When talking to practitioners, I am often told of the excellent professional learning (PL) available, but I am also told of the difficulties some have in finding the ‘right’ type of PL for them. I have listened, and acted, on those concerns.

I am pleased today to launch the new National Professional Learning Entitlement.

This brings together a package of professional learning for all practitioners, so that everyone, wherever they may be based, can benefit.

Not only will the Entitlement make it easier for practitioners to access programmes and experiences, but importantly, it sets clear expectations about what all education professionals in Wales must be entitled to. If that entitlement is not currently in place in a particular area, we will work at pace with partners to improve the offer. It will be a ‘live’ document – refined and improved upon as we continue to make progress.

I am clear that our national offer must be consistent and of the highest possible quality. We will therefore shortly introduce a new validation process to ensure all national professional learning is quality assured and recognised.

A new cross-regional website was also launched this week. The creation of this website is significant – it shows that we are breaking down barriers to collaborative working.  The site will continue to develop, providing universal access to further opportunities and professional learning resources.

The new validation process and the new cross-regional website are important steps towards a consistent, verified, highly regarded and available offer to all.

The world’s highest-performing education systems have vibrant, engaged practitioners who are committed to continuous learning. The Entitlement we are publishing today is a further step in our efforts to support our practitioners to be lifelong professional learners that enhance their own practice in order to motivate and inspire learners across Wales.

Finally, it’s important to me that I hear directly from as many of you as possible.  Every month I host a roundtable with heads and leaders in the education sector.  If you haven’t participated, I’d very much like to hear from you. Email dysg@gov.wales

We at Social Finance have been commissioned by the Welsh Government to carry out research into the data and information needs and uses in the school system in Wales. We have been speaking to stakeholders across the school system, to understand how these needs differ across stakeholder groups, for the three main purposes of self-evaluation and improvement planning, accountability and transparency. Our goal is to provide the evidence needed to help build a balanced system, in which quality data and information is available and used effectively – in a way that works for schools and wider stakeholders’ own unique settings and contexts.

The project will support the implementation of Welsh Government’s new framework for Evaluation, Improvement and Accountability, as set out in the School Improvement guidance.

So far we have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders including; headteachers, learners, parents, Local Authorities, Diocesan Authorities, Careers Wales, Welsh Government policy teams, Regional Consortia, Estyn and Qualifications Wales, amongst others.

We are now in the final stages of this research and have developed a draft set of recommendations to test with key stakeholders including, importantly, schools.

We would therefore like to invite your school to share its views about our draft recommendations via a live Webinar.

We are inviting those working within schools and alternative provision in Wales to one of our live ‘Data Ecosystem Webinar’ sessions to give their feedback. This is open to headteachers, others in strategic and leadership roles including governors, and teaching staff across all maintained settings in Wales.

We will be holding two 1-hour virtual webinar sessions in September, where we will present our recommendations. These will run:

• Session 1: 28/09/22 from 17:00-18:00
• Session 2: 30/09/22 from 10:00-11:00

During the session, for each recommendation we will outline:

• The purpose of the change, including the introduction of any new data or information type
• Any changes this may have on how you currently collect, analyse, and communicate data at the local level

After each recommendation, we will pause to gather feedback through a live poll. We will also ask you to complete a survey following the webinar session to capture any further thoughts.

The closing date for the follow-up survey will be 19:00 30/09/22.

Once we have finalised our recommendations, a final report will be presented to the Welsh Government and will be published on the Welsh Government research web pages. They will consider our recommendations and, in due course, will set out for stakeholders how they will be responding to our findings.

If you would like to join a webinar then please visit the Events page on Hwb and log in to sign up. Admittance to the event will only be granted to those who have registered. Please note that these sessions will run bilingually.

As the new academic year begins, the Camau i’r Dyfodol project enters phase 2 of research and evidence gathering. Key to this new phase of activity is the formation of a co-construction group, consisting of schools from across Wales and wider education sector partners, with support from researchers at University of Wales, Trinity St David, and Glasgow University.

The group will draw upon the experience of schools and partners to co-develop evidence-based approaches and resources that will enhance understanding of learning progression within the context of the new curriculum. This will include shaping future National Network Conversations on progression and assessment.

We are looking for around 30 schools, representative of the sector here in Wales, to participate in the group. All schools are welcome to apply.

See full details on the group, its activities and the benefits of joining in the FAQ section below. If your school would like to participate, please complete this electronic form.

Recruitment for the co-construction group will close on 30 September. 

The end of a university year is much like the end of a school year: a time of farewells and of feeling proud. Whether in a nursery or a higher-education setting, being able to look back and reflect on your learners’ development over the past year is one of the pleasures of being an educator.  My reflections this year, as an initial teacher-educator, have led to a sense of wonder. Without a doubt, education in Wales has come a long way since I trained as a teacher, and it is such an exciting time for this newest cohort of beginner teachers to enter the teaching profession.

The Curriculum Wales framework tells us that the principles of progression provide a mandatory requirement of what progression must look like for learners. They describe what it means for learners to progress, and the capacities and behaviours practitioners must seek to support, regardless of a learner’s age or stage of development.

As schools explore the ways in which the principles of progression apply to their learners across the 3-16 continuum, they can use these principles to support curriculum and assessment design along with their evolving understanding of progression.

One example can be found within their newly introduced Lifelong Learning lessons for year 7 learners (part of the provision within the Health and Wellbeing Area), which seek to ensure that purposeful life-skills have a curriculum focus. Leaders from across the areas began by discussing the essential skills which could support this cohort early on in their secondary education; learners were also given the opportunity to offer their views as to which skills they felt needed to be developed. As a result, the provision for Lifelong Learning began with a focus on developing oral communication skills, primarily to improve learner confidence in speaking to an audience.

Later in the year, as the school set about their evaluation and improvement activities, it came to light that learners were not only being supported in the development of their confidence, but were also making natural connections between their learning experiences in Lifelong Learning and their learning in Welsh and English lessons (where they were being asked to give presentations and carry out groups tasks). In discussions with learners, school leaders were told how they felt that their confidence was developing which was allowing them to make progress in their language lessons; their articulation of this evidenced their increasing effectiveness as learners. In addition, teachers within Language, Literacy and Communication noted that they were then able to focus on the refinement of language skills as learners were generally approaching the tasks with much more willingness.

It introduces a robust self-evaluation system with schools identifying strengths as well as areas for improvement. That self-evaluation will be supported by the ‘National Resource: evaluation and improvement’ and improvement partners. The new approach encourages peer review and has learner progression and well-being at its heart.

Requirements relating to on-entry assessment, developing a shared understanding of progression, transition from primary to secondary school, and sharing information with parents are all included in the new legislation.

The Supporting Learner Progression Assessment Guidance and the Summary of Legislation guidance on Hwb has been updated to reflect the legislative changes.

New supporting materials have been published to support curriculum and assessment design in schools and settings. They build on the Curriculum for Wales guidance and new school improvement guidance, and set out practical support for curriculum development, quality assurance, and self-evaluation.

Now a new three-year project, Camau I’r Dyfodol, will help practitioners grow that  meaningful understanding, helping it evolve as the curriculum evolves. Launched this month by Jeremy Miles, Minister for Education and Welsh Language, it fulfills a commitment to make ongoing national support available for developing progression and assessment.

National Network conversations, which create spaces for practitioners and partners to reflect on progression and assessment in the context of their own practice and share experiences and approaches, will be a key part of the project’s work. The first set of conversations began last month, and these will continue into the new academic year