Our Vision and Values

At Ysgol Sŵn y Don we work together to provide the children in our care with an excellent education, whilst nurturing and caring for their needs as they develop and grow.

We strive to provide a caring ethos where everyone in the school community feels safe, confident, valued and respected.  By promoting an environment where everyone can live and work together supportively, we hope to enable all to reach their full potential, emotionally, socially and intellectually.

Sŵn y Don – Context

We are a distinctive school and our curriculum aims to reflect that.

Ysgol Sŵn y Don is a mixed Nursery and Primary school situated on a social housing estate in Old Colwyn, North Wales.  We provide education for approximately 130 pupils from three to eleven years old; we offer Nursery provision in the mornings.  There is an on-site playgroup catering for children from the age of two.  The playgroup also offers wrap-around care for all of our learners.

The three year average for pupils eligible for free school meals is 67%.  We have identified about 45% of pupils as having additional learning needs. (2021 figures).

We have a specialist, full-time, on-site Foundation Phase Resource base and a part-time key stage two Resource Base for learners from across the local authority with moderate learning needs.

At Sŵn y Don, we are very proud to be awarded the Trauma Informed Schools UK Award.  The principles of this approach underpin all that we do ensuring that the wellbeing of all is of the highest priority within school.

Our school dog Syd is a massive part of our team.  She supports learners and staff wellbeing and is much loved by all of the pupils.

Outdoor learning is a key part of our Sŵn y Don ethos.  We have a dedicated beach school / forest school leader and a fantastic forest school area which all pupils’ access as part of their learning offer.  Along with this, we have a minibus that allows us to use our local area in Conwy to enhance the offer.  Pupils are often out at sites such as: The Marian, Conwy Mountain and the local beaches.

At Sŵn y Don, we teach predominately through the medium of English but aim to use incidental Welsh in classes and around school.  We also ensure that we have daily oral Welsh 2^nd Language lessons and a dedicated longer session through the week.  The home language of nearly all pupils is English.

As a school, we celebrate the Welsh language, culture and heritage.  We ensure to incorporate the principles of the Siarter Iaith into all aspects of the curriculum.  During their time in ks2, pupils have opportunities to attend residential trips to Glan LLyn and Nant Bwlch yr Haearn.