Cardiff Steiner School, Llandaff North

Cardiff Steiner School is a school in Wales. Welsh schools are inspected by Estyn rather than Ofsted, and its latest report is published on Estyn's website.

Estyn's report on its May 2024 inspection summarises Cardiff Steiner School like this:

"Cardiff Steiner School is a happy, close-knit community where adults and pupils care for and respect each other. Pupils’ personal development and well-being are at the centre of all the school’s work. The school adheres faithfully to an educational philosophy aimed at developing the whole child, placing equal importance on intellectual, artistic, physical, and practical skills. Creative activities are an essential feature of the school, and the standards achieved by pupils in these areas are extremely high. Across the school, nearly all pupils make strong progress with their sensory and physical development, and are confident, articulate speakers for their age. Staff know pupils and their families extremely well, have a strong understanding of their needs, and build secure professional relationships with all members of the school community. As a result, nearly all pupils feel safe at the school and appreciate its cohesive family atmosphere. The school follows a well-established, highly adaptable curriculum focused on engendering a wide-ranging, life-long curiosity and love of learning. Its thematic approach to teaching encourages development of pupils’ in-depth understanding of topics."

"However, in a few areas, particularly in mathematics, a lack of full-time, subject-specialist teachers limits the effectiveness of provision and the progress made by pupils. Nearly all teachers have established welcoming, purposeful learning environments. However, on a few occasions, the pace of learning and the level of challenge in lessons are too low. For a minority of pupils, strategies to improve attendance are not effective and this is impacting on their progress in learning. In keeping with Waldorf-Steiner philosophy, leadership of the school is shared through a flat management structure. Leaders know their individual faculties well, have together developed a strong culture of safeguarding, and take care to involve all members of the school community effectively in its working life. Trustees provide appropriate oversight and are fully engaged with the life of the school, acting as effective critical friends to leadership. The school complies with all of the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2024. Compliance with the regulations for registration Independent school inspections are governed by the Education Act 2002 and related regulations: the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2024."

"These regulations require an independent school to meet an appropriate standard in the following areas: The quality of education provided by the school The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. Welfare, health and safety of pupils The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. The suitability of proprietors and staff The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. Premises of and boarding accommodation at schools The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. The provision of information The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard. The manner in which complaints are to be handled The school meets the regulatory requirements for this standard."

Estyn made 5 recommendations: (1) Ensure that the leadership team effectively distil available information to develop a coherent overview of teaching, learning, attendance and the curriculum across the whole school; (2) Sharpen monitoring and improvement work to focus its impact on pupil outcomes; (3) Ensure that, across the school, teachers’ expectations of pupils’ learning and behaviour are appropriately high; (4) Strengthen the provision for the progressive and systematic teaching of mathematics across the school; (5) Improve attendance for the minority of pupils who do not attend school regularly enough.

Estyn follow-up status: The school does not require any follow-up activity by Estyn..

In its own words: "Cardiff Steiner School is a self-administered, collaboratively led institution. Its leadership is divided across three groups, each of which is responsible for a specific ‘realm’ of decision making. These groups are the College of Teachers, the Board of Trustees, and the School Management Team. The groups strive for thoughtful independence."

Coming up: an open day on Wednesday 4 November 2026 and an open day on Wednesday 2 December 2026. Check the school's website before you go, as dates can change.

The nearest railway station is Llandaf Rail Station, about 260 metres away (roughly a 3-minute walk).

8 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Llandaff Station (before), 160 metres away.