About Us

 

School Information / Gwybodaeth Ysgol​

Blaengwrach Primary School is situated in the Upper Neath Valley and serves the communities of Blaengwrach, Cwmgwrach and Glynneath. It is sited in a picturesque location and offers a wide and varied programme of extra curricular activities.
The school is based around two buildings; the Junior department, built in 1908 and the Infant department built in 1914. The buildings are separated and flanked by hard play areas. There is a school field and a nature area.
The Junior building houses the Head Teacher’s Office, the Administration Office, all Junior classrooms, the Junior Library and Rainbow Room.
The Infant building houses the Staff Room, Canteen, Infant and Nursery classrooms, Infant Library and Rainbow Room. The Nursery also has a separate enclosed play area and there is a school garden with the facility to grow plants in our polytunnel.
Blaengwrach Primary School is a single site school located in the village of Cwmgwrach. It is in an attractive setting and parents and children are encouraged to develop ideas for the enhancement of the external environment of the school. The school very much promotes Pupil Voice/ Un Llais and has numerous committees to support the overall running of the school (Article 12). The school has been awarded the coveted Healthy Schools National Award, Designed to Smile Gold Award, Rights Respecting Gold Award, the second ECO Green Flag and the Siarter Gwobyr Efydd Award. This is a reflection on how hard the school works with our community to ensure we develop the whole child as part of their educational journey (Article 29).

Aims of Our School

The following aims have been created by the whole school community: pupils, staff, parents and governors. Article 12- you have the right to an opinion and for it to be listened to and taken seriously.

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To provide a school ethos where each child feels valued, respected, listened to and proud of themselves, their school and their local community. Article 12

To encourage children to set themselves high standards to become ambitious and enthusiastic individuals with enquiring minds, ready to learn throughout their lives. Article 29

To provide a rich learning environment which stimulates, motivates and excites children to express themselves within a range of contexts. Article 3

To develop independent, collaborative learners who are able to identify and grasp opportunities, by taking risks and thinking creatively to solve problems. Article 29

To value strong partnerships with children, parents and the wider school community. Article 3

To promote the use of bilingualism and to respect the needs and rights of others as a valued member of a diverse society. Article 30

To empower children to be committed to our sustainable future by encouraging the ability to make measured decisions and face and overcome challenges. Article 29

To support the development of children’s health and wellbeing; building confidence, resilience and empathy. Article 24

Blaengwrach School Vision

At Blaengwrach Primary School we aim to provide an environment that challenges, inspires and supports all children to achieve their full potential and aspirations by designing and creating a curriculum unique to our school and accessible to all learners. We ensure all children feel happy, secure and cared for and in turn become responsible and caring citizens. We celebrate diversity and promote inclusion for all pupils as part of one nurturing school community. Our curriculum allows all children to learn and achieve through exciting, fun, and relevant experiences, with opportunities to explore and discover enabling our children to become confident, independent and resilient learners in our ever-changing world.  

 Access to our bespoke curriculum, combined with the expertise, commitment and enthusiasm of our staff, underpinned by rigorous planning, will enable all children to achieve academically, to learn about the world, their locality and people around them and become responsible and caring citizens.  

Everything we do and everything a child experiences at Blaengwrach Primary in pursuit of the four purposes is called our curriculum. Senior leaders, staff, pupils, parents and carers have worked collaboratively to develop a shared vision for the curriculum and are developing a shared understanding of progression at Blaengwrach Primary School.  

The curriculum at Blaengwrach Primary meets the requirements of Curriculum for Wales focusing on ensuring that our pupils embody the four purposes as Ambitious Capable Learners; Enterprising Creative Contributors; Ethical and Informed Citizens and Healthy Confident Individuals. Our curriculum is progressive and ensures that pupils develop control and independence in the development of their literacy, numeracy, digital and integral skills in addition to ensuring pupils engage with increasingly complex and sophisticated content to progress their knowledge and understanding.  

Learners develop their understanding of the What Matters statements. By exploring and revisiting the Statements of What Matters our learners deepen their knowledge and understanding during their time at Blaengwrach and as part of their learning continuum to progress to a more sophisticated understanding of the key knowledge, ideas and principles in each Area of Learning and Experience (AoLE). 

Concepts, topics, themes will change from school to school, and term to term, but the curriculum consists of six AoLEs and experiences as well as cross curricular themes of literacy, numeracy and digital competency. Our curriculum is designed to create a sense of belonging in our pupils in a physical, geographical, historical, cultural, social and cultural sense as a place that has shaped and continues to shape the community. We aim to support our children to make sense of their own identities and those of others in our community, in Wales and across the world, and to grow the self-belief to know that they can affect change, not just at home, in school, or in their community, but in Wales and on the world stage. Our concepts and themes will change over time to reflect the society in which we live. The experiences our children will have been a part of at Blaengwrach aims to fire their imagination and shape their dreams. Through our curriculum our children will have goals to aim for, interests that sustain them and a passion for success with the very best chance of a future filled with happiness, choice and opportunity.  

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