Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. On becoming education Secretary, I was clear that we needed to raise standards, reduce the attainment gap and deliver an education system that is a source of national pride and confidence. I remain committed to these goals and we are making progress. That is reinforced by the time I have taken in recent months to better appreciate what is happening across the country by listening to the profession, meeting our school leaders and speaking to pupils and parents.

Our reforms are also guided by international evidence and best practice. To be the best, we must learn from the best, and that is why I invited the OECD, an organisation respected around the world, to provide an independent assessment of where we are on our reform journey. The report, published today, is an extremely useful contribution to our discussions here in Wales. It sets out where Wales has acted on the OECD’s 2014 recommendations and where we have seen successes, and identifies areas of challenge that remain.

As a report card for education, I think I can sum up the feedback as, ‘Good progress made, on the right path, but there is still plenty more improvement to make.’ The OECD’s key finding is that our approach to school improvement has moved

‘from a piecemeal and short-term policy orientation towards one that is guided by a long-term vision and characterised by a process of co-construction with key stakeholders.’

This is welcome and shows the progress that we are making. Where we can point to success, it should be a matter of recognising collective effort and energy, both here with previous Ministers, with the valuable work of former education committees at the Assembly and the scrutiny of Assembly Members, but most importantly of all within and across our schools.

However, as the OECD says, our performance has been mixed and we have seen other small, innovative nations move way ahead of us, but that gives me the conviction that there is no reason why we can’t move forward in our reform journey, using our size as an advantage in ensuring coherence, confidence and a truly national commitment to reform. I am, therefore, pleased that the report highlights the excellent work that is being done, noting the pivotal role that pioneer schools are taking and also the good progress being made with the development of the digital competence framework.

The OECD has signified that it feels that the profession has moved from reform fatigue to a shared long-term vision and a strong feeling of readiness. I share that optimism, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I have seen it at first hand in the schools that I visit, including one in your own constituency. That said, I cannot, we cannot, the system cannot and we will not rest on our laurels. The disappointing PISA scores show us that there is still a long way to go. Everybody in our system must understand that PISA allows us to judge ourselves against the world. And that has never been more important than it is now and for the uncertain years ahead.

We must continue to develop a high-quality teaching profession and that is the strong message coming from the OECD. They have endorsed our approach to reforming initial teacher education and our emphasis on professional learning across all career stages. But they have urged us to speed up the development of our leadership standards and I agree. Historically, we have not placed enough value on this crucial aspect of raising standards in our schools. Since taking office, it has been clear to me that leadership is an area that demands significant and urgent development. Since the OECD visited in November, work is gathering pace on leadership with the establishment of the national academy of educational leadership and I can assure this Chamber, the profession and parents, that leadership development will be a prime driver of our education strategy. Now, more than ever, Wales needs strong leaders that are up for the challenge.

The OECD also encourages us to continue the process of co-constructing policies with key stakeholders and I am persuaded that this approach is the right one. Shared goals and shared ambitions will ultimately take us a long way on our reform journey. A strong message is that we need to clearly communicate our reforms. Urging coherence across our initiatives and policies is a common theme throughout the report. And I agree that we can be smarter and clearer in how we demonstrate how different policies relate to one another and contribute to developing our learners in the way that we want.

Reforming our education system, indeed, reforming any system, can be complex but we must also gain from the simplicities of effective action: improved professional learning, reformed teacher training, new assessments, high leadership expectations and increased school-to-school working. Our job now is to continue our national mission of education reform, driving up standards and helping every learner in Wales, whatever their background, to fulfil their potential. I will continue at greater pace where needed, and I will, of course, consider the OECD’s advice and recommendations in greater detail over the coming months. Llywydd, just this morning, I and Andreas Schleicher spoke to a conference of nearly every secondary headteacher in Wales, and I know that in that conference, and in classrooms across our nation, we have the courage and confidence to deliver for all of our learners and to strengthen our future as an economy and a society. Thank you.