Nant-y-Parc School Awarded World Class Schools Quality Mark

Nant-y-Parc Primary School has been accredited with the World Class Schools Quality Mark on 23 May, making them the first Primary School in Wales to achieve this award and joining a coveted network of just over 140 schools in the UK.

Nant-y-Parc Primary School has been accredited with the World Class Schools Quality Mark on 23 May, making them the first Primary School in Wales to achieve this award and joining a coveted network of just over 140 schools in the UK.

The Quality Mark is awarded by education charity ‘World Class Schools Quality Mark’, whose unique assessment framework assesses the students, not the school, for their demonstration of World Class skills and competencies. The premise is that if the school is truly World Class, then its students should be able to demonstrate this in whatever context they find themselves.

Nant-y-Parc is one of just a handful of non-selective state schools awarded the Quality Mark in the 2023 academic year, following a challenging assessment process in which students worked to identify and demonstrate their World Class characteristics using the WCSQM character development framework as a benchmark. The framework highlights characteristics across individual areas including leadership, community, learning and workplace for secondary students, and ‘I learn’, ‘I am’ and ‘I feel’ for primary students. Over time, students demonstrated how they had met each characteristic either at school, at home or in their local community, uploading evidence and a summary for each completed characteristic via the WCSQM internet-based app, BeWorldClass.

Once a significant number of students are proving World Class characteristics, WCSQM assesses the students’ completed portfolios via a student-led assessment process.

Miranda Perry, Director at WCSQM said: “At WCSQM we wholeheartedly believe it is the students that make a school, and a school that prioritises the development of World Class characteristics in its students will always be World Class. The skills and competencies these students have demonstrated will help them excel in any environment, and make them ideal candidates for whichever further education / career pathway they choose to take.

“These are the World Class citizens of the next generation, and we’re incredibly proud to award them for their achievements so far.”

Emma Winter, Project Leader and teacher at Nant-y-Parc Primary commented: “We are so proud of this achievement and our pupils and parents have come together to compile the most incredible portfolios that demonstrate our learners’ skills, qualities and uniqueness. Nant-y-Parc Primary School is undoubtedly a special place to work and our learners wholeheartedly show world class qualities.”

Cllr Carol Andrews, Cabinet Member for Education added: “I am delighted to hear of Nant-y-Parc Primary School’s recent achievement. The pupils should be very proud of themselves for demonstrating such World Class behaviour and characteristics.”

WCSQM was established as a charity in 2018, accrediting students using a framework of skills and competencies young people need to flourish in an emerging global economy. The charity’s mission is to level up opportunities so that every student can develop World Class characteristics both in and out of the classroom, regardless of their circumstances or background, to help them achieve their potential.

By definition, not all schools can be World Class. Therefore, it is the charity’s mission to close their network to new schools by July 2023, so that only the best in the country are represented.