In February 2025, colleagues from East Carolina University (ECU) and the University of Central Florida (UCF) joined Welsh partners for a week-long international learning exchange focused on the development of Community Focused Schools (CFS) in Wales. With research, policy, and practice at the heart of the visit, and cultural experiences that brought hiraeth and cynefin to life, the week highlighted one core message: we share more similarities than differences, and global collaboration is essential for addressing today’s educational challenges.
Community Focused Schools are a key part of Wales’ programme for government. They emphasise strong partnerships with families, links with communities, and collaboration with multi-agency services to ensure every learner is supported. This approach plays a central role in reducing the impact of poverty, raising achievement, and strengthening pupil and family wellbeing across Wales.
The visit opened in Cardiff, where an engaging overview of Wales’ history and culture was brilliantly brought to life by Edward Jones, Headteacher of Pencoed Comprehensive School. Introductory sessions, including a presentation from the British Council, helped set the context before the delegation met with Welsh Government policy leads to explore how national strategies underpin Community Focused Schools.
Across the week, colleagues visited five diverse schools, Ysgol Pen Rhos, Clwyd Primary School, Ysgol Clywedog, Pencoed Primary School, and Maindee Primary School. They also had presentations from Wrexham, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, and Conwy local authorities. These opportunities offered a unique perspective on how Community Focused School approaches take shape in practice, both at school level and at a regional level.
Partnerships with Wrexham University and Swansea University added a strong research dimension to the visit, including a valuable contribution from Professor Janet Goodall on family engagement.
Throughout the visit, one powerful theme emerged: despite working in different systems, the challenges and hopes of education are shared globally.
Across Wales, North Carolina, and Florida, schools are striving to:
build meaningful family partnerships
engage with and serve their communities
collaborate with wider services to reduce barriers
respond to the effects of socio-economic disadvantage
create equitable opportunities for all learners
Recognising these shared challenges reinforced the value of international collaboration, and the belief that educational systems grow stronger when they learn from one another.
As Welsh Government guidance makes clear, Community Focused Schools aim to bring families, schools, and services together so every learner can thrive. This visit demonstrated that when educators work together across national borders, we move closer to realising that vision for all children.
Helping children across Wales improve their ability to read, write, listen and speak and improve their language skills in general is a subject that parents, teachers and education leaders across the country care deeply about. It is also a priority for the Welsh Government, who have made driving improvement in literacy standards central to their work on education more generally.
As part of that effort, the Welsh Government has published the Literacy Expert Panel’s agreed Principles for Language and Literacy in Wales and the Statement of Intent for Early Reading. These are:
A strong foundation in spoken language is essential for the successful development of learners’ literacy across all stages.
The teaching of literacy should be systematic, structured and explicit.
Making connections between listening, speaking, reading and writing is vital for supporting learners to learn, communicate and make meaning.
Effective language and literacy teaching enables learners to experience enjoyment, success and motivation.
Purposeful assessment is fundamental to support the informed, responsive teaching of language and literacy.
The Literacy Expert Panel is a group of experts who bring a mix of knowledge on the teaching and learning of literacy, relevant academic research and direct teaching experience from across Wales and the UK.
The Panel was set up by the Cabinet Secretary for Education in November 2024 to inform Welsh Government thinking on future guidance, professional learning, and wider priorities for strengthening literacy across Wales, and ensure this approach is both rigorous and grounded in real evidence.
For further information on the background of Panel members, watch the video below:
What is the Welsh Government doing to improve literacy standards?
These principles are already being put into practice across Wales. A key part of this work is the £8.2 million CAL:ON Cymru project, which is creating a national centre of excellence for literacy teaching. The programme draws on the strongest international evidence, including elements of approaches used in places such as Mississippi and New Zealand. Through CAL:ON Cymru, schools will receive bilingual, national support that includes help to strengthen learners’ spoken language skills, alongside more targeted assistance for those who need additional help to learn to read in upper primary and secondary school.
CAL:ON Cymru will publish guidance on effective phonics teaching, including advice on using systematic synthetic phonics programmes and on choosing the right phonics package for a school’s context. The project will also make available internationally recognised assessment tools that help schools understand learners’ specific literacy needs.
Alongside this, wider literacy grants continue to promote literacy through creativity and a love of reading, as well as providing focused support for reading and oracy in Welsh. This year, Wales is joining the other UK nations in marking the National Year of Reading. The campaign, Ymgolli/Go all in – launched earlier this month – builds on work already underway to help schools, learners and families develop lifelong reading habits and raise literacy standards. This shared national campaign aligns with Estyn’s enhanced focus on reading, where inspectors will work with all education providers to prioritise improving reading skills for all learners.
Dysgu, the new national professional learning body, will play a central role in taking this professional learning offer forward, ensuring support reaches every school. Close work with Local Authorities continues so that schools can access a coherent, joined up offer that builds on this national support.
It is vital that this work is done well. Experts and teachers have contributed extensively to the development of the approach. Wales now has a clear, evidence based national strategy that will support every school to equip learners with the literacy skills they need to unlock their education and to thrive throughout their lives.
Welsh Government’s Education Improvement Team (EIT) is still new – but our first year has been a busy one.
We were established to strengthen collaboration across the system, create space for high-quality professional dialogue, and ensure national priorities are shaped by the realities of schools and local authorities. Since then, our focus has been simple: listen carefully, connect insight across Wales, and ensure that we feed local intelligence into Welsh Government.
We have operated in this initial year as a very small team, with Alun Jones as Head of the team and our permanent Welsh Government lead, supported by secondees with experience in schools, local authorities and Estyn. We are currently recruiting for 2 additional secondees to join the team.
Here’s what we’ve been doing so far and what comes next.
Listening first: workshops with every local authority
Our spring workshops with local authorities were a crucial starting point. These sessions were designed as conversations, not briefings. They gave us a rich picture of local priorities, pressures and opportunities – and that intelligence is already shaping national work.
Two key themes stood out.
First, the feedback directly influenced the finalisation of the new school improvement guidance, published on 5 January 2026. The professional discussions around local improvement models were honest and practical. What was shared fed straight into the final guidance and helped ensure it reflects real system experience.
Second, our focused conversations about literacy revealed common challenges across Wales. Colleagues highlighted issues around speech and language on entry, reading skills across the curriculum, and the increasing recognition that strong literacy underpins learner wellbeing. These discussions reinforced something important: improvement priorities are interconnected. Literacy, wellbeing, inclusion and curriculum development cannot be tackled in isolation.
We fed this intelligence directly to relevant policy teams and discussed it in detail with Dysgu, the new professional learning and leadership body. This ensures that what schools and local authorities told us informs their next steps and future support. Your voice is actively shaping national responses.
Building a clearer engagement cycle
Alongside this, we’ve been putting structure around how we engage with the system. The aim is to create a predictable, purposeful cycle that reduces duplication and focuses time on meaningful professional dialogue.
This includes annual spring workshops with each local authority and a named EIT link officer to support ongoing local conversations and to keep national and local work connected. A key part of our engagement is supporting the twice‑yearly Education Improvement Network, where local authorities come together with Welsh Government and national partners to share learning and shape a coherent, joined‑up approach to school improvement within an inclusive education system.
We are also working closely across Welsh Government policy teams and with other national partners to keep engagement joined up and manageable.
Strengthening the national voice of school leadership
We have been supporting the Ministerial Headteacher Advisory Group – a group of serving headteachers who advise the Cabinet Secretary and ensure school leadership is represented at national level.
Over the course of the year, members of the team have also been happy to engage with a range of local and national school leader networks, something which we value greatly.
This engagement keeps national discussions grounded in current school practice and ensures policy is informed by professional expertise.
What happens next
We’re about to begin the next round of workshops with local authorities. These will build directly on last year’s learning and focus on shared priorities, emerging challenges and system improvement.
We are a new team, but the direction is clear. Our role is to connect local insight with national action and support sustainable improvement that is grounded in practice.
Thank you to everyone who has engaged with us so far. The first year has been full and we’re really excited about what’s to come.
Taking part in an exchange can bring long‑lasting benefits for both learners and teachers. It supports the Curriculum for Wales by giving learners valuable experiences across local, national and international contexts. These experiences help learners work towards the four purposes by introducing them to new environments, widening their horizons and encouraging them to see the world from different viewpoints.
Paris trip showcases the power of international experiences for young people
Picture of pupils/staff from Canolfan Amanwy
In June 2025, a group of pupils enjoyed an unforgettable Taith learning exchange in Paris. For many, it was their first time travelling outside Wales, and the trip offered a rare opportunity to explore a new culture, build friendships, and develop important life skills. Pupils visited world‑famous landmarks and spent meaningful time with their partner school, creating memories that will stay with them long after returning home.
Adam Goodman, Manager at Canolfan Amanwy, who applied for the funding and organised the visit, said:
“The visit has shown our pupils what they are capable of and given them a sense of achievement. Pupils with Additional Learning Needs very often miss out on these types of activities and this opportunity has been invaluable on so many fronts. It was a truly once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity that brought tears of joy to all involved, especially the staff seeing the pupils’ expressions as we moved around Paris, seeing things they had only seen in books or on TV.”
How can you get involved in an international exchange?
Taith is Wales’ international learning exchange programme. It offers opportunities for people to learn, study and volunteer around the world. Taith projects and exchanges aim to inspire participants and increase aspirations.
Pathway 1 funding supports international learning exchanges by providing grants for participants travelling from Wales to other countries, as well as those coming to Wales.
The Pathway 1 funding call is open until 18 March 2026. Applicants will receive a decision within four months of the deadline. Taith will also run webinars explaining who can apply, what activities are eligible and how to prepare a strong application. Further guidance can be found here.
Schools in Wales are also able to apply for TuringScheme funding, which also allows education providers to apply for funding that helps their students take part in study or work placements abroad. The deadline for applications for the Turing Scheme is 16 March 2026
You can find more information on the Turing Scheme on DfE Sector Comms YouTube channel.
Across Wales, schools are exploring how generative artificial intelligence (AI) can support teaching, learning and school improvement. As this fast‑moving technology becomes more prominent in our daily lives, our national approach is focused on one clear priority: helping learners and practitioners use AI confidently, safely and ethically.
Work is happening across Wales to embed AI in a way that strengthens the education system while keeping learners’ wellbeing at the heart of everything we do.
A collaborative, sector-led approach
Our national strategy is built on collaboration. We are working side‑by‑side with those who understand the education system best. This includes:
Local authorities
School and practitioner networks
Young people, including voices from the Keeping Safe Online Youth Group
Estyn
Global technology and online safety partners
Regulatory bodies, such as the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and Ofcom
This collaborative approach ensures that the development and use of AI in education is grounded in safety, ethics and equity – principles that are central to our vision for all learners in Wales.
The Curriculum for Wales (CfW) aims to empower learners to become ethical, informed citizens who can think critically, use evidence, and navigate digital tools responsibly.
A key part of this is the Digital Competence Framework (DCF), which supports learners aged3 to 16 to develop the skills needed to use technology:
confidently
creatively
safely
The DCF is currently being reviewed, and we are actively considering how a refreshed DCF can support effective teaching and learning about AI.. This evolution reflects the world our young people are entering, one where understanding digital systems is as essential as reading and numeracy.
These professional learning courses are designed to support you and your school by building confidence with emerging technologies, deepening your understanding of AI, and strengthening your digital and computing pedagogy. Through practical, hands‑on, bilingual sessions and high‑quality resources, we help you develop the skills and knowledge needed to teach key curriculum areas effectively and support learner progression in the classroom.
Understanding AI in schools: findings from Estyn
Estyn recently conducted a thematic review on AI in education, the review explored how schools are beginning to use AI and the emerging impact on teaching and learning, administration and school improvement.
Key findings
Reducing workload: AI tools can save significant time in lesson planning, resource creation and report writing.
Supporting personalised learning: teachers found AI helpful for meeting diverse learner needs, including those with complex learning profiles.
Pedagogy matters: the most effective use of AI happened where schools integrated it with strong pedagogical principles.
Early stages of adoption: many schools are still experimenting with AI and need further guidance and structured professional learning.
Hwb: access to digital tools and AI enabled services
Schools have free access to a secure digital platform through Hwb, which now includes several cutting‑edge AI tools such as:
Microsoft Copilot Chat
Google Gemini
Notebook LM
AI‑enabled learning tools, including Adobe Express and Microsoft Learning Accelerators
As part of our International Learning Strategy, we have developed an exciting partnership with the Confucius Institute at Bangor University to deliver weekly Mandarin lessons to our Years 3–6 pupils.
Introducing Mandarin reflects the school’s commitment to providing meaningful international language learning designed to broaden pupils’ horizons and embed an early understanding of global citizenship. Learners are introduced not only to spoken Mandarin, but also to Chinese culture, traditions, and global perspectives as they develop as ambitious, capable learners who are curious about the world and confident in engaging with different cultures.
The partnership has also supported staff professional development, increasing confidence in the teaching of international languages. Working with the tutors our staff have observed effective strategies and pronunciation techniques that inform their own classroom practice, better equipping them to deliver enjoyable, inclusive, and effective language learning.
The greatest impact, however, has been on our learners. We secured Taith funding which meant our Year 6 pupils visited Singapore and allowed them to use their Mandarin in real-life contexts. Seeing them apply their learning beyond the classroom was a humbling moment and reinforced the purpose and value of languages to them. For many, it was their first experience of how languages can truly “take you places”.
Alongside Mandarin, we also deliver French to our Junior Classes, ensuring pupils experience more than one additional language before they move to secondary school. We are clear this introduction is designed to reinforce key literacy skills—listening, speaking, pattern recognition, and memory—while helping learners make connections between languages and understand that languages are diverse, valuable, and accessible to everyone.
Ultimately, we aim to embed a love of languages across the school rooted in the belief that learning another language opens minds, builds confidence, and empowers pupils to see themselves as active participants in a global community. We are incredibly proud of all they achieve.
The Staff Wellbeing Service continues to offer free Professional Supervision for school leaders and managers in Wales. Supervision has a professional focus and is totally confidential. It is time dedicated to your role as an education leader, and will help you to improve your wellbeing.
Since 2020 they have supported nearly 2,500 school and college leaders with 99% recommending the service to a colleague or friend. Subjects that are explored in supervision can include:
Dealing with emotionally challenging aspects of your role
Balancing a demanding career with a healthy home-life
Your professional identity and the personal cost of doing your job
Managing tricky work relationships
Reconnecting with what’s great about a career in education
Supervision makes a real difference to the lives and wellbeing of managers and leaders. Studies show that supervision is associated with job satisfaction, improved emotional wellbeing and less burnout (Dawson et al, 2013).
Discover why supervision is essential for school leaders and managers and what to expect from a session, in this Q&A with Supervisor, Toby Cooper. Learn how supervision protects staff wellbeing, strengthens decision-making, and helps transform school culture for the benefit of pupils, teachers, and the wider community.
Gareth Morgans has been appointed to lead the national landscape review of ALN advocacy provision in Wales.Having recently retired as Carmarthenshire Local Authority’s Director of Education and Children’s Services, Gareth brings nearly four decades of experience spanning the classroom, 18 years as a primary headteacher, and senior local authority leadership.
This combination of classroom experience, school leadership, and strategic oversight means Gareth brings a uniquely comprehensive perspective to this crucial review. The review and its recommendations are important to children, young people and their families as the ALN system is built around person centred practice, putting learners’ voices at its heart.
We sat down with Gareth to hear directly about his plans for the review.
Q. What prompted this landscape review of ALN advocacy services in Wales?
Evidence from multiple sources highlighted systemic issues regarding provision of ALN advocacy in Wales. This included findings from the ALN legislative review, parent/carer surveys, and direct examples of families struggling to navigate the ALN system. Many families noted that they were unaware of their right to advocacy, or how to access advocacy services, although local authorities are promoting it. Good practice certainly exists, but there are inconsistencies across Wales that need addressing.
Q.What is ALN advocacy, and why is it so important for families?
In practical terms, advocacy means having independent, trained support to help share a learner’s views, wishes, and feelings about their education and specific needs. It means helping learners to understand their rights, supporting them to participate confidently in decisions about their ALN support and helping challenge decisions if they feel something isn’t right.
Crucially, advocates don’t work for the school or the local authority and are solely independent. Their role is to stand alongside the child or young person and their family, making sure their voice is heard and their rights are protected throughout the ALN process.
Q. How will you map what’s currently happening across Wales’s 22 local authorities?
The review follows a three-stage approach. First, a comprehensive mapping exercise of current practice across Wales, both in ALN and other sectors such as children’s social care. Direct engagement with all local authorities in Wales will be essential to build a full and robust understanding of what is being offered to our children, young people and their families in respect to advocacy. A review of the associated costs will also be needed to inform discussions and options for the future.
Second, desktop research into other models of advocacy provision and practice in Wales and elsewhere, meeting with key stakeholders and examining available evidence.
Third, individual meetings with key stakeholders e.g. local authorities, advocacy providers, Estyn, to hear about what’s working well and what needs improving.
This will lead to a report setting out what has been learned and areas for development, with clear options and recommendations for consideration.
Q.How will you ensure families and young people themselves shape the findings?
User voice is central to this review. Engagement with children, young people and their parents will be facilitated through a parent survey.
Research and reports from partners including Children in Wales, SNAP Cymru, Education Tribunal Wales will also inform the work. Learner and family experience of ALN advocacy will directly shape the report and recommendations.
Q. What are the early findings and emerging themes
Gareth: This is a complex area of provision. The ALN legislation places duties on local authorities regarding information and advice,avoidance of disagreements, disagreement resolution and independent professional advocacy for children and young people.
Understanding the ALN system and how to access support can be very confusing for children, young people, and their families. The recently published Additional learning needs (ALN): parent and carers toolkit goes some way to addressing this issue. However, more work is needed to ensure consistency of message across local authority websites and improvements in how information is shared.
A shared definition of what effective advocacy looks like is clearly needed. This will be developed through engagement with key stakeholders including local authority leads and advocacy providers.
It is also evident that in other sectors advocacy provision is regulated and regularly inspected and monitored to ensure that service users receive high-quality support. This is something to consider.
Advocacy provision also needs to move from being a last resort to being used earlier to support children and young people and their families. Advocates can ensure a learner’s voice is heard and that their wishes and feelings are respected from the outset.
Consistency in training requirements for advocates is another priority. Some practice in Wales have clear training requirements and service-specific frameworks ensuring quality and consistency. Questions around registration and quality assurance remain underdeveloped.
Finally, high-quality advocacy service requires proper investment. We need to attract and retain qualified, well-trained advocates and ensure robust support infrastructure around them.
Looking Forward
Q. What will the final report include?
The review report will provide a comprehensive map of current provision across each local authority, establish a clear and shared understanding of what high‑quality advocacy should look like, set out evidence‑based options and recommendations for improvement, and offer clear proposals for a defined information, advice, and advocacy offer for families.
The landscape review is currently underway, with findings and recommendations to be reported to the national ALN Delivery & Improvement Board and the Cabinet Secretary for Education at the end of March.
Gareth is clear that this isn’t simply an academic exercise, it’s a commitment to improvement, backed by strong ministerial support and driven by the voices of the education sector, families and learners themselves.
The history of Wales is a complex tapestry of different but overlapping stories and experiences that reflect the diversity of the nation’s people and communities. Some of these stories stretch back millennia. Others have more recent roots. Some are rooted in the land and geography of Wales. Others reach out across the globe. Understanding and valuing the diverse range of experiences of the peoples and communities of Wales can help us better appreciate what makes Wales what it is. It can help us see that diversity is a strength rather than a weakness.
Image: Corb Davies
The Curriculum for Wales seeks to ensure that children in Wales have rich, engaging and authentic opportunities to learn about, and understand this history.
To help achieve this, the Welsh Government set up our Expert Group in 2024 to advise on the creation of resources that would support and inspire schools in their teaching of Welsh history in all its variety. Our initial brief focused only on the development of a single timeline resource, but it was clear to us that much more needed to be done to fully empower educators and enrich learners’ understanding of Welsh history.
We have developed a vision statement for embedding Welsh History in the Curriculum for Wales:
To deliver a sustained and coherent offer of accessible and bilingual resources and professional learning, across the 3-16 continuum that will inspire and equip teachers and learners to explore and discover the breadth, richness and diversity of Welsh history in a local, national and international context through the Curriculum for Wales.
We have proposed the creation of an accessible and comprehensive platform of innovative and modern resources that will support and help enable impactful and engaging teaching of Welsh history. We want to see a package of high quality, bilingual resources that are easy for teachers to find and to use. Resources are needed that align with wider curriculum principles, enhance teachers’ knowledge and understanding and support them to design authentic and engaging learning experiences, both in and out of the classroom. All teachers know that good learning builds on direct experience, so history, like geography, is best learned when grounded in learners’ familiar environment – their cynefin.
We want the new platform to be a place where teachers can be inspired and enthused by the breadth and depth of Welsh history. We want a platform where they can consider new perspectives and viewpoints, and where they can find up to date, interesting and authentic resources that help them to inspire the next generation.
We hope that this will enable schools to build upon the many strengths that already exist in the teaching of Welsh history. The prizes awarded annually by Menter Ysgolion y Dreftadaeth Gymreig/Welsh Schools’ Heritage Initiative demonstrate the impactful teaching that is already taking place in schools across Wales. We want to enable schools to build upon their strengths and to share and reflect on the best ways of teaching Welsh history.
This vision is now starting to take shape. Adnodd (the National body responsible for resource development) has this week launched a dedicated Hanes Cymru Collection on Hwb. This subject-specific collection is arranged in a timeline format, providing a chronological framework and thematic collection to reflect Welsh history in all its richness and diversity. Working in close collaboration with Dysgu (the new National Professional Learning body), we are pleased to see that Adnodd is committed to bringing our vision for Welsh history to life.
We look forward to seeing this work continue to evolve and to supporting educators across Wales in delivering rich, inclusive, and meaningful Welsh history education.
The Curriculum for Wales Policy Group continues to meet monthly in locations across Wales. Workshops focus on the ongoing process of reviewing and refining the Curriculum for Wales Framework guidance, co-construction of supporting materials, and contributing to the work of Welsh Government’s partners where our work dovetails. Representatives of Adoption UK, Adnodd, Arad Research, DARPL, and Microsoft have all met with the Group over the last year.
They’ve contributed to work around curriculum and assessment design, enabling learning guidance, literacy and numeracy, and international languages.
We operate a reserve list to make sure the Policy Group remains representative of all types of schools and settings across Wales. If you currently work in a school or setting using the Curriculum for Wales and have a passion for working with others to co-construct solutions, please complete the Expression of interest form. We’ll contact practitioners on the Reserve list when a place becomes available. We are especially keen to hear from practitioners in pupil referral units (PRUs) and other providers of education other than at school (EOTAS), and those working in Blaenau Gwent, Ceredigion, Denbighshire, Merthyr Tydfil, and Monmouthshire
The current members are:
Jane Altham-Watkins, Y.G.G. Gellionnen , Swansea
Leon Andrews, Llanwern High School, Newport / Cardiff Met
Lisa Ashton, Llanidloes C.P. School, Powys
Shubnam Aziz, Mount Stuart Primary school, Cardiff
Rebekah Bawler, Risca Community Comprehensive,Caerphilly
Dawn Bayliss, Ysgol Merllyn, Flintshire
Suzanne Chamberlain, St. David’s Catholic Primary School, Torfaen
Kirsty Davies, Crownbridge Special School, Torfaen
