8. Statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language: Adnodd — Supporting the Curriculum for Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:28 pm on 28 March 2023.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 5:28, 28 March 2023

I thank the Member for that range of questions. I think some are more germane to the statement than others. I think it is important to avoid duplication. I think we achieve that principally by this company having an entirely different function from, for example, the consortia, which she mentioned in her question. But it's obviously a legitimate point for her to raise. I can assure her that the activity that this body will be undertaking isn't duplicative. Indeed, it's intended to take on functions that are currently discharged, I would suggest, less than strategically across the network of providers. So, the whole point of this is to bring together the range of commissioning activities, including, by the way, from the Welsh Government, because it is important, as she says, to make sure this is streamlined and focused. I think the opportunity that establishing Adnodd represents is for it to be a focal point for creators, practitioners and other bodies in the education system to look to this body in order to give direction and obviously also to commission resources. What teachers have said is that they want to work with an organisation where their voice can be heard and their experience can help shape the resources that are available, so she's right to make the point that the voice of teachers is important in this, and I can assure her that both in my initial letter to the board and in my discussion with the chair I've emphasised how important it is for the new body to be seen as the go-to body for practitioners when they're looking for resources.

One of the key advantages in how we've structured the roles and responsibilities of Adnodd is to make sure, which is implicit in her question, that we have that wide range of materials that are consistent with the curriculum, so that we don't have publishers who are looking to take advantage of a new opportunity in Wales, but perhaps don't actually understand the principles of the curriculum. We want to move away from that, and to make sure that resources are available in Welsh as well as in English.