Lliswerry Primary School staff in Newport pride themselves on community, diversity and inclusivity. BROOKE BOUCHER returned to the school – where she was a pupil – more than a decade after leaving.

HEAD teacher of Lliswerry Primary School Nicola Edwards has every reason to have special affection for it - as she herself is a former pupil at the school.

Ms Edwards took over in 2017 after 25 years in the teaching profession.

She said it felt like she was ‘back in the community.’

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Nursery at Lliswerry Primary. Picture: www.christinsleyphotography.co.uk

“We pride ourselves on community and celebrating all children, providing them with what they need,” she said.

Each term the school adopts a different theme which is then used across most of the activities and work they do.

For example, for this autumn/winter term the them is ‘respect.’

The pupils have taken part in anti-bullying days and learning about Black History Month all under this over-arching theme.

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Criw Cymraeg members L-R Alys Davy, Tavis Waite and Ellie George at Lliswerry Primary. Picture: www.christinsleyphotography.co.uk

The spring term will centre around ‘The Land of my Fathers’, which sits alongside preparations for the Eisteddfod, which will celebrate cultural diversity in the school.

The children are also heavily involved with the direction of the school, with six pupil groups: Criw Cymraeg, pupil voice, eco council, digital leaders, citizenship group and playmakers.

Criw Cymraeg lead the way for the promotion of learning Welsh in schools and Lliswerry Primary have achieved their Cymraeg Campus Bronze Award and are currently on their way to achieving the silver.

The aim is to get more people speaking Welsh more often. In the school, children who use Welsh more often are rewarded with tokens, and walking through the corridors with the head teacher it is obviously taking, on as many addressed Ms Edwards using Welsh.

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Members of the cluster citizenship project L-R Zac Chape, Riyaz Ahmed-Ali, Miss Liz Wells and Lyla Griffiths at Lliswerry Primary. Picture: www.christinsleyphotography.co.uk

Digital leaders are a select group of pupils who have committed to joining a club which takes place every Tuesday after school, where they learn about technology and can excel in their digital skills.

The children have been trained how to use Chromebooks, Google drive, PowerPoints, safety on the internet and have even made their own website to teach the other children.

The Citizenship group consists of pupils from Years 4, 5 and 6 working with children from other schools such as Lliswerry High School, Maindee Primary School, Somerton Primary School and St Andrews School, to tackle certain issues and make an impact in the community.

The two main issues chosen by the pupils were litter and homelessness in Newport, and in January the cluster schools will come together to present their findings and work, and form an action plan to present to governors and the community.

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The open book project at Lliswerry Primary. Picture: www.christinsleyphotography.co.uk

School life is built around the school motto which is "working together to reach true potential, as tomorrow's success begins today”.

Specialist classes in the school include a nurture class and a learning resource space (LRB).

The nurture class has around 10-13 pupils with two teachers, helping those who struggle with a ‘mainstream’ setting.

The nurture class in Years 1 and 2 is primarily about getting the pupils outdoors to improve their social and personal skills, as well as their wellbeing.

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Having fun in year 6 English lesson at Lliswerry Primary. Picture: christinsleyphotography.co.uk

Once this is done then they can go on to access the curriculum.

The LRB class is mixed ages of around 13 children, run by four adults who cater to these pupils who have bespoke needs.

These children can have a range of needs, such as behavioural, medical and social issues.

Incorporated in the room is a separate sensory area where pupils can have a one to one with a teacher in a room designed to fit their needs.

The school also is focused on encouraging pupils in their sporting successes, with four pupils: Brooke Langford, Lucia Ford, Tiago Arandjelovic and Lucia Ford and Lewis Carroll taking part in competitions all over the world and establishing themselves as true competitors in their chosen sports.

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World champions at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Tiago Arandjelovic and Lucia Ford with Lewis Carroll who plays for Bristol Rovers academy. Picture: www.christinsleyphotography.co.uk

Tiago and Lucia both practice Brazilian Jujitsu, with Tiago being first in his year group in the world and Lucia is second in the world and first in Nationals and Europeans.

Brooke practices taekwondo, and in May this year won the European Championships in Croatia, and Lewis has been part of Bristol Rovers Academy for three years.

Within the school are 30 different ethnic groups and 28 different languages are spoken and pupils are given one to one support in learning a new language.

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The learning resource base at Lliswerry Primary. Picture: www.christinsleyphotography.co.uk

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The school prides itself on being a “multi-cultural, grounded community”.

Recently added to the school is a ‘family engagement room’, designed purposefully to look like a home living room and not a class room, as it is a place where parents come in to talk about their worries with staff. Counsellors use the space too.

All students have a positive attitude to learning and understand their role within the school, they are provided with varied and engaging ways of learning with a supportive team.

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Headteacher Nicola Edwards

FACTFILE

THE school is located in the heart of Lliswerry on Nash Road.

In its recent Estyn inspection achieved a rating of good across all five areas.

It has around 680 pupils and can hold a maximum of 720, with three classes per year group.

There are around 60-80 children in nursery.