SCHOOL OF THE WEEK: Pantside Primary School

SITUATED in a rural setting within Caerphilly, Pantside Primary School in Newbridge, is at the heart of the community. The school, which has 201 pupils including nursery, channels the children’s inner originality, creativity and entrepreneurialism through a range of learning techniques and extracurricular activities.

Acting deputy head teacher, Sophie Lewis, said: “We as a school focus on promoting the children’s aspirations. We do this through sport, outdoor learning, a variety of classroom activities and a wide range of initiatives.”

“We perform well as a school and we are rated as good in both inspection areas,” Miss Lewis said. Pantside was last inspected by Estyn in 2012 where the schools current performance was rated as good as well as their prospects for improvement. The report noted upon the good quality of teaching and also the high quality of the leadership team and head teacher.

One of the current notable efforts of the school is a pupil run cafe which has been set up on site, where children sell refreshments to parents, teachers and members of the community. The exciting new development promises to teach the children key life skills to help them when they reach working age.

The newly refurbished “Cupcake Cafe” was launched on Tuesday this week. The cafe is fully equipped with a bar, till, coffee machine, a plasma television and a range of modern kitchen appliances. Pupils from year five and six received training on how to use all the equipment and deliver the best possible customer service in sessions running up to the grand opening. Miss Lewis said: “The cafe is entirely run by pupils, they have been taught how to make delivery orders for the food and drink, and they have been in charge of pricing the goods as well as learning how to make tea, coffee, hot chocolate and lattes!

“The cafe has allowed the pupils to develop their numeracy skills through handling money and also has given them a real sense of how a business operates, which better prepares them for later life,” she said.

Teaching assistant, Julie Stevens has been leading the children during their cafe training sessions, “They have loved working in the cafe. It has really helped them with their communication skills and their confidence.”

Year six pupil, ten year-old Bethanie Davies has enjoyed working in the cafe, she said: “It’s been really good working here and I am so excited for the parents and visitors to come in and for us to start serving them!”

Within the classroom, pupils focus on core areas in literacy and numeracy. As well as this, ICT and the use of ipads are becoming more heavily integrated into the curriculum to support these lessons. Miss Lewis said: “Every pupil from year six to reception use the ipads. Year five and six pupils have one each, year three and four have one between two and in the lower years there are one per classroom and we also have pupils who are digital ambassadors.”

Every year group attends the library once a week to improve upon their literacy skills. During the library sessions, a “carousel” system operates where groups of children conduct different activities including independent writing, free reading and using ICT for their work and then they swap. The techniques and skills learnt in the library are then put into practice during something known as “the big write”. Miss Lewis said: “The big write is where the lights are turned off in the classrooms and fibre optic lamps and lava lamps are turned on and the children are encouraged to use their imagination and write freely.”

To further develop these skills, the school has recently adopted the scheme known as, Read Write Inc; phonics based learning initiative to help pupils with word formation, pronunciation and annunciation. Within the scheme, pupils are usually put into groups according to their needs and are taught through active strategies such as games actions and stories.

Both staff and pupils at Pantside Primary School pride themselves on the work of its school council which is led by head boy Dylan Price and head girl Nicole Jones who were both elected by members of staff. The council includes pupils from each year group where they are given the ability to make key decisions on how the school operates.

Pantside really encourages outdoor learning and do so through the use of their large grounds, log circles, play areas and allotments. The log circles, which are situated in the wooded area of the school grounds act as classroom for a variety of lessons. Year one and two children use the log circle as part of their mini beast and leaf hunting lessons. The children are given pictures of leaves and insects and are asked to go out and search the grounds, whereas the older pupils use the log circle for things such as reading sessions. Miss Lewis said: “Outdoor learning really helps the pupil’s development; I have even taken my year six class out here to read Macbeth as it’s such a good setting for it.” The children also enjoy using the allotments on site. The eco-committee and the school council as well as other pupils in the school plant seeds and grow a variety of vegetables which are then sold to parents.

The pupils at Pantside seem truly enthusiastic about their whole school experience; they are currently working towards their Christmas concert and are continuing to make the cafe a successful pupil business. Head teacher, Kate Bennett said: “We are very fortunate to have such a supportive team of children, staff, parents and governors. It is fantastic to know that we are making a difference to their future.”

Fact File

Head teacher: Kate Bennett

Pupils: 201

Age range: 3-11 year olds

Largest class: Year 6, 31 pupils

Motto: Happy together, learning for life

Inspection: The last Estyn inspection took place in June 2012, where the school’s current performance was rated as good. The school’s prospect for improvement was also rated as good. The school was praised in the report for the good quality of teaching and the leadership team.