Darllenwch y dudalen hon yn Gymraeg
With the new school year in full swing, the Cabinet Secretary for Education has outlined her priorities and how children and young people will remain at the heart of education policy. She also welcomes Vikki Howells, the new Minister for Further & Higher Education to the Education Wales team.
Education Secretary, Lynne Neagle said:
“In my six months as Cabinet Secretary for Education I have been privileged to see the excellent work done in our schools and colleges. It is clear we all share the same priority, in always putting the interests of children and young people first in our decisions.
I’m very much looking forward to working with you all again this term, as I renew my focus on raising standards and attainment, continuing to improve attendance and ensuring the wellbeing of all learners.
Listening and talking to you is something I have really valued, in ministerial roundtables, on visits and at events. Last term this helped me in my decision not to press ahead with changing school term dates, providing additional support for the curriculum and ongoing work to simplify ALN implementation. And the value we place upon our public servants and your commitment to improving the lives of our learners is reflected in the Government’s decision to award above inflation pay rises.
The First Minister has set out her priorities for the remainder of the Government following a listening exercise during the Summer, with improving standards in schools and colleges high up the agenda.
Later this term I will set out clear priorities aimed at improving standards for all learners. This will focus on demonstrable improvements in literacy, and numeracy with well-being and equity at the forefront.
We are supporting schools to adopt innovative approaches to teaching numeracy and literacy and putting our literacy and numeracy framework on a statutory footing. This is alongside our Mathematics Support Programme which provides comprehensive teaching resources and activities for all learners.
Phase two of our Attainment Champions pilot, begins this month and will see more partner schools recruited to the scheme which shares innovative practices to improve the educational experiences for learners facing disadvantage.
I know there is a strong link between school attendance and attainment, our reforms can only succeed if children are in school.
We have seen an improvement in attendance, and there is plenty of good practice happening in schools. However, I know there is more we can do, and I will be making sure efforts are targeted towards the groups of pupils who we know are most likely to be not attending school, those from lower income families, secondary age children and pupils in key exam years.
This month marks the start of the final year of the initial implementation of the ALN system. I have witnessed incredible progress and commitment from the education workforce, and wonderful examples of schools, children and families putting the needs of every child first. There have been more than 10,000 statutory Individual Development Plans (IDPs) agreed in the past 12 months, an incredible testament to our workforce.
However, I know from what you and parents are telling me that we also face challenges in implementing ALN reform, which is why I have taken action, including commissioning an examination of the legislative framework to ensure it is delivering for learners.
I recognise the financial challenges many families face. This is why we have several schemes in place such as the School Essentials Grant to help low-income families buy uniform and sports kits. We are the only nation in the UK to offer all state primary schools a free school meal to children, which help learning and makes sure they have a nutritional meal. We all know a healthy school meal can help with learner concentration and wellbeing enabling them to achieve their full potential, which is why during this school year we will review the nutritional content of school meals.
I’m delighted to be joined by a new Minister for Further and Higher Education, Vikki Howells. Her appointment is part of the new Cabinet announced by the First Minister. The new team offers stability, draws on experience, and brings our collective talents together.
Alongside the Minister for Further and Higher Education, I look forward to working with Medr, the new commission for tertiary education and research which is now operational, over the next year on how we can improve post statutory education strategic planning, including increasing the numbers of learners in post 16 education.
I want to thank all of you for your continued hard work and commitment as we work together to ensure all learners are supported to achieve their full potential.”