Our Vision
"The positive emphasis on wellbeing is apparent in the attitudes of staff and pupils, and across the school’s activities. This caring ethos encourages pupils to develop tolerance, respect and understanding of each other". (Estyn,2016)
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Our mission is to encourage the whole school community to work in partnership to provide an inclusive yet challenging environment, where self-esteem and confidence are nurtured and excellence is aspired for.
As a Church school we endeavor to develop Christian values and foster respect for all people and their beliefs.
If we carry out our mission, we will move nearer to our vision, which is:
To be the best that we can be!
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'Be the best that you can be' Understanding this motto is crucial in order to thrive at Pen-y-Fai school. Very simply, life and learning at our school is not to be viewed as a competition to reach a certain level but as a journey of self-improvement and an acknowledgement that this journey is continual and that we are all on it. |
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At Pen-y-Fai, we want our children to begin their journey of growth to become the best possible version of themselves. We also want our teachers to become the best teachers that they can be. We want our learning support officers and other staff to fulfil their roles as effectively as they are able to. We want the parents of our pupils to be the best parents that they can be and our governors the best governors that they are able to be. |
What does ‘being the best that you can be’ mean?
We feel that you can become the best version of yourself in four key areas;
1. As a human being
2. As a learner
3. In your basic skills and;
4. Spiritually
We established 'The Pen-y-Fai Way' to help us all remember our key common values that make up the Pen-y-Fai Way. They are;
Be Honest
Show Respect
Act with kindness
Spread joy
We feel that you can become the best version of yourself in four key areas;
1. As a human being
2. As a learner
3. In your basic skills and;
4. Spiritually
We established 'The Pen-y-Fai Way' to help us all remember our key common values that make up the Pen-y-Fai Way. They are;
Be Honest
Show Respect
Act with kindness
Spread joy
How do we promote the Pen-y-Fai Way?
We aim to teach it in our lessons, preach it in our worship, refer to it when conflict arises, recognise it and celebrate it in our pupils and, above all and most powerfully, live it and model it in our words, deeds, thoughts and prayers.
We aim to teach it in our lessons, preach it in our worship, refer to it when conflict arises, recognise it and celebrate it in our pupils and, above all and most powerfully, live it and model it in our words, deeds, thoughts and prayers.
Be the best learner that you can be
The next aspect of our shared vision is all about the learning attributes that we encourage, celebrate and aim to foster in others at Pen-y-Fai. They are;
Be creative
Be independent and;
Persevere
We feel that these learning attributes are crucial for our pupils as they move on to the world of work.
If you would like to read more about our key learning attributes please click here.
Be the best that you can be in terms of the basic skills that you have.
As a learning establishment, it is vital that we, not only try to develop the entire community as human beings and learners, also help our pupils to develop the highest possible level of basic skills to allow them to function in the world of work. We aim to ensure that our children are challenged to;
Speak as well as they can
Read as well as they can
Write as well as they can
Be as mathematically literate as they can be
Use ICT as well as they can be and
Speak Welsh as well as they can
How do we improve our pupils’ basic skills?
To ensure that our teaching of basic skills is as good as it can be, we constantly review the outcomes of our learners in these key areas to ensure that standards and progress of our pupils is consistently high.
Be the best that you can be spiritually
As a Church in Wales school, we place great emphasis on the spiritual development of our pupils. We believe that it is crucial that we are all allowed time and space to focus on the fact that there is more to life than what we can see, feel and know in our own individual circumstances. Our children are encouraged to think and ask big questions about;
God
Humanity
Creation and;
The beliefs of others
How do we improve our pupils’ spirituality?
We promote spirituality through;
Our programme of collective worship
Our RE scheme
Our links with the local church
Special areas and displays throughout our school
Allowing time for reflection and the asking of Big Questions
By modelling the importance of these things in our own words and actions.
Supporting our Vision
I hope that, after reading about our vision, you are able to fully embrace and believe in it. We sincerely hope that, should you find yourself in our building, you will see this vision in action as all staff and pupils work together to ensure that each and every person in our community is given the best opportunity to become the very best that they can be!
