Reaching for the stars, in a happy caring environment
Ysgol Pendref is a Community Primary school situated on the edge of the market and castle town of Denbigh in the beautiful Vale of Clwyd. The large elevated site has wonderful panoramic views of upper Denbigh with extensive outdoor areas.
We are in a Flying Start area and are fortunate to utilise resources and provision to ensure families receive the best support available to them. Incorporated on site is the Margaret Morris Centre, a family-based health and education centre, who we work in partnership with supporting the local upper Denbigh community. Ysgol Pendref has its very own Forest School and utilises all outdoor areas to deliver an exciting and interesting curriculum.
We share our extensive outdoor grounds with various local community groups for the benefit of the local community.
Our Vision: In Ysgol Pendref we are passionate about supporting our learners to achieve their full potential in a happy, warm and caring environment.
We strive to ensure that all learners will be challenged to develop the knowledge and skills they will need for lifelong learning.
We motivate and inspire our learners, making sure that they leave us as proud, confident, independent individuals; who have enjoyed their learning.
Wellbeing is at the heart of our school community. We instil the growth mindset vision. This ensures that learners develop the skills needed to be able to look after themselves, to keep safe, to face and overcome challenges and to enjoy learning.
Our Vision
What our school community say about us:
Our Values
Our Curriculum
Our curriculum has been designed, following feedback from research carried out in the school community. The curriculum is focused on the needs of our learners; considering What we teach, How we teach, and Why we teach it.
Our educational philosophy has inclusion at its core. All children are valued as individuals and are provided with a broad and balanced education.
By the end of their memorable seven years at Ysgol Pendref, learners will aspire to be ambitious, enterprising, healthy and ethical individuals. High quality teaching experiences, through a range of suitable provision, with a focus on progression over time, will be at the heart of learning.
Pupil voice will be expertly executed by practitioners, ensuring that learners influence and have ownership of their own learning.
Consistency of ethos in every class across the school is of paramount importance to Ysgol Pendref. This ensures a safe and inspiring learning environment so that our learners can take risks, make mistakes confidently and work in an atmosphere of mutual respect and appreciation of everyone’s efforts.
When considering which model, or combination of models we want to adopt for our school, we will ensure the following essentials:
To encompass all learners, whatever their age, background, needs or ability, we will consider progress from a holistic perspective by applying the principles of child development when planning, designing and implementing the curriculum.
A range of pedagogical styles will be used, with our practitioners choosing these approaches thoughtfully in the context of curriculum purposes and the needs and developmental stage of learners across the 3-16 continuum.
Our curriculum will encompass all four purposes, with the learning experiences empowering our learners to develop the skills and knowledge they need to learn successfully and achieve the four purposes.
We will develop the skills and concepts contained within the 27 Statements of What Matters in the AOLEs over our pupils' time at school. When we revisit we will extend and deepen these skills and concepts to ensure progression in learning appropriate to our learners' developmental stages.
We will work together to ensure a continuum of learning between phases / sectors to ensure appropriate continuity of learning and teaching.
We will ensure that the curriculum draws on the voice of our learners and responds to their needs, experiences and input into their learning.
Our teachers plan authentic learning experiences that challenge and motivate the individual needs and contexts of all our school children and young people.
Our teachers will plan learning experiences across the AOLEs that incorporate the cross-curricular and integral skills enabling learners to develop, practice and apply the skills fully.
We will ensure that the level of challenge is appropriate i.e. that the literacy and numeracy skills match the level of our learners' language and mathematical skills.
Our curriculum will incorporate various assessment strategies for learner progression. There will be a strong, natural 'marriage' between the design of our curriculum, the planning and the assessment. Formative Assessment will be an ongoing process in the school and learners will have ownership of their learning. The Summative Assessments we use in school will be fit for purpose, designed to identify learners' progress as well as to plan for the next steps in the educational journey.
Religion, Values and ethics
Religion, Values and Ethics is a mandatory part of our Humanities curriculum and is built upon a series of concepts and big ideas. Our curriculum provides a range of disciplinary approaches to support learners to engage critically with a broad range of religious and non-religious philosophical convictions.
Teaching
Excellent teaching is essential if we are to realise the 4 purposes, our vision as a schools and the requirements of the Curriculum Framework. We consistently ensure a safe and inspiring learning environment so that our learners can take risks, make mistakes confidently and work in an atmosphere of mutual respect and appreciation of everyone’s efforts.
We reflect upon, evaluate, share and develop our teaching practices, based on our understanding of the 12 pedagogical principles set out in the Curriculum Framework and the practices we find to be successful in Ysgol Pendref.
Relationships and Sexuality Education
Health and Well Being
Science and Technology
Curriculum Review
This initial curriculum will be continually reviewed and any changes will be approved by the Governing body.
Progression and Assessment
From September 2022, Ysgol Pendref will be tracking learners progress using teacher observations and inputting data on the TAITH 360 system. Teachers will use this to ensure learner progression and challenge.
Teachers and pupils will continue to use AFL (Assessment for Learning) through a variety of methods, e.g. i ‘Tickled Pink/Green for Growth’, Talking Partners, Learning Powers.
PASS will be used to track and assess pupils’ wellbeing.
NFER, Reading and Parallel spelling will be used to provide reading and spelling ages.
WG National tests in reading, and numeracy procedural and reasoning, will be used annually from years 2 – 6 to identify literacy and numeracy skill development needs.
Taith 360
Taith360 has been developed around the new curriculum for 2022 and is built to take the needs of all learners into account as they progress through their learning journey from age 3-16.
" We're working with schools to connect every teacher to the things that each child knows, understands, and can do. Formative assessment is a tool that every teacher should have and should be able to apply to maximum effect. It can be their most powerful tool for helping every child reach their potential."
The Curriculum for Wales
The 4 purposes of the Curriculum for Wales are the heart and core of Ysgol Pendref’s Curriculum .
They underpin all aspects of our curriculum design, planning and teaching. Our vision and values as a school support the 4 purposes and what they mean for us.
Ambitious, capable learners ... who are ready to learn throughout their lives, and who: Set high standards for themselves; Enjoy challenge and solve problems; Develop knowledge and skills and apply them in different contexts; Are able to communicate effectively in English and Welsh; Are able to discuss their learning confidently; Use mathematics and numeracy and digital technologies effectively.
Enterprising, creative contributors ... who willing to play a full part in life and work and who: think creatively; apply their knowledge and skills to create, adapt and to solve problems; identify and grasp opportunities; Are confident to take risks; lead and work together in teams; express ideas and emotions in different ways; use their energy and skills for the benefit of others.
Healthy, confident individuals ... willing to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society, and who develop: physical and mental health and safety; relationships based on respect and trust; personal values; skills and independence to deal with everyday life; the ability to face and overcome challenges.
Ethical, informed citizens ... who are ready to be citizens of Wales and the world, and who: make judgments and discuss issues based on their knowledge and values; understand and exercise their responsibilities human rights; understand and consider the impact of their actions; know about their culture and community; know about society and the world in the present and past; respect the needs and rights of others, as a member of a diverse society; see that they have a role to play to ensure the planet's sustainability.
The Twelve Pedagogical principles
Our Curriculum has been designed to allow our learners opportunities to learn the required skills and experiences through exciting and broad Topics and Themes.
Mathematics and Languages will be taught discretely.
We aim to teach all areas of learning on a cross curricular basis, to include:
Numeracy
Literacy
Digital Competency
Religions, Values and Ethics
Relationships and Sexuality Education
Enrichment
Whole School and Community Projects
Learners are encouraged to be aspirational and are given the opportunity to visit universities through the WOW project. We host the community gardening club which our children and their parents are encouraged to be fully involved with.
Denbighshire Play Rangers attend school weekly to run sessions for our pupils in school and during the holidays. We have become Dementia friends and all KS2 pupils have taken part in 2 community art projects.
The school are very prominent in the local community attending many events throughout the year including performances by the school choir. We are a school within a Communities First / Flying start area who embrace all opportunities given to our children and their families.
Health and Wellbeing – Learners have access to large outdoor areas on both sites. Purposeful resources have been selected to enhance learning. There is also a Forest School area, for development of practical outdoor skills.
Autism Awareness – We have designated learner sensory areas across both sites. All staff have autism awareness training.
Nurture – We provide a warm and safe environment on both sites, for learners who find transition from home difficult. Highly skilled designated staff offer nurturing opportunities throughout the day, including during break and lunch times. Purposeful resources have been selected to reassure, calm and support learners to develop coping strategies when facing challenging encounters.
Support – All learners are individual and we appreciate that some require additional support in some areas of learning. Highly skilled staff are designated to providing support in the form of ELSA.
Parental Engagement – We have a designated teacher who supports our families and encourages them to become involved in all aspects of their child’s learning. We also work closely with our school’s Family Link Worker, who offers support for our families.
Visits and Visitors – It is incredibly important for us at Ysgol Pendref, that we broaden the horizons of our learners. We invite inspirational visitors from a range of occupations, organisations and the community to work with our learners. We also provide opportunities for extra-curricular visits to the local and wider world.
