A school in Ystrad Mynach for pupils with special educational needs has been praised by inspectors.
Trinity Fields School, which is the only special school serving Caerphilly County Borough, was visited by schools inspectorate Estyn.
The school has 159 pupils, aged between three and 19 – nearly all of which have severe learning difficulties, physical and medical difficulties or autistic spectrum disorders.
The school is marked as “excellent” for standards, wellbeing and attitudes to learning, teaching and learning experiences, leadership and management, and care, support and guidance.
The report’s only recommendation for the school is to “develop further the school’s strategies to meet the needs of pupils as it implements the Curriculum for Wales”.
In their report, Estyn described the school as “a highly inclusive community where all pupils feel safe and valued”.
The report adds: “It is not appropriate to compare the standards that pupils achieve at the school with national averages or to analyse the performance trends of groups of pupils over time because of the nature of pupils’ special educational needs.”
During the summer holidays, pupils returned to the school as part of the School Holiday Enrichment Programme (SHEP).
The programme is run by the Welsh Government and the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA).
The school held seven sessions over a three-week period, with pupils taking part in physical activity, games, preparing healthy meals and pet therapy.
Hefin David AM, who is a governor at the school, said: “As a Trinity Fields governor, I’ve seen the huge difference that headteacher Ian Elliott has made.
“He’s developed a brilliant team of teaching and support staff who make a difference to the lives of their students every day.
“The school makes sure everyone is included and valued. Congratulations Trinity Fields.”