Riverbank Special School, Cardiff

Riverbank Special 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 November 2022 inspection summarises Riverbank Special School like this:

"Riverbank School is one of three special schools that form the Western Learning Federation. The federation was established in January 2018. The aim of the federation is to achieve economies of scale, develop close collaborative working across the schools for the benefit of both pupils and staff, and develop and improve leadership capacity, whilst maintaining the individual identity of each of the three schools. All three schools are served by one governing body and led by an executive headteacher, who was appointed in 2019. Riverbank School is a caring and nurturing community that provides valuable care, support and guidance for its pupils. Staff place pupils’ well-being at the heart of all aspects of their work. Most pupils make suitable progress from the initial starting points during their time at the school."

"Pupils develop their social skills successfully as well as important skills for life. They become confident learners and are developing appropriate communication skills as they progress through the school. There is a strong culture placed on school values, which pupils demonstrate daily, such as kindness to others. Pupils actively take part in decision-making at the school, which is carefully manged by staff who provide worthwhile opportunities for pupils to be activity involved in a range of decisions whilst recognising pupils’ varied needs and abilities. The curriculum is pupil centred, broad and balanced. Curriculum experiences are tailored to meet the needs of pupils effectively. The range of outdoor provision allows pupils to experience learning through a range of creative environments."

"This supports pupils well to develop a range of skills, particularly their social skills. The nurturing and caring community of the school strongly supports pupils’ well- being, allowing pupils’ social and emotional needs to be met effectively. Family and community engagement is strong and well supported by the family liaison officer. Leadership across the school is effective. Leaders demonstrate a high commitment to improvement across the school and federation. Partnership working successfully contributes to supporting pupils and families across the school."

Estyn made 4 recommendations: (1) Develop a systematic approach to develop pupils’ reading skills; (2) Strengthen the use of total communication approaches to ensure that these meet pupils’ preferred means of communication consistently; (3) Ensure that the internal learning environment meets the needs of all learners, particularly those with more complex and sensory needs; (4) Evaluate the impact of the Western Learning Federation on Riverbank School.

The nearest other special schools to Riverbank Special School are Ty Gwyn Special School (under 0.1 miles), Woodlands High School (0.1 miles), Meadowbank Special School (1.6 miles) and Ysgol Y Deri (3.3 miles).

The nearest railway station is Waun-gron Park Rail Station, about 1110 metres away (roughly a 14-minute walk).

12 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Aldi (outside), 240 metres away.