Headteacher's Welcome

Croeso i Ysgol Gynradd Herbert Thompson

Herbert Thompson is a large primary school on the west side of Cardiff, meeting the needs of children of all abilities aged 3-11 years.

We have a Flying Start nursery on site, called 'Little Angels' which caters for children aged 2-3 years and we also have a team of Flying Start Health Visitors based on site. We are very proud to serve such a tight-knit community in Ely and Caerau.

We strive to create a loving, caring and stimulating environment which enables all of our children to reach their full potential and prepares them fully for their future lives. The foundations of our school are built upon care, love and respect for one another and we are passionate about building positive relationships between pupils, staff, parents, governors and the wider community. Our extensive links with our community ensure that our children benefit from (and are inspired by) a range of opportunities and experiences to enhance their learning journey.

Whenever we think about what we want for our community in the future, it is always that our children will live happy, fulfilling lives and that they have chances to be successful in life. We are passionate about equipping our learners with the highest levels of skills and knowledge, alongside providing them with opportunities and experiences to develop positive values, behaviours and aspirations for the future.

We have the highest expectations for all our children and ourselves and are fully committed to striving to improve our own practice through quality professional learning, learning from others, research and enquiry, sharing practice and coaching.

We are a very forward -thinking school and are proud to be part of the Welsh Government National Professional Enquiry Project; working with other colleagues across Wales to develop enquiry approaches in relation to the New Curriculum. We are also a Central South Consortium NQT Lead school, supporting Newly Qualified Teachers through mentoring and facilitating the Aspire professional learning programme. We also have very close links with Cardiff Metropolitan University and we are an ITE Clinical Practice School, supporting trainee teachers through Initial Teaching Practice and enquiry projects.

For a number of years, we have also been a Big Maths Partner School, providing advice and support to other schools to embed Big Maths in their setting. We are also very proud to recently be accredited as a Thrive School of Excellence and have worked hard to embed Thrive across the school. This approach provides a powerful way of working with children that supports optimal social and emotional development. In addition, the THRIVE approach enables us to work in a targeted way with children who may have struggled with difficult life events to help them re-engage with life and learning.

Each day, I feel privileged to be part of the Herbert Thompson family with such incredible children and such passionate, talented and dedicated staff who truly believe in the value and potential of all our children. The professionalism, skills and expertise of staff is second to none and I am constantly inspired by their enthusiasm and drive. The impact of this can be seen by the positive ethos and atmosphere of our school. It gives me great pleasure to see how happy our children are every day and to witness the excellent progress they make as they move through the school.

You are most welcome to arrange a visit and the children would be delighted to show you what makes Herbert Thompson such a happy and unique place.

Diolch yn fawr,

Mrs Sheena Marsh

Please visit our website to access the school Welcome Booklets, translated into a range of languages.

https://www.herbertthompsonprimary.co.uk/school-prospectus