Lampeter’s all-through school has received the thumbs-up by inspectors, but has been warned that pupil attendance remains too low.

Estyn inspectors visited Ysgol Bro Pedr in May, and in an inspection report released this month said the school – which caters for more than 1,000 pupils from nursery age and up – was an “inclusive and welcoming community.”

The report said: “Staff build secure relationships with pupils and create an environment where many pupils concentrate well and make suitable progress, with a minority making strong progress.

“A very strong emphasis is placed on the pupil’s voice and, as a result, many pupils develop valuable personal and social skills.”

Estyn found that “most teachers have good subject knowledge” and “use a range of effective strategies and deliver stimulating lessons.”

“Pupils are given beneficial opportunities to develop their reading and numeracy skills across the curriculum and this has a positive effect on their development,” the report said.

Inspectors also praised the Canolfan y Bont unit, which Estyn found “provides an exceptionally inclusive and responsive learning environment for pupils aged 11-19 with profound and complex needs” where “nearly all pupils make good progress from their starting points.”

The report found that the leadership of the headteacher and the leadership team is “strong and purposeful” and “ensures that everyone is given an opportunity to learn and succeed in an inclusive and ambitious environment.”

Estyn recommended areas for improvement, including raising pupil attendance that while “compares fairly well with the levels nationally, remain too low.”

Estyn also recommended that the school should “ensure consistency in the quality of feedback on work and the level of challenge to have a positive effect on the standard of pupils’ work” and to “increase the use of incidental Welsh in English-medium lessons to encourage pupils to use the Welsh language more confidently.”