Glanhowy Primary School, Blaenau Gwent

Glanhowy Primary School is an English-medium school in Wales. Welsh schools are inspected by Estyn rather than Ofsted, and its latest report is published on Estyn's website.

It had 272 pupils in the 2025/26 school census.

30% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (three-year average).

Of its pupils, 10% have additional learning needs (21% in 2020/21); and 5% are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Year groups range from 27 pupils (Reception) to 41 (Year 5).

Its delegated budget for 2026-27 works out at £6,889 per pupil, against £5,093 in 2021-22. It carried forward £211k of reserves at the end of 2024-25.

Estyn's report on its November 2024 inspection summarises Glanhowy Primary School like this:

"Glanhowy Primary is an inclusive school where both staff and students feel safe and valued. The headteacher sets high expectations and serves as an exemplary role model, fostering a passionate team dedicated to creating a supportive learning environment. This commitment to care and well-being helps all pupils, including those from socio-economically disadvantaged contexts and those with additional learning needs (ALN), to make strong progress. Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning are exemplary. Most pupils make a strong improvement in listening and speaking from a young age. The school fosters a strong reading culture and by Year 6 many pupils develop effective reading skills and are confident readers."

"While pupils generally make good progress in developing their literacy, numeracy and digital skills, they do not always have the opportunity to use these skills as well as they could in their work across the curriculum. The curriculum is diverse and engaging, incorporating pupils' interests and current events to enhance learning. Teachers plan stimulating projects that encourage inquiry as a result, nearly all pupils actively engage with their learning. Classrooms are calm and ordered and support pupils to develop their independence. This ensures that pupils across the school are engaged and enthusiastic about their learning. Most pupils make good progress, and verbal feedback helps them to improve."

"However, written feedback and ongoing assessments do not always inform the next steps in learning well enough. The school’s leaders engage in a range of monitoring activities. Senior leaders are aware of the progress made by different groups of learners, including those with ALN and those eligible for free school meals. However, leaders tend to focus too much on data from tests and online assessments. They do not always make enough use of the information from pupils' books and lessons to identify the most important priorities for improvement. Additionally, some school improvement targets tend to be too broad and do not always prioritise aspects of teaching and learning that require improvement."

Estyn made 2 recommendations: (1) Ensure that evaluation processes use a wide range of information to identify opportunities to improve teaching and learning; (2) Ensure that the curriculum and teaching enable pupils to develop and use their skills to the standard of which they are capable.

The nearest other state primary schools to Glanhowy Primary School are Deighton Primary School (0.2 miles), St Joseph's R.C. (0.5 miles), Bryn Bach County Primary School (1 mile) and All Saints R.C. Primary School (1.1 miles).

The nearest railway station is Ebbw Vale Town Rail Station, about 2 miles away in a straight line.

20 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Belle Vue Inn (before), 70 metres away.