Llanishen Fach Primary School, Cardiff

Llanishen Fach 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 506 pupils in the 2025/26 school census.

8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (three-year average).

Of its pupils, 13% have additional learning needs; 6% are learning English as an additional language; and 16% are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Year groups range from 61 pupils (Reception) to 74 (Year 2).

Its delegated budget for 2026-27 works out at £5,874 per pupil, against £4,146 in 2021-22. It carried forward £73k of reserves at the end of 2024-25.

Estyn's report on its January 2023 inspection summarises Llanishen Fach Primary School like this:

"The executive headteacher and senior leaders at Llanishen Fach Primary School provide strong and effective leadership for the school. They encourage staff to experiment with their lessons and try new approaches. They provide them with the freedom and confidence to be imaginative with their teaching. Staff know their pupils well, involve them in planning their learning and make sure that pupils find their lessons and learning activities interesting and engaging. Alongside this, all staff pay close attention to the progress that pupils make in developing their skills, knowledge and understanding. They use their assessments very well to plan future learning. The school’s focus on innovation and impact leads to enjoyable and highly beneficial learning experiences for pupils."

"This ensures that most pupils make strong progress during their time at the school. The school provides a diverse and interesting curriculum. Many of the activities that staff plan involve ‘authentic’ learning experiences that allow pupils to practise their literacy, numeracy, creative and other skills in real-life situations. Often, these activities link well with people and organisations in the community, such as the local church and businesses. Staff are very good at providing pupils with experiences that combine many areas of the curriculum and improve their sense of well-being at the same time. Pupils are positive about school life and develop strong skills as learners. They think carefully about how well they have completed their work and develop the ability to make their own decisions about what they need to improve."

"The high quality of teaching, alongside pupils’ self-motivation, means that they make good progress in many areas, such as writing, reading, numeracy and with their creative skills. They make less progress in the development of their Welsh language skills, however. Behaviour throughout the school is exemplary. Pupils show real care for each other and have a strong awareness of issues facing people in their community and the wider world. The school is highly inclusive, and pupils learn to respect and celebrate differences between people and their lives."

Estyn made 1 recommendation: (1) Improve pupils’ Welsh language skills.

From the headteacher's welcome: "At Llanishen Fach Primary School, we are a caring and inclusive community that values a strong sense of belonging and shared purpose. Together, we nurture a love of learning in a safe, inclusive and inspiring environment where wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do. Every child and staff member is valued and empowered to thrive."

The school runs a breakfast club.

The nearest other state primary schools to Llanishen Fach Primary School are Ysgol-Y-Wern (0.4 miles), Rhiwbeina Primary School (0.6 miles), Coed Glas Primary School (1 mile) and Thornhill Primary School (1 mile).

The nearest railway station is Birchgrove Rail Station, about 1140 metres away (roughly a 14-minute walk).

12 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Heol Uchaf Spar (adj spar), 170 metres away.