Primary school recognised for its nurturing approach

A Carmarthenshire School has been praised for providing a nurturing environment to pupils who have struggled at other schools in a report by the Children’s Commissioner for Wales.

Llanelli’s Ysgol Brynteg was highlighted for its good practice in ensuring every pupil is offered the adequate care and support to meet their needs.

Professor Sally Holland wants to see exclusion from school phased out for children aged 3-7.

According to the Commissioner’s research 768 fixed-term exclusions took place across Wales for children aged 3-7 in the 2018-19 academic year, although this figure is likely to be higher as not all local authorities reported their statistics.

It also shows that on average, nine children per local authority had been excluded more than once with one child being excluded 18 times in one academic year – all of these children were in the foundation phase, which covers ages 3-7.

Geraint Jones, Head Teacher at Ysgol Bryn Teg, Llanelli, which is mentioned in the Commissioner’s report as an example of good practice, said: “The Governing Body and staff in my school have worked incredibly hard as a team, in developing inclusive and nurturing practices throughout the school. This ensures that each and every pupil is offered the required amount of care and support to meet their needs. We strive for early identification and meeting the needs of all our pupils. This is a real challenge, and requires constant maximum efforts, along with continual development of our workforce to ensure we can provide the best education possible to all our learners.

“We have been fortunate of securing Welsh Government funding to reduce infant class sizes. We also utilise other temporary funding such as our Pupil development grant. These funding streams, along with our careful management of our school budget across the school has allowed us to provide the essential strategies that our learners need.”

The council’s executive board member for education, Cllr Glynog Davies said: “Headteachers and school staff in all our schools work incredibly hard to ensure that any children needing that extra support receive it.

“Adopting an effective nurturing approach in the foundation phase provides an excellent start as they begin their education journey.”