Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education – in the Senedd at 2:16 pm on 2 November 2016.
Thank you, Paul. Again, I’d like to congratulate the success of the school that you’ve mentioned. You have also recognised that those successes have not been universal in all schools that have taken part in the programme. Unfortunately, in some cases, we’ve seen some schools fall backwards, which is very concerning.
Let’s be clear, when the Schools Challenge Cymru programme was started, it was a two-year commitment and a two-year programme—that’s how it was launched. My predecessor, Huw Lewis, decided to extend the programme for an additional year, but it was made quite clear that it was a time-limited programme. What’s really important is that we learn from what has worked in those individual schools and that we spread that best practice to all schools in Wales, remembering that only 39 schools in Wales were part of the programme. There are positive lessons to be learnt, and we are carrying out a detailed evaluation of the programme so that we are aware of what has worked and that we can replicate that.