School of the week: "St Mary's has a strong, caring and compassionate ethos"

Name of headteacher

Mrs Cerqua - appointed May 2022.

Number of pupils and what age range

144, aged four to 11.

Number of staff

Six teachers, six teaching assistants, one acting deputy head, one headteacher.

Tell us a bit about the school

Estyn 2022 said: "The school has a warm, friendly and compassionate ethos which helps support good pupil behaviour. The highly positive relationships between pupils and adults are a strong feature of the school which contribute very effectively to pupils' level of happiness and sense of well-being."

St Mary's is a family-centred, happy school which prides itself on the care and relationships it builds with pupils, families and the wider community. The school is a Catholic primary situated in Chepstow, with the ethos of "all are welcome" to join the school family.

How did the school rate on its last Estyn report?

The staff and governors were delighted with the feedback during the most recent Estyn Inspection (May 2022).

Estyn reported: "St Mary's is an effective school with a strong, caring and compassionate ethos. Its pupils enjoy coming to school and are proud to be members of its community."

Wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do at St Mary's and this was recognised by Estyn, which reported: "The strong nurturing environment of St Mary's ensures that pupils have a deep sense of belonging and results in most pupils feeling safe and well cared for. Most pupils are confident, inquisitive, and eager to take on new skills and experiences."

What sorts of things do your pupils get up to in the average school week?

St Mary's is developing a rich, authentic curriculum for Wales, which has been influenced by pupil voice. To enhance our curriculum all pupils have weekly music, outdoor learning and health and wellbeing lessons. Pupil voices is very strong within the school and a range of pupil leadership groups meet weekly.

Tell us about your extra curricular activities?

All teachers and teaching assistant support the running of a range of extra curricular clubs at St Mary's. These clubs are offered to all pupils across the school and change every term to ensure all pupils have the opportunity to join a club of their interests. Currently during the autumn term 2022 the school provides clubs including: sports, choir, football, nature, art, book and puzzle clubs.

Do you have a PTA and how do they get involved with the school?

We have an outstanding PTA leading at St Mary's. The PTA meets monthly to discuss ways to come together as a community, for example whole school picnics, afternoon teas and summer fairs! With the current 'crisis of living' PTA members have attended 'Price of Pupil Poverty' training to ensure planned activities are inclusive for all families. One success story following this has been the nearly-new uniform scheme we provide all families here.

St. Mary's buddies - a reception pupil with her buddy in Year 6

What's the highlight of the school year for you - and for the pupils?

There have been so many highlights of the year, from our successful Estyn inspection in May 2022 to appointing our wonderful headteacher Mrs Cerqua into a permanent role.

However, for us as a school team, the best part of the year has been being able to come back together as a whole school community, something we haven't been able to do since Covid.

Simple activities such as whole school singing, buddies systems across year groups and families in the school building has been so joyous!

The school was recognised by Estyn 2022 for it's strong development in the Welsh and was asked by Estyn to develop a case study to share with practice across the whole of Wales.

Estyn said: "Teachers and learning assistants promote the Welsh language highly successfully and encourage pupils to learn about the heritage and culture of Wales and the wider world."

Who is your chairman of governors and how does the board of governors get involved with the school?

The governing body at St Mary's is very active in supporting the school to continue on it's journey of revising the new curriculum in Wales.

Most recently our chairman of governors Phil Cotterell, alongside other governors and members of the local community, led a project to renovate the school bungalow to offer it as a safe haven for a Ukrainian family moving into the area. This is just one of many ways of community schools works together to support those in need.

What does the future hold for your school?

"The school is developing a strong track record of improvement." 2022.

Senior leaders at St Mary's have a clear plan for continuing to more forward and work on school improvement. All staff, governors and pupils are involved in school improvement. Our aim is to offer the very best education for our pupils in a happy, friendly and welcoming school.