A WREXHAM primary school has been praised for its "happy and caring community" in its latest inspection.

Penycae Community Primary School, which has 187 pupils on roll, was visited by Estyn inspectors in May 2024.

The report states: "Leaders have created a clear vision and work purposefully to ensure a safe and inclusive environment where pupils feel valued and supported.

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"Staff know their pupils very well and understand their needs. This allows pupils to thrive in the school’s inclusive environment.

"Support for pupils' emotional wellbeing is highly effective. This is particularly evident in the positive encouragement staff provide for pupils with additional learning needs (ALN)."

Inspectors also noted quality learning, from staff to the school environment.

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They added: "Teachers and support staff plan engaging learning experiences that help to ensure most pupils make good progress with their skills during lessons and over time.

"They listen carefully to what pupils want to learn and weave their ideas into well-planned sequences of lessons that build systematically on pupils’ knowledge and understanding.

"Classrooms and outdoor spaces are productive, active learning environments. This ensures most pupils focus well during lessons and demonstrate interest in their learning."

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The report also the work of school leaders, who have "high expectations of themselves and others and aspire for the best learning experiences for all", adding they were supported by a "committed team of dedicated and caring staff".

Inspectors added: " The governors support the school with wisdom and integrity and have a strong understanding of their duties and obligations."

There were three recommendations made by inspectors:

• Provide opportunities for pupils to develop their independent learning skills, including how they organise and present their work.

• Ensure the quality of teachers’ feedback targets the next steps in pupils’ learning effectively and the time to act upon it.

• Further develop the curriculum to ensure the school provides a systematic whole school approach to the development of pupils’ Welsh language skills and their use of numeracy skills across the curriculum.

Headteacher Tim Newbould said: “We are delighted with this report. The positive key findings are too many to list.

"It is a very accurate picture of our school, its priorities and our performance.

"We keep children’s wellbeing at the heart of everything we do, and this is clearly shown in the report.

"This has been a great team effort and I want to congratulate my dedicated colleagues and governors, our supportive parents and the wonderful children for their work. I would also like to thank the local authority for their support.

"We have three recommendations to work on but we already had those in our sights.”

• The full report can be found at estyn.gov.wales