A beacon of excellence in Flintshire, Estyn report highlights school’s commitment to wellbeing

A Flintshire primary school has been praised for creating a “safe, happy and caring learning community” in a glowing inspection report.

Officials from Welsh education watchdog Estyn paid a visit to Ysgol Parc Y Llan in Treuddyn, near Mold, in June this year.

Inspectors have now made their findings public after commending the village primary school, which caters for 114 pupils, describing it as a place where children “thrive”.

They particularly praised work by teachers and school staff to aid the wellbeing of youngsters.

In a report, the inspectors said: “The strong working relationship between pupils and staff is a notable strength of the school. Pupils display high levels of respect for adults, visitors and each other.

“Staff know their pupils very well and support them with their wellbeing highly effectively. This is an outstanding feature of the school’s provision.

“Across the school, the quality of teaching is strong. Staff have developed creative and vibrant learning environments to stimulate, support and challenge pupils.

“As a result, during their time at school, most pupils make strong academic progress across a range of skills from their varied starting points.

“Provision for pupils identified as having additional learning needs is particularly effective and, as a result, most make good progress during their time at school.”

The inspectors hailed the school’s curriculum for taking account of pupils’ interests and providing outdoor learning opportunities.

The report also highlights that staff encourage pupils to celebrate the diversity of their community and and understand Welsh heritage.

The only area flagged for improvement was to increase attendance levels.

The inspectors added: “A particular strength of the school is the successful partnerships they have established with parents and the wider community.

“Leaders and staff promote a robust culture of safeguarding. Despite leaders’ best efforts to promote regular attendance, too many pupils are absent too frequently in a minority of year groups.”

The school will be asked to draw up an action plan to address the one recommendation by inspectors to continue to improve attendance levels