A PRIMARY school in Trefnant is celebrating a promising start to the year after it received a good inspection report.

Ysgol Trefnant was inspected in November by Estyn, the education inspectorate for Wales, who judged the school to rank “good” in all five inspection areas: standards; well-being and attitudes to learning; teaching and learning experiences; care, support and guidance; and leadership and management.

“Good” ranks 4th in Estyn’s judgement scale of 1 to 5 and is given to schools who have “strong features” of performance and practice and only “minor aspects may require improvement”.

The report said the 83 pupils aged three to 11 at the village faith school near Denbigh work in a “happy and purposeful atmosphere” where there is “a worthwhile emphasis on developing strong values and pupils as well-rounded individuals”.

“Nearly all pupils make good progress” from nursery age, the report said, “especially in developing their literacy and mathematical skills”.

It said that most pupils develop “exceptionally strong speaking skills” from nursery into junior years and that the year six cohort are “confident, expressive readers”.

It added that “nearly all pupils are confident writers” and across the school “develop a range of ICT skills effectively”, with foundation phase pupils taught how to use tablets, photograph their work and save images. Year six pupils could use ICT word processing skills and effective data handling skills.

In Welsh language lessons, foundation phase pupils at the English medium could “count fluently and respond to simple instructions” while most year 6 pupils “could use Welsh language skills appropriately in structured situations”.

The report praised teaching staff for building strong relationships with colleagues and pupils and “focussing successfully on developing pupils’ skills systematically and providing interesting and varied learning experiences”.

Sue Van Loock, Ysgol Trefnant headteacher, who has been in the role since 2007, took over Ysgol Llanbedr in 2016 which the report says has benefitted Ysgol Trefnant through successful collaboration between the two schools.

Mrs Van Loock said she is delighted with the Estyn report. She said: “We are very pleased that, once again, the report shows that the school performs with consistently strong outcomes in all five categories inspected, reinforcing our positive core values as a Church in Wales school and our strong academic results.

“Our pupils are praised for their positive behaviour which, the report says, is ‘a notable feature in lessons and around the school’ and for their progression and achievements across all areas of the curriculum. It also highlights our pupils’ “exceptionally strong speaking skills” and says that they are “confident and willing learners”. This is a tribute to our caring, nurturing ethos and the dedication and creativity of our fantastic teaching staff.

“I would like to thank parents for their support and everyone at the school for their continued hard work and commitment.”