A school in one of the most diverse parts of Wales, where eight in 10 children speak English as an additional language and none speak Welsh at home, has been praised by inspectors. Kitchener Primary School in Cardiff has had a glowing report from Estyn for being inclusive and welcoming and nurturing a culture of respect, responsibility, and empathy among its 451 pupils.
“All staff establish positive, nurturing relationships with pupils. They create a stimulating learning environment and establish effective routines that ensure a calm and productive atmosphere in classes and outdoors,” inspectors said.
After visiting the school in Canton, Estyn noted its inclusive ethos and said pupils, staff, and parents shared strong, positive relationships built on mutual trust. This environment allowed pupils to feel safe and nurtured their motivation to learn, they said.
On language skills, the Estyn report noted that while 79.9% of pupils had English as an additional language, “by year six (the last year of primary) most pupils who have English as an additional language make strong progress in developing their communication skills in English and achieve well”. For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter.
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On Welsh language and culture, the report added that staff developed pupils’ understanding of their Welsh identity and “strike a suitable balance between developing pupils’ knowledge of Welsh history and heritage and the cultural and linguistic diversity of modern Wales”. Teachers developed pupils’ skill and confidence to use their spoken Welsh in lessons “appropriately”.
Staff also helped those on lower incomes do well. From this term free school meals are universally offered to all children in primaries in Wales, regardless of family income, but the report showed more than 35% of children at Kitchener came from families whose income would have made them eligible before that, compared to a national rate of 24.7%.
Nationally, children eligible for free meals do worse on average than their better off peers but at Kitchener inspectors said: “During their time in the school, most pupils, including those who are eligible for free school meals, develop a good range of skills and understanding across the areas of learning and experience and become effective learners.”
Maths and numeracy did not rate quite so highly though. Inspectors said: “Overall, however, pupils do not develop their knowledge and understanding systematically enough across all aspects of the mathematics and numeracy area of learning and experience.”
Headteacher Reena Patel said: “I am proud to lead a school that values its community, reflects the diverse needs of its children in the curriculum, and ensures everyone has a voice and is valued.”
Estyn made two recommendations for the school to improve. These are that it:
- Improves provision for the systematic development of pupils’ numeracy and mathematical skills and;
- Ensures all teachers share consistently high expectations for pupils’ written work.
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