7. 6. Statement: Self-improving the Education System

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:39 pm on 12 July 2016.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 4:39, 12 July 2016

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.