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This Spring, the first ‘national conversation’ of its kind will see practitioners discuss lessons learned during the pandemic; how to support learning in the next phase; and how to ensure their learners progress. Experiences will be shared, and findings will help to inform national policy.

Short films to spark the conversations will feature leading academics Robin Bannerjee, Graham Donaldson, and Louise Hayward, along with Mike Griffiths, a former practitioner deeply involved in the development of the Curriculum for Wales.

The potential and opportunities offered by the new curriculum to inform approaches to teaching and learning in the next phase will be a sub-theme throughout.

A representative from every school and setting will be able to attend. That person does not need to be a senior leader, but will be capable of instigating similar conversations back at their school, and feeding back from the event. Booking is via Regional Consortia, which will fund each participant for 2.5 hours for attendance, and importantly to share the learning with colleagues in school.

Inevitably held online, practitioners will join virtual discussion groups – bringing together ideas and perspectives in sessions led by fellow practitioners.

These ‘national conversations’ will also be a useful test-bed for work to develop a national network of practitioners and stakeholders to take curriculum realisation forward. The sessions will give useful insight into the reach and accessibility that virtual events can offer, and how a “hybrid” model of face-to-face and virtual events could provide a template for a national network.

An extract below from the facilitator briefing on the ‘conversations’ provides more insight into what these events hope to achieve:

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New guidance has been developed to help schools use British Sign Language (BSL) in their curriculum design. It is available to view now in draft, and the consultation on its contents runs until 29th March.

BSL could be taught as a third or subsequent language, like French or German,  as part of a school’s curriculum for all children, as well as BSL provision for deaf and hard of hearing children.

As featured on this blog in December, the guidance will:

‘ …show how BSL can contribute to learners’ development towards all four purposes of the curriculum. It can, for example, encourage learners to step beyond familiar cultural boundaries and develop new ways of expressing and negotiating meaning in an inclusive deaf and hearing global society, addressing issues such as disability rights, minority languages, recognition of BSL and communication through technology. The additional guidance offers an opportunity to develop provision in the context of wider education reforms in Wales, such as equity, well-being, teaching and leadership.’

Your views are welcomed.

A BSL version of the consultation is available on YouTube.

Also see: Instructions for submitting BSL consultation response.

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A revised accountability system and framework for school improvement is seen as crucial if the new curriculum is to be successfully realised in schools.

Now, after extensive discussion with heads, education consortia and others, new school improvement guidance has been released for consultation.

The new draft guidance aims to:

• strengthen the effectiveness of school self-evaluation and improvement planning
• replace the national categorisation system with a support process that doesn’t involve publishing school categories
• clarify how evaluation and improvement activities will be separate from the accountability system
• clearly assign roles and responsibilities for each contributor to the self-improving system

This is an important milestone on Wales’ education reform journey, with significance for those beginning to work with the new curriculum in schools.

Views are welcome; the consultation runs until 15^th March 2021.

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Today I published the Curriculum for Wales Implementation Plan – a milestone in our reform programme and an important step on the journey towards achieving our transformational Curriculum for Wales. I want to give you a sense of what’s in the Implementation Plan, and why we’re publishing it now.

But before I set that out I want to let all practitioners know that I absolutely understand the context in which it is being revealed. I know that everyone in the education workforce remains under real and continuing pressure, working in extraordinary circumstances to continue to do the best for learners. I want to thank each and every one of you for your continued adaptability and resilience.

As you’ll know, in October we published Curriculum for Wales: the journey to 2022. It is a guide to help plan curriculum development activities in the run-up to the rollout of the Curriculum for Wales for Primary and Year 7 learners in September 2022.

The Implementation Plan builds on that. It sets out what Welsh Government, Education Consortia, Local Authorities and Estyn will do to support schools and settings as we move towards our new curriculum together. It includes clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and actions for each of those partners so you know what you can expect to see from each part of the wider system in the coming months and years.

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When you see your own job advertised, as I recently have, you know the times they are a-changing. Indeed they have for all of us this year – it’s been a very strange one. As I wish you a peaceful Christmas, I’d like to pay tribute to you all.

This year I have witnessed remarkable strength and fortitude. Your resolve and creativity in taking lessons to our learners throughout the Covid days has been remarkable. You have been strong when often that hasn’t been easy. You’ve been even more crucial to sustaining our communities, and this year I think the wider population has come to understand that far more clearly. You are more valued than ever. Thank you for the wonderful work you do.

During the year I know that many – certainly those in primary and year 7 – have been thinking about ways in which the new curriculum will be brought to life in your schools. For me it feels as if the new curriculum was almost designed to give us the flexibility and positive framework to respond to the current circumstances. The new emphasis on Health and Well-being, the digital competence framework, the opportunity to bring perspective by looking at stories with real relevance to learners, they all feel like symbols of our time.

So as we move towards a better year in 2021 and I prepare to hand over to my successor in May, I’m thinking very positively about the curriculum, the wider education reforms that will support it (yes including accountability), the future for our profession, and the future for our learners. You are at the heart of all this.

Thank you all, take care and have a happy Christmas.

Steve Davies, Director for Education, Welsh Government.

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The Curriculum for Wales is designed to offer teachers flexibility and agency within a national framework; it sets out that all children should have a broad and balanced education, and make continued progress from age 3 to 16.

As part of the new curriculum, British Sign Language (BSL) can be taught as a third or subsequent language, like French or German. This means that BSL could form part of a school’s curriculum for all children, as well as BSL provision for deaf and hard of hearing children.

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The Four Purposes of Curriculum for Wales (See page 23 of the Curriculum for Wales Guidance) embody a vision of education which incorporates the importance of learner well-being. Promoting learner well-being has been given added urgency by the impact on learners of the Covid-19 pandemic. Every practitioner can contribute significantly to the mental, emotional and social well-being of learners through their use of assessment in the classroom.

Well-being is more fundamental than immediate feelings of satisfaction: it encompasses developing as a person, flourishing, being fulfilled and contributing to the community. As the word suggests, it is concerned with ‘being’ at the present moment as well as ‘becoming’.

Three terms – affiliation, autonomy and agency* – usefully summarise interrelated characteristics of classroom cultures and practice that are fundamental to promoting well-being. As practitioners use assessment to support individual learners on an ongoing, day-to-day basis, and identify, capture and reflect on their progress over time [Guidance p224] they can promote affiliation, autonomy and agency through carrying out the mutually complementary responsibilities which the Guidance [p227] envisages for practitioners and learners.

Affiliation refers to the learner’s engagement as a member of a school community which supports progression in learning and a shared culture and ethos of respect for all. Respect includes recognising the right of children to have their voice listened to as they take part in school and classroom activities, including using assessment to review and plan their learning. This is particularly applicable in a curriculum which recognises that progression along the learning journey can follow different pathways within a common route map.

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Routes for Learning (RfL) materials are designed to support practitioners in assessing learners with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD).

Alongside the development of the new curriculum, practitioners and academic experts have updated the RfL materials, which were published in July, 2020.   They consist of:

• Routemap
• Exemplification videos
• Assessment booklet
• Guidance

That work continues as professional learning and exemplar materials are developed to help practitioners use the new materials successfully. However at this stage feedback is needed to help complete the work, so a virtual event has been arranged:

On 2 December, practitioners are invited to preview the Professional Learning Materials and provide feedback.

Practitioners who would like to attend can request a place by emailing assessment@gov.wales   (with school/ setting and role details) before 25 November. The event is likely to start at 2.00 p.m. and last for two hours.

These are busy times, so practitioners unable to attend can provide feedback or suggestions to assessment@gov.wales

In a previous item on this blog, practitioner Aron Bradley described a feedback event earlier in the development process when practitioners were able to meet in person.

A call for Exemplification videos

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So Mark, how did the switch of roles come about – from Headteacher to ‘Professional Advisor’?

I was previously a ‘pioneer’ for digital and Maths and Numeracy, and have done a lot of work on collaboration. That might explain why I had a phone call out of the blue last January inviting me to help develop professional learning resources for teachers – to help schools prepare for the new curriculum.

I discussed it with my chair of governors. They felt it was an opportunity for my own professional learning as well, and agreed to support the secondment.

Q: You’re a fan of the new curriculum then?

Absolutely. The new curriculum brings schools the opportunity to be creative, to develop learners’ understanding in more flexible ways and to modernise the way teachers work in the digital age. I think it’s brave and teachers will appreciate the difference.

Q: So if you have a mantra, what is it?

We need to work together in schools! Collaboration is key. We re-invent the wheel too much in Wales.

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At Swansea PRU we teach a range of learners from Foundation Phase through to KS4, all of whom have social, emotional, mental health or behavioural difficulties. The impact of Covid-19 has led to some of the greatest and fastest changes in what and how we teach our pupils that I have ever experienced, and probably the most challenging 6 months of my career.

As we start the 20/21 school year, we need to assess how the events of recent months have impacted on the well-being of our pupils, and to plan for how we can support their well-being, resilience and mental health as we move forward into the unpredictable year ahead.

We’ve tried our best to engage all learners, and whilst we may not have succeeded with every pupil every time, we’ve learned so much along the way. The creative strategies that teachers and associate staff developed during lock down have been inspirational. Necessity has driven a focus on engagement, well-being and shaping learning to meet our pupils’ individual needs and circumstances.

The new academic year will see us work together to implement the ‘new new’ learning environment in response to Covid. But alongside that we’re also planning to move into our new purpose-designed building at the start of 2021. Concerns and feelings of anxiety are counterbalanced by a sense of excitement and opportunity.

Before I tell you more about that, let’s look at how the new curriculum will help pupils at Swansea PRU.