Happy children, who are eager to come to school is the gateway to vision at Ysgol Penllwyn and Ysgol Penrhyn-coch. We strongly believe that happy learners are successful learners. While pupils are in our care, our aim is to support our learners to become:

These are based on the 4 Purposes of 'Curriculum for Wales' 2022. It was decided as a governing body to adopt these as the basis to the school’s mission statement so that they are the ultimate goal for our practice, and form the basis for learning and teaching.

Our hope is that every child leaves us understanding their worth, with the confidence to venture.

‘Together, we can succeed’

As one governing body, and one team of staff, we aim to ensure our partnership benefits our learners.

‘Cynefin’

There is no English word which quite conveys the meaning of the word ‘cynefin’ it is a combination of the people and locations that make up the place one calls home. We strongly believe in nurturing our pupils' roots in their area and community. This contributes to our pupils' sense of identity, fostering respect for the differences and similarities between them and others. We take advantage of every opportunity that arises to explore our local area, to meet its residents, using these as a stimulus for our learning. e.g. a visit to Gogerddan woods and the Spirit of the Miners walk to Cwmsymlog. We are very grateful to our partners within the community for enriching the learning experiences of our learners.

Health promoting school

Promoting a healthy lifestyle is another of our core values here at Ysgol Penllwyn.

A health promoting school has been defined by the WNHSS as one which actively promotes and protects the physical, mental and social well-being of its community through positive action by such means as policy, strategic planning and staff development with regard to its curriculum, ethos, physical environment and community relations. We are pleased to have reached phase 5 in the Health Promoting School Scheme.

A health promoting school ...

• is a happy school
• is a caring community which is concerned with the health of all its members, pupils, teachers, non-teaching staff and all those who interact with it
• encourages pupils to recognise that what they do counts – that we all affect one anothers lives
• recognises that health education is not just taught in the classroom, but is supported and re-inforced in the daily life of the school and local community
• provides all the information pupils require about nutrition, exercise, relationships, sex, smoking, drugs and alcohol and encourages them to take responsibility for their own actions

Eco-School

Being a part of the Eco-School programme has played a key part in actively promoting our commitment to developing awareness of global citizenship and sustainability amongst our pupils.  Eco-Schools is a global programme engaging 19.5 million children across 70 countries, making it the largest educational programme on the planet. It is designed to empower and inspire young people to make positive environmental changes to their school and wider community, while building on their skills, including numeracy and literacy, and encompassing Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship. We are proud to be awarded with the platinum award for our work in this area. 

Siartr Iaith

In July 2017, The Welsh Government published its national strategy for our language, Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh Speakers. Their aim is to see the number of those able to speak Welsh rise to a million by the year 2050. The purpose of the Siartr Iaith is to inspire children and young people to use Welsh in all aspects of their lives. The Siarter Iaith is for everyone; all members of the school community have a part to play, the school council, learners, workforce, parents, carers, governors and the wider community. This will ensure every school has full ownership of their Siarter Iaith. Together we will increase the social use of Welsh by children and young people.

We are proud to have achieved Silver status for our efforts to promote The Siartr Iaith at the school. We are currently working towards Gold status. 

Children's Rights

At Ysgol Penllwyn we adopt a children's rights approach based upon the guidance of The Children's Commissioner for Wales. We ensure that pupils are aware of the commissioner and her role, and know about their rights under the UN convention on the Rights of th Child. Pupils participate in the Super Ambassador Challenges and Matter of the Month, ensuring that their voice is heard o a national level.