YSGOL Bro Teifi has been rated ether excellent or good in all five main areas following its Estyn inspection.

The school at Llandsyul is the first purpose-built Weslh-medium all-through school built in Wales following an investment of £25m from Ceredigion County Council and the Assembly Government.

It caters for pupils from three-19 years old and opened in September 2016, following the merger of Ysgol Gyfun Dyffryn Teifi and Aberbanc, Pontsian, Coedybryn and Llandysul primary schools.

There are currently 917 pupils on roll, including 380 primary pupils and 537 secondary pupils, of whom 98 are in the sixth form.

Estyn inspectors, who visited the school in February, rated wellbeing and attitudes to learning as ‘excellent’, along with care, support and guidance.

Three other categories – standards, teaching and learning experience and leadership and management – were all rated ‘good’.

The report states: “Ysgol Bro Teifi is a very inclusive, extremely caring and Welsh community. At the heart of its work is its special provision for care, support and guidance.

“As a result, nearly all pupils behave exceptionally well, treat others with respect and care, and show very positive attitudes towards their learning. Most pupils have very strong social skills, discuss issues and express their views extremely maturely with wholly natural robust language in Welsh.

“Many pupils develop their literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology (ICT) skills successfully from an early age. Teachers have a sound awareness of pupils’ ability and background, which leads to a good working relationship.

“The school has an innovative and experimental approach in terms of teaching and developing the curriculum. The school succeeds in providing a broad and balanced curriculum, which stimulates and challenges pupils of all ages and reflects the area’s Welsh, rural nature skilfully.

“The school’s leaders have proceeded energetically to realise their vision, which has a highly positive influence on pupils’ standards of wellbeing and their attitudes to learning.”

Recommendations for future improvement include:

  • Raising boys’ standards, particularly at the end of key stage 4
  • Ensuring that teachers plan more purposefully to meet the needs of all pupils
  • Ensuring that leaders evaluate the quality of teaching incisively in order to identify specific areas for improvement