recognition for all Schools and a thorough review of all safeguarding aspects is a staple part of the visit protocol. There was also ratification that the school’s finances are managed ‘appropriately, including the use of the pupil development grant’.

 With every report there will always be something to develop further. We acknowledge and agree that the outdoor learning provision can be developed to further enhance the skills and wellbeing of our pupils, and the school named this as an area for development ahead of the visit to the lead inspector when discussing the strengths and developments of the school. We had already started our journey in relation to this recommendation and I am pleased that we are now making accelerated progress in our planned actions in response to the recommendation. The Governing body will review this progress within its meetings with the school.

 In summary, we warmly congratulate the children, our teaching team, the school leadership team and Mrs Swann for the positive report which reflects so well on them all, and the broader School community. I hope the report provides you with confidence in your School and trust in the people empowered to help your children be the best they can be.

Thankyou

Steve Pember

Chair of Governors

Previous Estyn Reports