Maesyrhandir C.P. School, Powys

Maesyrhandir C.P. 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 83 pupils in the 2025/26 school census.

43% of pupils are eligible for free school meals (three-year average).

Of its pupils, 18% have additional learning needs (56% in 2020/21); 7% are learning English as an additional language; and 17% are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

Year groups range from 10 pupils (Year 1) to 16 (Year 2).

Its delegated budget for 2026-27 works out at £6,679 per pupil, against £5,554 in 2021-22. It carried forward £58k of reserves at the end of 2024-25.

Estyn's report on its June 2022 inspection summarises Maesyrhandir C.P. School like this:

"The school provides a welcoming and inclusive environment where nearly all pupils feel safe and most enjoy attending regularly. Teachers and leaders have focused appropriately on pupils’ well-being as they return to school following the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers and teaching assistants deliver a good range of interventions to support pupils’ emotional and mental health and this is having a positive impact on pupils’ wellbeing. Staff know their pupils well and match this support effectively to the needs of individual pupils. Staff have a consistent approach to managing pupils’ behaviour and pupils understand and respect this process, knowing that they will be dealt with fairly when disputes arise. The support for pupils with additional learning needs is strong."

"The specialist centre and nurture class provide bespoke support for pupils who need additional support with learning or with their social or emotional wellbeing. Pupils develop appropriate literacy and numeracy skills as they move through the school. Pupils’ reading skills have improved recently and staff have identified accurately the need to focus on improving pupils’ writing skills. Teachers plan opportunities for pupils to use these skills in a range of contexts however, the skills pupils use in their work across the curriculum do not always match the levels achieved in their English and mathematics work. Teachers across the school provide verbal feedback to pupils to help them to know what they have done well and what they need to improve. However, written feedback is less effective."

"The headteacher leads the school effectively. She has established a culture where all staff feel valued and are proud of the work they do at the school. Leaders generally identify areas for improvement accurately, although monitoring and evaluation activities do not focus closely enough on the standards that pupils achieve or the progress that they make. Members of the governing body know the school well and provide good levels of support and challenge for the school’s leaders."

Estyn made 5 recommendations: (1) Improve monitoring and evaluation activities and ensure that they focus firmly on pupils’ learning; (2) Ensure that teachers provide learning experiences that challenge pupils appropriately and support skill development; (3) Improve pupils’ writing skills; (4) Ensure that feedback to pupils helps them to know what they do well and what they need to improve; (5) Work with the local authority to address the safeguarding concern identified during the inspection.

The nearest other state primary schools to Maesyrhandir C.P. School are Ysgol Calon y Dderwen (0.7 miles), Ysgol Dafydd Llwyd (0.7 miles), St Mary's R.C. (A) School (0.8 miles) and Penygloddfa C.P. School (1.1 miles).

The nearest railway station is Newtown (Powys) Rail Station, about 0.9 miles away in a straight line.

12 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Falcon Court, 20 metres away.