Education In Wales: Our National Mission
Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21Education in Wales:Our national missionAction plan 2017–21
AudienceThe school workforce, and those in other settings delivering theFoundation Phase, parents and carers, government and nationalpartners, including regional consortia, local authorities, governingbodies, workforce unions and diocesan authorities.ContentsOverviewThis plan of action sets out how the school system in Wales,including its sixth forms, will move forward over the periodup until 2021 to secure the effective implementation of anew curriculum. This will be supported by policies that willbe developed in partnership, based upon sound evidence andevaluated effectively at all stages. This document gathers togetheractions that are initiated by other Welsh Government publicationsor those of our partners.Action requiredNone – for information only.Further informationEnquiries about this documentshould be directed to:The Education DirectorateWelsh GovernmentCathays ParkCardiffCF10 .walesAdditional copiesThis document can be accessed from theWelsh Government’s website at gov.walesRelated documentsProsperity for All: the national strategy (2017); A curriculumfor Wales – a curriculum for life (2015); Qualified for life: Aneducation improvement plan for 3 to 19-year-olds in Wales(2014); Successful Futures: Independent Review of Curriculumand Assessment Arrangements in Wales (2015); TeachingTomorrow’s Teachers: Options for the future of initial teachereducation in Wales (2015)Mae’r ddogfen yma hefyd ar gael yn Gymraeg.This document is also available in Welsh.WG32363WG33030Digital ISBN 978 1 78859 603 9Print ISBN 978 1 78859 605 3 Crown copyright September 2017Ministerial foreword2Our reform journey6Our education system in 202110Key actions14A transformational curriculum17The four enabling objectives23Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 201540Conclusion42Further information44
Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21Ministerial forewordWe are committed to the success and well-beingof every learner, regardless of background orpersonal circumstance. Equity and excellence gohand in hand and we cannot have one at theexpense of the other. Geography, deprivationor childhood experiences should not preventlearners from reaching their potential.Our learners will be resilient, imaginative,compassionate and ambitious – they willaim high and achieve their goals.“The children and young people of todayare entering a fast-changing world that isincreasingly competitive, globally connectedand technologically advanced. Schools arehaving to prepare our young people forjobs that have not yet been created andchallenges that we are yet to encounter.This will require a renewed commitment toimproving both the skills and knowledge ofour young people, as we raise standards inour transformational curriculum. Educationhas never been more important. Educationreform is our national mission.Together, we are all responsible for ensuring thatevery young person in Wales has an equalopportunity to reach the highest standards.It is our duty to provide future generations with theskills and knowledge they need to play a full andactive role in their communities and wider society.Our learners should aspire to be the best. Thereforeit is critical that we do everything we can to supportthem, setting high expectations, so that we achieveour ambitions for our citizens and for our country.2To do that, we will require a high-quality educationworkforce that is vibrant, engaged and committedto continuous learning for all. Our teachingprofession, with an emphasis on strong leadershipand professional learning, will help deliver on thehigh expectations we all share for our learners,schools and education system.A nation’s economic prosperity, social cohesion andwell-being are built on the foundations of a strongand successful education system. That is why Idescribe our focus on raising school standards,reducing the attainment gap between differentgroups of learners and delivering an educationsystem that is a source of national pride andpublic confidence as our national mission.The commitment to raising standards for all isa government commitment. By working acrossboundaries we can be confident of a prosperousWales where education from the earliest age willbe the foundation for a lifetime of learning andachievement. This revised plan of action is designedto support the delivery of ‘Ambitious and Learning’,one of the key themes as set out in Prosperity forAll: the national strategy (2017). It is through theimplementation of the actions in this plan that wewill support all of our young people to make themost of their potential. We will build ambition andencourage learning for life, and equip ourchildren and young people with the rightskills for a changing world.It is clear to me, through my discussions across thecountry since becoming Cabinet Secretary forEducation, that there is shared optimism about theway forward. Many of our schools, their staff andyoung people already achieve very high standardsand there are examples of world-class practiceright across the country. We in Wales have muchto be proud of – but there is a recognitionthat, together, we can be even better. We can,and will, support all of our young people to makethe most of their potential.The building of our new curriculum is wellunderway and will underpin all of our educationreforms. New professional standards for teachers,strengthened initial teacher education (ITE)provision, formative assessment arrangements andour emerging National Academy for EducationalLeadership will support the implementation ofSuccessful Futures: Independent Review ofCurriculum and Assessment Arrangements inWales (2015) and ensure a seamless flow acrossour truly self-improving school system.This action plan builds on the 2014 publicationQualified for life: An education improvement planfor 3 to 19-year-olds in Wales and reaffirms ourambition that learners will enjoy teaching andlearning that inspires them to achieve in acollaborative and innovative education community.In delivering our new transformational curriculum,we will need to focus on the following four keyenabling objectives. Developing a high-quality education profession. Inspirational leaders working collaborativelyto raise standards. Strong and inclusive schools committedto excellence, equity and well-being. Robust assessment, evaluation andaccountability arrangements supportinga self-improving system.“ Our national mission is to raise standards,reduce the attainment gap and deliveran education system that is a source ofnational pride and confidence.”Kirsty Williams, Cabinet Secretary for EducationWithin these connected objectives are a range ofactions which will deliver a better school system forWales. Parents and carers across the country musthave confidence that their children attend schoolsthat are preparing them well for their future lives,led by teachers who are passionate and talented,and that deliver qualifications that equip them forpersonal, national and international challengesand opportunities.We are at a crucial point in our education reformjourney. On the one hand, there is no hiding ourcollective disappointment with the recentProgramme for International Student Assessment(PISA) results. While we acknowledge that PISAcannot measure everything, there is widespreadagreement that what it does measure is important.PISA reflects the skills needed to equip our youngpeople properly for the complex, connected andexciting world in which we live. It asks thequestions that employers demand we answer.On the other hand, and more encouragingly,the globally acknowledged assessor of educationsystem performance, the Organisation forEconomic Co-operation and Development(OECD), has given us some very clear messages.Put simply, they are urging us to hold our nerveand continue to work in partnership with the widereducation workforce towards the longer term. I amcommitted to fulfilling their recommendations andam confident we are heading in the right direction.We all want our children to be well-educated, safeand happy, to be treated fairly and benefit fromhigh levels of well-being. For many of our youngpeople, achieving those ambitions will require arenewed, collaborative focus across all of ourpublic services.Our national mission is ambitious, innovative andconfident as we work to deliver a reformed andsuccessful education system. By learning together,we can develop a better Wales.Kirsty Williams AMCabinet Secretary for Education3
Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21A nation’s prosperity, cohesionand well-being are built on asuccessful education system.45
Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21Our reformjourneyAs Wales embarks on a renewed vision of success for all learners, we can reflect on ourrich heritage and proud history for promoting access to education: from Griffith Jonesand his circulating schools in the eighteenth century; to the donations of the rural andworking classes that helped establish our universities and colleges; through to leadingthe way in publicly funded secondary education.Our transformational reforms are taking placewithin a challenging environment. This includescontinuing UK-wide austerity, the uncertaintiesassociated with Brexit, the technologicaltransformation of economic and working lives, andthe growing divergence in the qualification systemsacross the home nations. These are all challenges,and opportunities, that we can and must meet.Though these challenges are great, theyunderline that education reform is essential toWales’ future as a strong, prosperous and sociallycohesive society. We may be a small nation butour innovative approach, high ambitions andwillingness to work and learn with the best in theworld is attracting attention. We can be proudthat the international community is looking withinterest at what is happening in Wales, but thereis much more to be done.Since 2013, we have been open to reviewby the international expert community. Thatinvolvement will continue, and it is our intentionto invite the OECD to carry out further reviews atkey points along our national education reformjourney. Quite simply, to be the best we mustlearn from the best.In 2014, the previous Welsh Governmentpublished Qualified for life: An educationimprovement plan for 3 to 19-year-olds inWales. In the plan, we committed to buildingan improved, collaborative education systemfor Wales. Three years later it is now clear thatthe schools’ community and their partners havemade progress in several key areas. These includeimproved GCSE outcomes and a narrowing ofthe performance gap between learners frompoorer backgrounds and their peers.Our national mission does not stop at theschool gates. Our reform journey, focused onraising standards and reducing the attainmentgap, is further strengthened by improvementsto student support and the post-compulsoryeducation system. Our innovative approachwill ensure that all students are supportedwith their living costs, while also investing inour universities, and that it becomes easier forpeople to learn and acquire skills throughouttheir careers.We may be a small nation but our innovative approach, high ambitionsand willingness to work and learn with the best in the world isattracting attention. The Welsh approach considers every element ofthe education system.6Percentage of learners in Wales, in Year 11/aged 15 achievingthe Level 2 inclusive (five A*–C GCSEs/equivalent includingEnglish/Welsh and mathematics)LearnersinYear 11Age 15version*2011201220132014201520162016**Level 2(inclusive)50.151.152.755.457.960.359.8Level 2(inclusive)eligible for freeschool meals(eFSM)22.023.425.827.831.635.635.2% difference28.127.726.927.726.324.724.6* Calculated to be as close as possible to the definition in previous years.** 2017 verified data not published until December 2017.7
Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21In November 2016, the Cabinet Secretary forIn response, this document, Education in Wales:Education invited the OECD to examine the work Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21underway on education reforms and shine a light is our revised plan of action. It will support‘Ambitious and Learning’, one of the key themeson our progress to date. The OECD found that,as set out in Prosperity for All: the nationalsince their previous visit in 2014, progress hadstrategy, and will help to develop a school systembeen made in a number of policy areas and anoticeable shift had taken place in our approach that will instill in our learners an ambition to makethe most of their potential, lay the foundation forto school improvement – away from piecemeala lifetime of learning and achievement, and equipand short-term policy towards one guided bythem with the right skills for a changing world.a long-term vision.They found the Welsh reform journey wasincreasingly characterised by close workingbetween government and the educationsector, with a commitment to improvement‘visible at all levels of the education system’.The report recommended that key prioritiesfor government should be to: b ring further coherence across the variousreform initiatives, ensuring that this coherenceis evaluated at key points in the journey c ontinue the process of co-constructingpolicies with key stakeholders, making explicithow teachers, support staff, school leaders,local authorities, regional consortia and otherstakeholders each contribute to realising thevision for the Welsh learnerTo deliver our reforms across the entire system,we will need a bold commitment to effectivecollaboration along with integration of serviceswhere appropriate. This will include WelshGovernment, the teaching profession and thewider education workforce, our key partners inlocal authorities, diocesan authorities, regionalservices, Estyn, the Education Workforce Council(EWC), Qualifications Wales, higher educationinstitutions and others. Successful implementationwill require effective and honest engagementbetween all facets of the education system. We arecommitted to providing the conditions to enablethis to happen. In delivery we will also seek towork with the wider public service and third sectorwhere required. c ontinue the strengthening of Wales’school improvement infrastructure throughstrengthening the capacity of regional consortiaand the quality of their relationships withteacher education institutions f urther enhance the use of evidence and researchand its link to policy through continuing to investin building research and assessment capacity at alllevels of the system c ommunicate clearly about the Welsh educationreform journey, including ensuring that wecelebrate the successes that we have on the way.89
Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21Our educationsystem in 2021By 2021, our transformation will be well underway. Schools will have significant experience ofworking together to take the new curriculum forward, and our reforms to ITE and additionallearning needs (ALN) will be well established. Likewise, the growing contribution of theNational Academy for Educational Leadership will be generating future leadership capacityand the culture and principles of the self-improving school system will be further embedded.The Welsh education system three-tier modelWelsh GovernmentTier 1 Planning and policy making – through evidence-based collaboration. Managing models of accountability within the democratic process. Engaging with all tiers and supporting capacity-building for system improvement.Four regional consortia, local authorities, diocesan authorities, Estyn, QualificationsWales, Education Workforce Council (EWC), examination boards and higher educationTier 2 U sing their knowledge of schools and research to facilitate and support the sharing ofbest practice and collaboration to improve learner outcomes, within a self-improvingschool system.SchoolsTier 3 W orking together to provide the range of experiences for children, young people andprofessionals to enhance their learning and well-being.Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21It is our intention that our learners will: b enefit from experiences at school that willsupport them in becoming young adults that are: ambitious, capable learners, ready to learnthroughout their lives enterprising, creative contributors,ready to play a full part in life and work ethical, informed citizens of Walesand the world healthy, confident individuals, ready to leadfulfilling lives as valued members of society h ave relevant high-level digital, literacy andnumeracy skills b e increasingly bilingual with a strong graspof other languages.If our learners are to be developed in these ways,the teaching profession will be: h igh-quality, collaborative and driven bya deep understanding of pedagogy andsubject knowledge r esearch-engaged, well informed andlearning from excellence at local, nationaland international levels a ttractive, with high morale andprofessional satisfaction w ell supported by a range of learning supportprofessionals who can provide the additionalcapacity that is needed to meet the needs ofevery child o utward-looking and committed to raisingstandards within and between schools c reators of vibrant, warm and caringenvironments that inspire learning w ell led by leaders who will ensure thatevery teacher can improve through effectivecollaboration, innovation, professional learningand opportunities to provide professionalleadership to others.10If we are to achieve this for our workforce,our schools will be: e xemplifying the characteristics of effectivelearning organisations (see ‘Schools as learningorganisations’ on page 12) v ibrant, inclusive, open, connected, creativecommunity-based learning organisations,active in wider networks w ell led by education professionals who havethe intellectual and practical understandingof education leadership within our system,developed through a common national approachand supported by effective governance.To support our schools, our middle tier(local authorities and regional consortia) will: b e clear about their key roles as leadersof effective planning and providers ofintelligence into the system to enable all schoolsto play their part in improving learner outcomesand well-being b e knowledgeable about educational inequitieswithin and between partnerships/alliances andable to address them by moving knowledgeand expertise; they are key to facilitatingcross-sectoral and multi-agency collaborationto support those in greatest need w ork collaboratively across the whole ofWales to mobilise expertise and minimiseduplication of effort and cost – to do this,they will continue to operate at a regionalscale to build capacity and enable services totarget resources and activity effectively towardsschools working together b e well led by education professionals whohave the intellectual, practical and sharedunderstanding of education leadership withinour system – leaders will be driven by thecurriculum’s four purposes, provide good-qualityvision and build strong evolving partnerships.11
Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21For our schools and middle tier to be able togrow in the ways outlined above, our otherkey partners in the middle tier (such as Estyn,Wales Audit Office (WAO), Qualifications Wales,EWC) will: e xemplify the qualities of effective learningorganisations, learning from the best in theworld to support our national reform journey s eek to
Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21 Education in Wales: Our national mission, Action plan 2017–21 young people already achieve very high standards and there are examples of world-class practice right across the country. We in Wales have much to be proud of – but there is a recognition
BBC Homepage Wales Home BBC Local North West Wales Things to do People & Places Nature & Outdoors History Religion & Ethics Arts & Culture Music TV & Radio Local BBC Sites News Sport Weather Travel Neighbouring Sites Mid Wales North East Wales Related BBC Sites Wales Cymru Gogledd Orllewin Bar
Welsh Government and Nick Selwyn from the Wales Audit Office. Age Alliance Wales E-Bulletin working together to support older people in Wales. cydweithio i gefnogi pobl hŷn yng Nghymru. 22nd Edition: August 2017 Age Alliance Wales News Diary Dates Wednesday 27th September 2017 -CEO Summit, A
health related lifestyles and behaviours of adults living in Wales from the National Survey for Wales 2017-18. This includes one of the 46 National Indicators. The full questionnaire is available on the National Survey web pages. Additional tables can be accessed via StatsWales and the National Survey webpages. 53% In this bulletin
The right to adequate housing in Wales: Feasibility Report 2 The Housing Crisis in Wales 347 people sleeping rough on our streets (Statistics Wales - Feb 2019) 1/3 Only one third of us happy living near social housing (Tyfu Tai Public Perceptions Survey April 2018) 2,139 households in tem
around the 'prosperous Wales' goal fail to go beyond employment and GDP. The goals of 'a healthier Wales' and 'a more equal Wales' are generally well understood, but there is still potential for public bodies to think broader and more holistically about all aspects of our economic, environmental, social and cultural well-being.
sentenced and unsentenced prisoners. Prison capacity in Wales has steadily increased since 2010; the prison population in Wales was 4,291 at the end of April 2018. (Chapter 2) Prisons in Wales are performing less well than prisons in England on a range of prison safety measures.
Wales’ ecological footprint is estimated at 10.05 million global hectares (gha), roughly 5 times the size of Wales, or 3.28 global hectares per capita (gha/c). Wales’carbon footprint is estimated at 34 Mt CO2e, or 11 t CO2e per capita. These figures are not directly comparable to
Andreas Wagner†‡ Historically, one of the most controversial aspects of Darwinian evolution has been the prominent role that randomness and random change play in it. Most biologists agree that mutations in DNA have random effects on fitness. However, fitness is a highly simplified scalar representation of an enormously complex phenotype .
