At Ysgol Bro Taf, our Lower School offers a warm, nurturing, and stimulating environment for pupils from Nursery to Year 6. These formative years are crucial, and we place a strong focus on developing the foundations of learning – curiosity, confidence, and independence – right from the start.
Our early years and younger pupils benefit from rich classroom experiences, expert care, and a curriculum designed to spark imagination and build essential skills. As pupils move into the upper years of Lower School, they begin to access some of the excellent facilities available across our 3–16 campus – such as science labs, expressive arts studios, and specialist sports spaces – broadening their experiences and preparing them for Middle School.
Throughout their time in Lower School, pupils benefit from specialist teaching in music, art, PE, and technology, which enhances learning and supports the development of well-rounded, creative learners.
Within Lower School, our pupil leadership groups are a cornerstone of fostering a vibrant, inclusive, and empowered school community. These groups provide our children with the opportunity to develop leadership skills, take responsibility, and have a voice in shaping their school environment. By involving our pupils in decision-making and initiatives, we nurture confidence, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities that benefit our children far beyond the classroom.
By engaging in these leadership roles, our children gain a deeper understanding of respect, responsibility, and the importance of working together toward shared goals. Each group has devised their own action plans, which they will work on throughout the year, and their activities will impact positively on life and learning across the school.
The first group that we launched was the ‘Lower School Council’. Pupils applied for the role by uploading a short video explaining why they would be the most suitable candidate, what qualities they bring, as well as things that they would like to implement across the school. Each class has a school council representative who was voted for by their peers.
School Council Representatives
Image coming soon.
We have also recently launched four further pupil leadership groups in Lower School.
These are the:
As a school we place huge importance on attendance and punctuality. There is clear evidence to demonstrate that high attendance rates equates to high attainment in school. However, school is about so much more than academic attainment. We believe that children who attend school regularly are more likely to feel settled in school, maintain friendships, engage in enrichment activities, keep up with their learning and gain the greatest benefit from their education. We want all our pupils to have the very best start in life, ensuring the highest attendance and punctuality rates is crucial to this.
Absences
Pupils are not expected to attend school when they are not well enough to do so, whether as a result of short term, long term or recurring illness. However, we request that parents/carers inform school of any illness absences via Class Charts.
If you are unsure of whether to send your child into school or not, Public Health Wales provides guidance on specific illnesses and isolation periods where needed.
Long-term absence for physical or mental health reasons must have medical evidence in order to be recorded as authorised absence.
We ask all parents/carers to endeavour to make all medical and dental appointments outside of school hours, however we do accept that there may be exceptional circumstances that require pupils to attend appointments during school time.
We request that parents/carers communicate clearly with the school to ensure absence can be recorded accurately.
Holidays in Term Time
The local authority and school strongly advises parents and carers that pupils should not take holidays during term time, due to the negative impact that this can have on their learning.
There are special considerations for when holidays in term time are authorised. Please see below:
Holiday request forms are available on the school website or by emailing attendance@brotaf.cymru.
Persistent absence/Concerning attendance rates
As a school we monitor attendance rates closely throughout the school year, if a pupils attendance drops below 92% you will receive a letter to alert you that attendance rates are at a concerning point.
We encourage open and honest communication between school and home to ensure attendance rates improve. As a school we will ensure robust support systems are in place to improve attendance to school.
If attendance rates continue to decline the school will link closely with the Attendance and Well-Being Service for further intervention.
Home learning plays a vital role in supporting your child’s development and academic success. It extends the learning that happens in the classroom and helps children build essential skills like independence, time management, and problem-solving. Within Lower School, we post the weekly ‘Bro Taf Bulletin’ on Seesaw (see below) which fosters a love for learning, encourages curiosity, and strengthens the partnership between school and home.
Through activities such as reading, practising key numeracy skills, or engaging in creative projects, children reinforce what they have learned in school and develop deeper understanding. Home learning also provides an opportunity for parents and carers to be actively involved in their child’s education, celebrating achievements and identifying areas where additional support might be needed.
At Ysgol Bro Taf, we aim to make all home learning tasks meaningful, manageable, and enjoyable. By working together, we can create a strong foundation for lifelong learning and help every child reach their full potential.
‘Next week we are’: Informs Parents/Carers what their child will be learning about the following week.
‘At home, please can you’: This is the ‘must do’ home learning task which is acknowledged and tracked through ClassCharts achievement points.
‘You could also’: Opportunities to extend classroom learning and prepare children with knowledge and understanding for upcoming activities.
‘Literacy, Numeracy & Cymraeg’: Keeping key skills in these areas ‘on the boil’. For example, multiplication tables, RWInc sounds and language patterns in Welsh.
RCT Catering Services provides a tasty and nutritious menu to all schools within Rhondda Cynon Taf.
We offer a two week menu of hot dishes, along with a daily salad, a roll/sandwich menu and a jacket potato option. Our meals include a dessert and a drink. We offer unlimited wholemeal bread and, in addition to the dessert of the day, we also offer a limited choice of frozen yogurt, cheese & crackers or fresh fruit.
Does your primary age child have a food allergy/intolerance or a medical condition, which would require them to need a Medically Prescribed Diet? If so, Catering Services has an online facility where a medically prescribed diet can be requested. Register a medically prescribed dietary requirement.
Please note: We procure food that is absent of nuts as a declared ingredient. However, even with proactive cross contamination control measures, multiple handling processes in the supply chain do present the potential for trace ingredients to remain present. We cannot control the food brought into the Dining environment by other customers.
A residual risk remains that food provided by RCT Catering Services ‘may contain traces of nuts and nut derivatives’, and customers who have a nut allergy should consider the risk before purchasing/consuming any food.
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