St Mary's Catholic Primary School Governors' Annual Report to Parents - for Academic Year September 2022- July 2023 (Autumn Term 2023)

School Improvement

As a school, we are on a continuous cycle of self- reflection, development and improvement to ensure that we offer the very best to all our pupils.

"As a result of this culture of ongoing self-evaluation and reflection, leaders identify and implement pertinent actions that lead to improvement. They deliver national priorities, such as curriculum reform, thoughtfully and creatively." Estyn.

During 2022-23, we continued to work on our identified school development priorities. Below, is a summary of the areas the school identified following a range of self-evaluation exercises.

We will continue to work on these areas into the academic year 2023-24.

The governors would like to extend their appreciation to all parents/ carers who participated in the school's statutory Relationships and Sex Education consultation process, details of which may be found on the school's website.

Our Curriculum Offer at St Mary's

The school's innovative and personalised curriculum has continued to offer a range of authentic, rich, exciting and cross- curricular learning experiences for all children this year. All teachers have continued to work creatively to ensure that children contribute to planning their curriculum based around broad open-ended whole school topics, ensuring that they have ownership over their learning.

Each year group have enjoyed exploring a variety of 'Big Questions' to inspire and activate their learning.

Early Years children were 'Ambitious, Creative Contributors' and explored 'What do I hope to be when I grow up?' Years 1 and 2 children were 'Ethical, informed Citizens' and investigated 'Why (people) move to Wrexham?' Years 3 and 4 were 'Healthy, Confident Individuals' and found out 'Are we ready for the Metaverse?' Years 5 and 6 were 'Ambitious, Capable Learners' and explored ' Who do I want to be in 5 years time?' and discovered 'Who has changed the future and how?'

In June 2022, the school's curriculum summary document was shared with parents and posted on the school website, in preparation for the statutory roll out of the new Curriculum for Wales in September 2022.

We hope you enjoy reading how we have developed our personalised curriculum here in St Mary's. If you would like a paper copy of our curriculum summary document, please contact the school office.

Additional Learning Needs (ALN)

"St Mary’s is a fully inclusive learning community" where the "provision for pupils with additional needs is highly effective and the co-ordinator ensures that this is delivered effectively and consistently across the school." Estyn

The ALN reform continues to be embedded throughout the school and regular updates are shared with staff to enhance knowledge and processes. Over the course of the year, children throughout different year groups have been converted over onto an IDP (Individual Development Plan), particularly those children with need for additional learning provision. Regular involvement from outside agencies has been beneficial in securing recommendations and targets for our children to work towards including our educational psychologist, speech and language therapists, the behaviour team and literacy service. Input has also been received from specialist provisions regarding children with significant complex needs. Opportunities to access training have been positive with a focus on developing Makaton and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) awareness for all staff.

In April 2023, Mrs Jones took on the role of Acting ALNCo and continued to focus on providing the children with small step targets to ensure progress was being made. Regular contact with parents and agencies continued and Mrs Jones and Mrs Williams will continue to work together on the ALNCo role during 2023-24.

The staff within school will continue to work with children who will be receiving Targeted Universal Provision and those children who will require Additional Learning Provision, with the need converting to an IDP over the course of the next 2 years.

Our school in Wales

The main language used in St Mary's Catholic Primary School is English, however all our children and staff are encouraged to use as much Welsh as possible, in our ongoing pursuit to become a bilingual school, in line with the Welsh government ambition. Welsh is taught as a second language throughout the school from Nursery to Year 6. We all enjoy saying a range of Welsh prayers and singing a range of Welsh songs and we love to proudly sing our Welsh national anthem on St David's day and throughout the year.

Our 'Criw Cymraeg' share a weekly 'Brawddeg yr Wythnos in assembly for us to practise during the week and introduced 'Siaradwr Yr Wythnos' this year, where certificates are awarded to the child in each class who has spoken the most Welsh during the week. They also presented each class with a Welsh mascot for children to take home over the weekend to practise speaking and writing in Welsh. All initiatives have raised the profile of Welsh in the school and will be further developed next year.

We hold an annual school Eisteddfod, celebrate St David's Mass and join the St David's day parade in the city centre, proudly waving our Welsh flags. This year, we were delighted to return to participating in the Urdd dance Eisteddfod after the pandemic, and came second in the creative dance and third in the 'disco/ hip hop/ street' dance. Da iawn Ysgol Santes Fair!

Extra- Curricular Clubs return!

We were delighted to see the return of our extra curricular clubs following the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. Staff offered a range of clubs during lunch times and after school and we are very grateful for their on-going support and enthusiasm. All clubs were very well attended and enjoyed by all children.

Pupil Voice Groups

“Many pupils take an active role in a wide range of effective pupil voice groups. As a result, they develop outstanding leadership and communication skills and high levels of confidence.” Estyn

Each year, representatives of each year group/ class are voted onto the Pupil Voice groups by their peers in a secret ballot. We have key members of staff who provide excellent support to the Pupil Voice groups and help coordinate regular meetings and plans for the year, in line with their identified action plans.

We are very proud of how well our pupil voice groups continue contribute to the continuous development and improvement of our school and are delighted to report that we have once again retained Platinum Eco award status and are pleased to have gained our bronze Rights Respecting School award this year! Representatives from the School Council and Eco committee attend the Full Governing Body meetings to share an overview of their work and the impact they have made each term.

Next academic year 2023-24, representatives from the Messengers of Christ and the Criw Cymraeg will also attend the meetings to share their input and how they are enhancing the life of the school.

A summary of the work of our Messengers of Christ to enhance the Catholic Life of our school can be found by clicking on the LINK

Please click on the Link to find out about the work of our School Council and Super Ambassadors during the academic year 2022-23.

The work of our Eco Committee during 2022-23 can be found by clicking on the Link

Our Criw Cymraeg update for 2022-23 can be accessed by clicking on the LINK

Promoting Health and Well-being

As a Healthy School, the governors and staff are all fully committed to supporting pupil and staff well-being and promoting healthy living. All classes have PE sessions each week either in the school hall or in the outdoors. Daily meditation takes place in all classes after lunch, and all children have the opportunity to learn and play in the outdoors.

Children have access to drinking water throughout the day and are encouraged to bring a refillable bottle to school. Children in Early Years are provided with a healthy snack each day and children in Years 1-6 are encouraged to bring fruit for snack each day. Juices, fizzy drinks are not permitted in school.

Pupil voice groups organise themed health and well-being weeks and this year, children enjoyed collaborative, cross-phase activities such as yoga, team building challenges and den building to show the importance of 'connecting' with others.

School Trips and Visits

A wide range of school educational visits and trips were organised throughout the school year to support and enrich learning across the curriculum. The year started with a 'free' whole school visit to Chester Zoo which was enjoyed by staff and children alike, and finished with a Year 6 residential trip to our capital city, Cardiff. Local visits included space exploration in Xplore Science Discovery centre and Christmas in World War II workshops at the Wrexham museum, outdoor well-being activities at Erddig Hall and a walk to view the breathtaking 'Knife Angel' in the city centre. Other visits included learning about Ancient Egypt during a trip to Liverpool World museum and learning about keeping safe at Dangerpoint. For the first time since the pandemic, the annual Year 5 residential to Glan Llyn went ahead and all children enjoyed practising using their 'iaith Cymraeg' as well as participating in a range of outdoor activities such as canoeing, high ropes and raft building.

Engaging with and supporting our school and wider community

2022-23 was a very busy year with a wide range of opportunities to involve our school community in the life of the school. An autumn clean up day brought many enthusiastic families together to clean up the school site ready for the winter months, the Friends' Easter bingo night was a great success, filling the school hall with families, past and present and raising £1146 to purchase new outdoor benches and tables, and the summer family picnic provided an opportunity for families to get to know each other, eat together have 'fun in the sun' on the school playground- also raising over £720.

It was particularly wonderful to welcome parents and wider family members back into school to watch the Christmas concerts; the first time since the pandemic. Families have also enjoyed coming into school to watch class assemblies, attend religious services and the joint class family Masses which were introduced this year.

Events such as a Grandparents' 'Hopes and Dreams' afternoon hosted by our Year 5s, a Christmas 'Craft-ernoon' hosted by Years 1 & 2, an Early Years' Josie Russell charity art gallery event, a Year 5 and 6 community Christmas concert held in Ty Pawb and a Sustainable Fashion Show led by our Year 3 and 4 pupils are a few examples of the very successful events held this year to engage with our families and wider community.

PC Ellis, the school's police liaison officer, continued to provide support to the school via the comprehensive Schools' Beat programme, in addition to providing ad-hoc advice and support to individuals, classes and families, as required. Planned age-appropriate sessions were delivered to classes on topics such as people who help us, keeping safe on-line, drug awareness and anti- social behaviour.

The school has continued to reach out their support by holding a range of school fundraising events to support to a wide range of needs and charities this year, including Children in Need, Wear a Hat day (brain tumour), Rock Your Socks (Down Syndrome), Poppy Appeal, Awyr Las, Andy's Man Club, Papyrus, Wrexham Foodbank, Nightingale House Hospice. In addition, weekly visits have resumed and strong links rekindled with our local care home 'Hilbury House.'