Cilffriw Primary School

Overview

Pupils at Cilffriw Primary School are described as happy and well behaved, yet the inspection identifies serious shortcomings in teaching quality, strategic leadership, and safeguarding. Consequently, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector has determined that “special measures are required,” representing the most intensive level of statutory follow-up, with termly monitoring to ensure improvements are made.

Strengths

• Pupils “enjoy coming to school and are happy and well behaved.”
• Provision for pupils in specialist classes is “good,” with teachers using varied methods to engage learners.
• All pupils in specialist classes “make strong progress” due to effective teaching approaches.
• The school has an “appropriate vision to develop pupils as independent learners who achieve well.”

Areas to improve

• Senior leaders and governors must “strengthen the school’s safeguarding culture” and address identified health and safety issues.
• Teaching quality is “too variable,” with teachers lacking high expectations and failing to use assessment data to plan next steps, resulting in weak standards in Welsh and digital competence.
• Strategic leadership requires improvement, including clearer role distribution, better communication with parents, and systematic monitoring to address shortcomings quickly.

Safeguarding

The report states that “senior leaders and governors need to strengthen the school’s safeguarding culture” and explicitly recommends strengthening arrangements to address the safeguarding and health and safety issues identified during the inspection.