5. Statement by the Minister for Education: The Estyn Annual Report 2019-2020

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:18 pm on 19 January 2021.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 5:18, 19 January 2021

Thank you, Jenny. You're right—Meilyr has had a relentless focus on children throughout his career, and in the inspectorate, and he is very much child-focused in his critique and in his analysis of the education system.

I think one of silver linings—and my goodness me, they are few and far between, but we need to look for them in the middle of this terrible situation we find ourselves in—is the improved level of communication between schools and parents, which the report points to. It's been a necessary feature of remote learning and remote education, and I hope that that change in culture and those expectations about regular communication will be a culture change that we will keep. Quite often, all of us want to return to normal, but we have to recognise sometimes the old normal wasn't good enough, and this is an example of where a new normal can drive real improvements, and that communication with parents is absolutely key. A school cannot educate children alone; it has to be a partnership between the professionals in the school and the family, and our very best schools develop that very, very strong relationship, and that delivers real benefits for children.

And I do believe, Jenny, that the inspection regime is good at capturing value added. Now, clearly, the inspectorate themselves are going through a reform programme. It's only right, when we look at reforming our part of the education system, that they too have looked to themselves so that they can reform their processes and outlooks, so that they can play their part in improving education. But I have to say, one of the highlights of my year as education Minister is the annual Estyn evening, where those that have been rated as 'excellent' in any category, whether that be the nursery sector right the way through to our FE colleges and everything in between, where that excellence is recognised. And I have to say, in those evenings, I have indeed shook the hands of the headteachers of some of our schools in our leafier suburbs, but I have also shaken the hands of the headteachers of schools that are serving some of our most deprived communities, and dealing with children that have got lots and lots of pressures, families that have got lots and lots of pressures, and I think that that is recognised in how Estyn does its work. Can we go further in improving our own accountability system to reflect that? Yes, we can, and we're in the process of doing that, and I know that Estyn want to make sure that they are recognising the impact that good pedagogy and good schools bring to children.