Leaders at a specialist school near Newtown have said they are delighted after the latest Estyn report said pupils are in a ‘positive and nurturing environment’ and the school meets all the standards inspected.
Government inspectors said staff at Bettws Lifehouse, a school for pupils with additional needs, ‘place the needs of pupils at the centre of all they do’ and those attending are ‘highly engaged’ in learning.
Kay Jones, managing director of the Bettws Cedewain school, said: “We are absolutely thrilled that Estyn have said Bettws meets all the standards required.
“It is fantastic and a real reflection of the work our staff do and the achievements by our wonderful pupils every single day.
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“We are particularly pleased to read in their report that the inspectors recognise the importance of the relationships built here - they describe the relationship between pupils and staff as ‘strength of the school’ and said they were ‘trusting’.
“It described Bettws as a ‘positive and nurturing environment’ - I don’t think they could have described us in a better way, it is spot on and we are all delighted.”
Bettws Lifehouse currently has 18 pupils, aged seven to 14 years old, with a range of communication and interaction needs, and social, emotional and mental health difficulties.
Children are referred, through a complex process based on need, to the stable learning environment provided at Bettws from both Welsh and English local authorities.
Once completing their time there, Bettws pupils tend to go to the upper school site across the border in Shrewsbury as part of the wider Lifehouse provision.
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Estyn inspectors visited the school in July and released the annual monitoring inspection report this month - which said the links between Bettws, and the upper school are ‘strong’ with ‘highly effective’ support for the transition.
A previous inspection in July 2023 recognised two areas the school could improve and headteacher Fiona Davies said they had been working hard to make the improvements outlined.
She said: “We have made some changes following the inspection last year such as introducing careers education for the younger years and changes to meet the new requirements of the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2024.
“It is making a big difference to progress, and I was delighted to see the latest report recognise this - it said the initiatives we have introduced have seen progress and provision has been ‘strengthened’.
“Of course, while we are delighted with the latest report, we will never stop putting our pupils first and making improvements to ensure their needs are met and their time here is as effective as possible.”
Estyn added two recommendations that the school should extend careers guidance and support into the younger years, and continue to develop specific aspects of the curriculum in response to the new Independent School Standards.
The sister site, Bettws Lifehouse at Kingsland Grange, Shrewsbury, also had an inspection by Ofsted in July.
This report, also out this month, reflected that of the one in Bettws and concluded that the site was ‘good’ in all standards inspected.
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