SITUATED in the heart of the community, Ringland Primary School has a lot to offer for both students and parents in Newport.

The school, which has 250 pupils across the roll, appears fairly small on the outside until you step into it and experience it for yourself.

It is clear that the motto – Together Everyone Achieves More – well reflects Ringland Primary when you walk along its corridors. There are displays up and down the hallways on various projects where pupils have examined Welsh history and artefacts.

Head teacher Lisa Bowden invited the Argus along on a day where the school were holding their own Eisteddfod – which had to be delayed due to snow closing the school – and preparing for their Heart of the Sea project for Newport Ship.

There were also three artists in the school helping the Year Three children prepare costumes and props for the Eisteddfod.

“We are called a lead creative school,” said Ms Bowden.

“We secured funding from the Arts Council of Wales to engage in a project focussing on a particular skill and then how we are going to increase standards around that skill.

“To start the project off the children interviewed a range of artists and the children selected the artists they wanted to work with. It has evolved with the children’s thoughts and we always try to empower the children and allow their voices to come through.”

The school aims to help their pupils learn in a variety of ways and not just through classroom learning.

There is an enterprise team in the school who won the Business Engagement Awards two years ago through a variety of their projects. Ahead of Mother’s Day the team have set up their own stall at the school where they organised, made and sold a variety of items.

In preparation for the stall, children had staff members come in from Lush Cardiff to show them how to make bath bombs. Pupils also made their own stained glass style design plastic heart decorations and octopus toys.

Ms Bowden said: “The pupils are selling the items in a raffle tomorrow and held the stall at the school. We feel strongly that we need to promote to vocations that are out there and to show them that once they put their mind to it they can do anything.”

Another project the pupils are taking part in tonight (THURS) in an event linked with the medieval Newport Ship.

The project – Heart of the Sea – has been something the pupils have been working on for several weeks. They made their own seascapes and are performing to an audience.

Speaking about the event, Ms Bowden said: “The pupils decided the pricing of the tickets and there is a puppet show which is in celebration of Newport Ship.

“Assembly members will be attending and the children are doing everything from stage management, props down to meeting and greeting guests and the community are being bused over.

“We need to capture what a wonderful community this is, how we can bring it together and galvanise the community that is here to be part of the children’s journey.

“The children, as well as marketing this night out, have used this as a community for pop-up shops.

“They have really enjoyed taking part in this.”

The event the pupils have set up will take place at the Newport Ship Centre tonight from 4.30pm and is a musical folklore story.

Ms Bowden said: “Their creative side is very much being developed and this is real learning.

“We are teaching all these skills but they are making contacts as well. It has been a busy week for us as well.”

The staff at the school aim to ensure each child is catered for in terms of learning but also their mental health and emotional needs.

There are lunch time and break time clubs for pupils who are struggling with anxiety and stress who do not want to participate in games outside.

There are also spaces within the building where children can go in the mornings before beginning class if they need some time to get used to the learning environment.

“We are very much focused on being a nurture school,” said Ms Bowden.

“We have lots of break out areas. Sometimes we have children who come into school who are anxious about school and struggle. One of the big things we have improved is attendance, we are no up over 95 per cent.

“That is down to our pastoral lead Jodie Hayden who goes out into pupil’s homes and works with them and the family.”

In the art rooms, children were preparing for their Eisteddfod performance by practicing their characters, designing costumes and making props.

One the pupil practicing for the event, Nicole Linton, eight, said: “We have been filming a story and acting out. My favourite thing has been being a story teller.”

Teacher Sam Griffiths said: “We identified the gaps on where we needed to go and the gaps in their learning was the ability to talk to each other. They were fine with talking but struggled with listening. “The artists came in and helped them bring the story tellers to life. It’s about developing their skills and they have been working well in teams to create scenery.

“They have the skills to communicate and this has helped them put this into practice. The children have made huge progress in such a short space of time.”

For the Eisteddfod, children across each year at the school made different sculptures, including dragons, daffodils, love spoons and castles.

These items were then judged by Ms Bowden and a Bard was crowned.

Talking to staff and pupils at Ringland Primary School, it was obvious to see that the motto - “Together Everyone Achieves More” is in place. The school is a welcoming environment and regularly reaches out and interacts with its community.