We move on to the next statement, which is a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education on self-improving the education system. I call on Kirsty Williams.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Colleagues, we are embarking on a major reform agenda, the biggest education reform that we have seen in Wales since the 1940s. We have begun developing the new curriculum in collaboration with the sector, we are making major improvements to initial teacher training and are working to support the development of the education workforce through the current new deal.

These reform programmes are based on our approach of working in a self-improving system. That is often defined as a model where the key players in the education system take shared responsibility for their own improvement and for the improvement of others. My challenge is to build on the momentum of improvement we have seen through continuing to work with pace with the sector in a collaborative way with a clear focus on the quality of teaching.

The biggest impact on learner outcomes is teaching and leadership, and this needs to be positioned against the backdrop of our self-improving system. Therefore, I intend to develop a workforce and leadership strategy to set out explicitly a clear and coherent picture of the way forward for the workforce and how that will be developed and supported through the process of change. This strategy will build upon the existing plans developed as part of the new deal for the education workforce, such as the deployment of pioneer schools to support peer-to-peer professional learning, the introduction of an enhanced professional learning passport and strengthened school development plans to support more effective planning and choice of professional learning. It will continue to implement the reforms of initial teacher education proposed by Professor John Furlong. The strategy will also strengthen the focus in areas such as the development on new professional teaching standards, leadership development, the development of learning support staff and starting the transition to an all-Master’s teaching profession. I also intend to establish a Welsh academy of leadership. This will be developed in partnership with consortia, local authorities, higher education providers, and education leaders from Wales and elsewhere.

Now, class sizes remain a huge concern for both parents and teachers. The Welsh Government has listened to those concerns, which is why I have asked officials to scope out options to reduce class sizes, starting with the largest classes first. However, reducing class sizes is not just all about bricks and mortar, it is also about creating the space for teachers to teach, reducing unnecessary bureaucracy and ensuring that they are supported by excellent higher level teaching assistants. Therefore, the workforce and leadership strategy that I have previously mentioned will also focus on the development of learning support staff. This will provide a range of career development paths and address the need for a more coherent set of professional standards, qualifications and professional learning opportunities. I also want to build the capacity of learning support staff to obtain higher level teaching assistant status and will invest funding into a coherent suite of development programmes leading to higher level teaching assistant status.

In order for education to improve, we also need to further deepen and extend school-to-school working. This will be done through encouraging collaborative work by signposting and supporting schools to develop partnership models of governance, new models of school leadership and new pathways into leadership that will support this agenda and address the underlying problems with leadership recruitment. Now, the most formal of those collaborations will be federations, bringing together a number of schools under one governing body.

Different partners can offer different solutions. However, federations can bring strengths to areas of weakness, ensure effective accountability for performance, spread effective leadership and help build teacher capacity. Federation is an effective structural driver that can be used to enhance school improvement. Where teaching and/or leadership within a school is weak, a federation with a high-performing school that can implant its leadership, systems, practices and expertise can bring about the required change to improve the performance of the school. It can also assist with the recruitment and retention of good headteachers through deploying experienced practitioners in executive roles with heads of schools working to them. An effective leadership programme needs to be developed to support this move to federations, and that will form part of my new workforce and leadership strategy. Now, for smaller schools, federations can recruit more effectively than each stand-alone school seeking its own headteacher. Additionally, across a number of smaller schools, a federation can ensure that there is relevant expertise for each area of the curriculum. This is essential, as every pupil in Wales must benefit fully from ‘Successful Futures’. So, this all-Wales approach to federation would also include a specific national strategy for small and rural schools.

Whilst I am pleased that the GCSE results last summer showed progress in closing the stubborn attainment gap between those pupils eligible for free school meals and their contemporaries, it does not go far enough. The pupil deprivation grant, introduced in 2012 as part of a budget deal between the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Welsh Government, is clearly making a difference in our schools and my priority is for the PDG to remain a key pillar for driving up standards for our poorest pupils.

Finally, I also intend to target resources in a number of specific areas relating to Welsh language and additional learning needs. I am fully committed to the continued development of Welsh-medium education from the early years to higher education. Ensuring that the Welsh-medium sector is considered at the heart of all developments, and that is a key priority for me. I intend to develop proposals to ensure that we strengthen the teaching of Welsh language through increasing the numbers of practitioners with high-quality Welsh language skills.

Proposed ALN legislation will enable us to improve the planning and delivery of additional learning provision, placing much greater focus on individual need and ensuring the needs of learners are identified early, and effective interventions are put in place, are monitored and are adapted to ensure they deliver the desired outcomes. But legislation is only one part of the reform that is needed; practitioners have indicated that they need significant skills development and easier access to specialist support if they are to deliver effective support to learners with ALN in the classroom. I am proposing a three-level response.

All practitioners should have the core skills development to support a wide range of low complexity, but high incidence ALN within settings, and access to ongoing professional development. Each school setting should have immediate access to one individual with advanced skills. I want to develop the role of additional learning needs co-ordinators, who will replace the current SENCOs. And all education settings should have access to individuals with specialist skills, for instance, educational psychologists, teachers of the visually or hearing impaired, and speech therapy. I will say more about each of these developments in the coming months and I’m committed to keeping the Chamber updated. Thank you.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement. I should probably declare an interest as a school governor at the beginning here. It is a very broad-ranging statement and I’ll try and be precise, and I’m sure the Deputy Presiding Officer will tell me if I’m not.

You make early reference to the pioneer schools in your statement. A number of teachers and schools who are part of the pioneer schools projects are reporting, actually, that some of them were unaware of their own involvement. Now, I’d like to ask the Cabinet Secretary what work she is doing to ensure that all those tasked with developing the new arrangements are fully engaged and supported through this process. The time frame, of course, from when the pioneer schools report back on their development work to the point at which the new curriculum will be statutory in Wales won’t leave a lot of room for debate. So, what undertaking will the Cabinet Secretary give to ensure that there is a full consultation with the wider teaching profession to ensure that this process isn’t rushed through, because I think some people are feeling the pressure in that respect?

On teachers’ training, a third of secondary teacher training places were not filled in 2015-16. In fact, the recruitment target hasn’t been met for any of the past six years with the shortfall growing over that period. While this may not have an immediate effect or be a problem for vacancies, the trend clearly suggests that it is something that warrants attention. So, what assessment has the Cabinet Secretary made of why this failure to recruit is taking place, and what can be done to address it in future? Because, one of the areas, I think, that is part of the problem is workload, and the effect maybe that that is having on people’s perception of the appeal of teaching as a profession. The Liberal Democrat manifesto gave a commitment, of course, to establishing an annual teachers’ workload survey. There’s no reference to that here, but maybe the Cabinet Secretary could comment on whether you intend to introduce this during this Assembly term.

The role of the Education Workforce Council is key. I’d imagine that there are many aspects of this statement where their role is relevant, although there’s no reference to them particularly in this statement. Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats, to differing extents, proposed to extend and broaden their remit. I was just wondering whether that is your intention and what role you see them playing in some of the initiatives that you have mentioned.

There is a danger of course—I counted, I think, two strategies and at least one new academy in your statement—that this could be seen as more initiatives, in what I’m sure you’ll be aware is an already ‘initiatived-out’ sector, maybe. So, what assurances can you give the sector that this won’t actually add to the burden, and that in fact it is all part of an effort to reduce the burden that, for some people, is on the teaching profession at the moment?

Rwy’n croesawu’n fawr iawn y ffaith bod y Llywodraeth am edrych i ddatblygu strategaeth genedlaethol ar ysgolion bach a gwledig. Rwy’n cyd-fynd â’r Gweinidog fod ffedereiddio’n sicr yn cynnig model ac opsiwn amgen mewn sawl cyd-destun i fynd i’r afael â rhai o’r heriau sy’n wynebu nifer o’n hysgolion ni. Ond, a gaf ofyn yng nghyd-destun y strategaeth ar ysgolion bach a gwledig a fydd y strategaeth yn newid y pwyslais, gormodol yn nhyb rhai, sydd yna ar hyn o bryd ar lefydd gwag mewn ysgolion? Neu, a fydd ffactorau llefydd gwag mewn ysgolion yn dal yn ganolog i’r strategaeth newydd? Mi fyddai hynny o ddiddordeb i nifer, rwy’n siŵr.

Yn olaf, rŷch chi’n sôn am dargedu adnoddau at addysg Gymraeg—eto, rhywbeth y byddwn i’n hapus iawn i’w gefnogi—ond a fyddwch chi hefyd, felly, yn disgwyl cynnydd yn erbyn nodau, amcanion a thargedau eich strategaeth addysg cyfrwng Gymraeg chi fel Llywodraeth? Yn wir, a fyddwch chi’n mynd ati i ddiwygio ac i gryfhau hwnnw yn wyneb eich bwriad chi i dargedu adnoddau tuag at addysg Gymraeg? Yn wir, pa fwriad sydd gan y Llywodraeth i weithio gydag awdurdodau lleol i symud at bwyslais mwy rhagweithiol o safbwynt datblygu addysg Gymraeg ac, efallai, dysgu gwersi ac efelychu’r gwaith sydd yn digwydd yng Ngwynedd, ac yn fwy diweddar, yn rhywle fel sir Gaerfyrddin?

The Presiding Officer took the Chair.

Could I thank Llyr for his questions? It’s disappointing to hear that schools that are supposedly part of the pioneer programme don’t recognise that. Pioneer schools are an important part of developing a number of strands of education policy, in terms of workforce development as well as curriculum development, and we need to redouble our efforts.

I do share the Member’s concerns about how we can engage all schools in this progress and process of change. I do think that there is a danger that I have detected since taking up this post, that there are schools that are very engaged in this process and then there are others that are simply sitting back and seemingly, maybe, will have a nasty shock in 2021 when the new curriculum falls upon them. So, I am looking at ways in which we can address that to ensure that everybody is a part of this process of change, especially with regard to the curriculum.

But, I must say it’s not all doom and gloom. Digital competency, which the Member will be aware, is one of the three key strands that runs across the curriculum alongside literacy and numeracy—. The digital competency framework will be available for schools in September of this year. So, although we don’t expect it to be formally taught until 2021, that part of our new curriculum will be available for schools to begin to use that and incorporate it into their teaching from this September. And, we will be doing that with each part of the curriculum—building up. I do not want there to be a sudden, almost like a pushing of the switch in 2021, when, all of a sudden, we move from one system onto a new system; we have to be able to make that a part of a process.

The Member asked whether I’d do—. The Liberal Democrat manifesto said that there would be a workforce survey and he asked whether I would do that by the end of this term. I can assure him that I will do that before the end of this year, in fact, and I look to have the first ever survey of the teaching workforce, and, importantly, the support staff workforce as well. I want to hear the views of all of those people who are involved in our education system and that survey will take part later on this year; he doesn’t have to wait until the end of the Assembly term for it.

With regard to workforce, I would not disagree with his analysis that maybe, for young people looking at future careers, perhaps the issue around bureaucracy and work-life balance, which will actually form part of our survey, are things that puts people off. We are actively engaging with the sector to look at bureaucracy and actually testing whether what we’re asking them to do is actually adding value to the system. I will be looking to do what I can as a result of that work that is just beginning now, to strip out as much as I can, if at all possible. And, as I said, officials are already in contact to establish that piece of work. There is no doubt that this is a challenging time for the education system in Wales and there is a balance to be struck between moving forward with already-announced initiatives, and also, at the same time, wanting to put my own stamp on things and reflecting on some priorities that perhaps haven’t been looked at in the past. I want to support education practitioners in their work and to raise the esteem in which they are held. I think that often is part of the issue and it’s perhaps why people aren’t coming forward to teach, or perhaps they’re leaving the profession. There was a time when teachers were held in very high regard within the community, and I think that has changed. I want us to get to a place where, once again, teachers and school leaders are held in the very highest regard in our country. So, we are looking at improvement in every aspect of the education system, but it’s not about creating more bureaucracy. We’re trying to strip bureaucracy out, in fact.

With regard to rural schools, it’ll be the first time for the Welsh Government to have a rural schools policy. One exists in Scotland, one exists in England, and that’s why I want to make progress in this area. I’m glad that he welcomes that. Yes, it will look at the issue of surplus places. He will be aware of the document agreed between myself and the First Minister that says that we will review existing policy with regard to surplus places, and especially how that impacts upon rural areas. So, we will be looking at that to see whether it is appropriate.

Let me also say that the issue of surplus places is not just one for rural authorities. The desire to take out surplus places has had unintended consequences in some of our most urban areas. So, it’s not alone a rural issue. But, the issue with the rural schools is to look to see what we can do to strengthen education in rural areas. It can be an incredibly challenging place to teach. If you are a headteacher in a very small school with a high workload, as well as all your responsibilities with regard to headship, making sure that there is a breadth of curriculum, making sure that you can support staff, it’s a really, really challenging role for individual teachers, for leaders and for local authorities in rural areas. Therefore, we’ll be looking to see what we can do to support them and to support those educational provisions. I do believe that federation is one way in which we can keep children within their communities, but also ensure that the quality of the education that they’re receiving and the school leadership are as good as they can be. So, I’ll be looking to develop that further.

The Education Workforce Council is absolutely crucial, and I will be discussing with them ways in which we can support them and the role that they will play. They will have a crucial role in helping me set up the leadership academy. There has been a lack of support and lack of focus on leadership, and I want them to help me address those issues.

With Welsh language, there are two issues here. There is the provision of Welsh-medium education, but also what we can do to develop Welsh as second language teaching in our schools, which is not where it should be and not as good as it should be. If we are to reach the Government’s target of 1 million extra Welsh speakers, I think it’s by 2050, then education has to be a part of that. But, to do that, not only do we need to get parents to make that positive choice, we need to have the workforce in place to do it. That’s why I mentioned in my statement that we will need to resource additional teachers going into programmes so that they have got the skills to deliver that. I will be constantly reviewing whether the powers that I have are adequate to achieve the change that I want to achieve. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister, for your statement. I’m encouraged, actually, by a lot of what I’ve heard, particularly in terms of your vision for more federation of schools and, presumably, not just in rural areas, but also in urban areas as well. I do think that that gives opportunities to teachers to develop specialisms and expertise that are more exciting for them as they embark on their professional careers, and gives extra opportunities to stretch them and to develop that expertise. That might, of course, include Welsh language expertise, which can then be shared across schools, and other examples of good practice as well.

Of course, it does give opportunities to secure some economies of scale across a number of sites with, perhaps, administrative costs being shared, and also it increases the capacity of those individual schools, when they’re working collectively, to be able to provide services for themselves, rather than perhaps being forced to access them via the local authorities, which, of course, is the case for too many schools at the moment.

One thing you didn’t mention, though, Cabinet Secretary, was the opportunities that might be presented as a result of all-through schools, which, of course, are a growing feature on the Welsh education landscape and also give opportunities to shorten the distances travelled, particularly to secondary schools in rural areas. I wonder whether your rural policies, as they continue to develop and emerge, will take into account the need to support the development of more all-through schools.

I’m very pleased also to hear you refer to a review of the surplus place policy, which we’ve had in Wales for some time. That’s resulted in the closure of a number of schools in my constituency. Some of them, I believe, would have been avoidable had there been a better policy around that—so, I think, again, something very much to welcome.

I listened with interest to your references to the establishment of a Welsh academy of leadership and, absolutely, it’s all about leadership in our schools, and we’ve got to have the very best quality leaders possible as headteachers across the piece. But I just wonder what the timetable for the establishment of that academy will be and also whether it will be tied to a particular location in Wales or whether it’s something that people will be able to participate in in all regions of Wales. Clearly, you know, there are challenges, shall we say, in terms of accessing some of the programmes that are available at the moment, and I think making sure that there’s an opportunity to access—whether you’re from north Wales, south Wales, west Wales or mid Wales—is really very, very important indeed.

You’re also rather cryptic in your description of how you’re going to achieve your policy of reducing class sizes to 25. You seem to be referring more to pupil-to-teacher ratios, or pupil-to-staff ratios, rather than bums on seats in classrooms, and I just wonder whether you can tell us very clearly what is your aim there. Is it about staff ratios, which is not the impression, I think, that many of us had when this policy was announced as part of your coalition deal with the Labour Party, or is it going to be about those bums on seats, which I think was the perception that every one of us had? Also, in terms of the class sizes, if it is about bums on seats, what does that do to the viability of some of our smaller schools, in particular, that need the extra capacity, as it were, to ensure that they’ve got sufficient resources within those schools to be able to keep them open?

I was pleased, also, to hear the reference to the pupil deprivation grant continuing. You haven’t said precisely at what level that will continue, whether it will be the current funding level, whether that will increase, or whether it might be extended further—perhaps you can give us a little bit more information about that. Is it going to be the same as last year? Are you expecting more money? I have no idea and want to give you the opportunity to respond.

I’m pleased to see the references to an increased focus on the Welsh language and, of course, special educational needs, but I’m a little bit alarmed that you want to replace the special educational needs co-ordinators with additional learning needs co-ordinators because, of course, that could mean that those more able and talented pupils in our schools might lose out, because, of course, the special educational needs co-ordinators at the moment also have a role in providing for those more able and talented children in addition to those children with additional learning needs. I wonder, Minister, whether you could tell us where those opportunities for more able and talented children might fit into your agenda.

Just finally, there was no reference to looked-after children in your statement. Everybody in this Chamber, I know, shares the commitment to wanting to improve the life chances of looked-after children and to improve their attainment in schools in Wales. I wonder, Minister, whether you can just tell us again how you expect looked-after children to fit into this and whether there is perhaps more scope for more discussions between our parties and others in this Chamber to take an agenda forward that leads to improved outcomes for them.

Can I thank Darren Miller for his questions and his welcome for many of the initiatives within the statement? He is absolutely correct when he says that federation is not just relevant to rural schools. Actually, it’s a source of disappointment to me that, although the regulations that allow federation have been around for a number of years, we’ve seen little development of this. If one looks at developments in other countries on the key aspects of a self-improving education system—because let’s face it, sitting at the top, on the fifth floor, of this building is not the way in which we are going to improve our education system; it has to be down to those working in collaboration: parents, communities, individual teachers, school leaders, consortia, LEAs and Welsh Government. We all have a role to play. Federation and greater school-to-school working actually are relevant across the piece, and I would like to see greater use of federation, not just in rural areas but actually in other parts of Wales too.

I’m glad that he reminded me of the opportunities presented by through schools. I am very interested in looking at how those models are developing. There is some experience of this in Ceredigion, where some through schools have existed for a little while now. I hear good things about the system, the benefits of that system. Again, the ability: we know from looking at research that, for many children, that transition from primary to secondary is an area where performance drops, especially for boys. If we can smooth that transition out by having a through school I think there is much merit in looking at whether we can develop that in different parts of Wales.

The leadership academy: I hope to have the shadow authority up and running by the autumn of this year, and I would hope to have entrants into the system by the summer of next year. The college itself will not be the provider of services, because we can’t expect individual teachers to travel to one particular place to receive that kind of support. So, whilst it will co-ordinate and it will organise, it’ll actually be local delivery, because we want leaders, wherever they are in Wales, to have the opportunity to benefit from it. But, as I said, I hope to have a shadow authority up and running by the autumn, and entrants in by the summer of 2017.

The pupil deprivation grant: can I just say, PDG, by a number of independent bodies that have looked at it, is making a difference for our poorest children? Last year we saw, for the first time ever, the GCSE results of those children begin to catch up with their contemporaries. That is something that we all should be celebrating. The issue is that we need to increase that pace. We need those children to catch up even quicker. So, PDG, as I said, is an important part, moving forward. I and the finance Minister, who recognises the achievements of PDG to date, continue to have those discussions. The Member will be aware, in my correspondence with the First Minister, I will be looking to expand PDG where I think we can have the biggest impact. Having visited the amazing Tremorfa Nursery School this morning, I think maybe that perhaps there is scope to look at early years education and increasing PDG that goes into early years. So, we’ll be looking at options there.

Additional learning needs: can I absolutely state that the purpose of the legislation and the purpose of the reforms is that every child is treated as an individual and their individual needs are addressed, rather than perhaps a system in the past that has not sought to individualise support packages in the round for those individuals? So, this is not about having fewer opportunities for more able children. This is actually about being able to have a system that can be responsive to the individual needs of every single child in a way that I think, at the moment, is not available.

Returning to the issue about looked-after children, the Member will be aware that Estyn has recently reported on this, and that report is not where I would want us to be—not where I would want us to be. There is some good practice, but, as always with the Welsh education system, that good practice is not universally applied. That is my purpose in doing this job: we need to eradicate the inconsistencies within schools and the inconsistencies between schools and individual local authorities, and the inconsistencies for outcomes for all our children, whether they have an additional learning need, whether they are entitled to free school meals, or whether they are looked after. The previous administration set up a strategy. We will be looking to see whether the outcomes of the Estyn report are aligned to the outcomes and the actions of the strategy announced by the previous Minister. I will want to see whether that strategy will address the weaknesses identified in Estyn, and, if they do not, and I’m not satisfied that they do, then I will have to look again at that strategy. But I am determined to have an education system that works for all of our children.

I’d like, Cabinet Secretary, to talk about that Estyn report and ask a specific question. As you said, practice is patchy and the report concluded that looked-after children still face too many barriers to doing well at school, and obviously we must remove those barriers. But it did indicate that looked-after children do best at schools with strong pastoral support, better tracking of pupils, and good listening by the senior staff. Now, I think those are excellent comments. It’s a good plan, really, to implement across the piece. Progress is possible. It’s often the case that we lament, quite properly, the educational attainment standards of looked-after children and think, ‘How can we improve them?’ Well, it can be done, and this has been seen particularly in the 11 to 14 age group where now 48 per cent reach the core subject indicator, compared to just 25 per cent in 2011. Now, that means we shouldn’t stop there. We should drive the standards right up to GCSE level, where they match—more or less—the general population. I like this idea of resilience in school, of school improvement programmes and, essentially, enabling schools to critically examine their own performance. That’s where most school improvement fails, because they cannot actually assess the true value of the services they are currently providing. So, I think that this is a good concept, and it could really deliver great improvement to looked-after children’s educational attainment, if that is one of the core areas for school improvement.

Just to finish, are you aware, Cabinet Secretary, of the good practice in Brynteg comprehensive school, in the First Minister’s constituency, where they’ve made some outstanding advances in the level of service they provide to looked-after children? We are now seeing in that school some excellent results occurring. It’s good to show these schools that need improvement where it’s actually working very well.

Can I thank David Melding for his contribution and his continued campaigning in this area? David, you and I are two of only nine of the original class of ’99, and you have consistently, throughout the period of the last 17 years, championed the rights of looked-after children, and I commend you. Much of the change that we have seen has been as a result of people like you continuing to press these issues—and my Cabinet colleague Ken Skates, with his interest in the rights of looked-after children. It is the attention that has been paid to the issue within this Chamber that has allowed us the space to be able to push things forward. I commend you once again for your strong work in this area.

Now, Estyn’s recent report on good practice in education services to support looked-after children is very welcome to me. I will formally publish a response shortly. As I said to Darren Millar, every single child in Wales, including those who are looked after, has the right to expect an excellent education. We need to learn from the best, like Brynteg. That’s why a self-improving system is so important, not just for looked-after children, but for improvement generally across the board, by allowing individual teachers, school leaders and schools to be able to see for themselves, first hand, excellence, and to be able to use that to inspire their own teaching and reflect on their own practice and their own institutions. It is by that strong focus on a self-improving system—professional standards and continuous professional development—that we will be able to drive things up.

Presiding Officer, it was remiss of me, and I don’t want to be accused of trying to dodge the subject—Darren Millar did ask questions about class sizes, and I’m sure he thinks that I deliberately did not answer them. Can I just say that there is not a single approach, Darren, to addressing this issue? I’ve asked officials to scope out what we can do, starting with our largest classes first; there are classes with over 30 children. What do we need to get those class numbers down? I also recognise that, in some schools, there may be physical constraints or there may be sustainability constraints, so, therefore, we will need to address the problem from a different direction. What I am determined to do is to address the problem, and I will look at a multiple range of interventions that will allow us to do what we all want—that is, give teachers the time that they need to give the attention to those children. We will have to do it in a variety of ways and be creative in how we do it.

And, finally, Jenny Rathbone.

Diolch. Thank you for your statement. Of course, the things that David Melding cites as being very good for looked-after children—pastoral care, good tracking of pupils’ progress, and listening schools—are things that we need for all our pupils. Obviously, one of the issues is how we tackle coasting schools, which aren’t facing the challenges that teaching in difficult areas are facing. So, I wondered what emphasis is going to be given to the value added by schools as we track how well pupils do from entry until they leave the school.

One of the points I think that you have raised around the workforce and the leadership strategy that’s required to ensure that the Welsh education system is ready for the Donaldson curriculum reforms, is to ensure that everybody is onside. I chaired a policy forum on Donaldson a few months ago and I was somewhat surprised that there was a lack of questions and enthusiasm for learning from best practice across the OECD or from particular schools or areas of the country. How we get teachers rethinking what their role is, both using their own pedagogy as well as their imagination, to teach digital numeracy and literacy across the whole curriculum seems to me the biggest challenge. Otherwise, it simply isn’t going to work, unless they feel enthusiastic about it. So, I look forward to hearing a little bit more about that, and I just wondered what role clusters of schools play in enabling schools of similar size and numbers of free school meals to examine their own practice and look at the good practice of other schools in the cluster, and go and look at the one in the cluster that’s got the best maths results in order to understand that and then adopt some of those practices in their own school. That seems to be one of the ways of being a slightly less threatening way of approaching schools that are having difficulty addressing their own improvement plans.

Can I thank Jenny Rathbone for those detailed questions? With regard to pupil tracking, we need to make sure that that is happening consistently right the way across our country. True success in the education system will be by ensuring that all our children reach their potential, and we have to acknowledge that each child’s potential is different. Some of the ways in which, perhaps, we’ve judged performance before have not really taken into consideration individual tracking, so we’ll be wanting to make sure that that is happening consistently. We want to ensure that teacher evaluation of students’ work is more consistent and truly reflective of the standard of that work. We’ll be looking to do what we can to make, for instance, the testing system more robust and more responsible by looking to introduce, if I can, online adaptive tests which actually then allow children who are more able and talented to be pushed further, to push them to see exactly where they are in the system, to be able to put more challenging tests for them rather than the standard tests that all children sit. So, there are ways in which we can do that. With coasting schools that’s part of the danger, and we need to make sure that those schools that are already achieving what we would want them to be achieving are pushed to develop stronger. But I’m looking at how we can create a system of assessment and a system of accountability for our schools, and those are two different concepts, assessment and accountability. How can we do that in a way that gives us education that we know is doing good, rather than just looking good? That’s why we need a smart way in which we can look at assessment and accountability.

Clusters are crucial to the idea of school-to-school working in a self-improving system. We talked earlier about federation; those are very hard and fast collaborations and partnerships, but in some areas clustering, and a more informal approach to sharing good practice, is perhaps more appropriate, and we really need to make sure that schools are working together in that way. As I said in my answers to David Melding, it is by seeing excellence, being able to reflect on that in your own practice, and taking it back to your own institutions that we will drive out the inconsistencies in our systems. There is excellent education going on in Wales, but it is not excellent all the time in all places. It can vary within a school, it can vary within a catchment, it can vary within a city, and it certainly can vary within a local education authority. It is that inconsistency across the piece that we need to focus on and drive out of the system.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary.