Darllenwch y dudalen hon yn Gymraeg
As we head to Autumn half term, I would like to thank you for your work and your commitment to ensuring that all learners have the best opportunity to succeed. I would also like to use the opportunity to update you on progress to date.
As a government, we have made education a priority because we know the success of Wales depends on the success of our learners. Literacy and numeracy are fundamental to that success.
They are the building blocks on which engagement in the Curriculum for Wales, work and life are based, and they will play a central role in our efforts to raise standards and improve outcomes for all learners.
Before the end of last term, I wrote to every headteacher outlining our approach to raising standards through stronger support for schools, a renewed commitment to refining the curriculum and a clearer focus on measuring progress.
Since then, we have moved at pace from planning to delivery, publishing our Foundational Literacy and Numeracy Plan (FLNP), which represented an important first milestone in our journey of improvement.
We know there are some areas requiring urgent attention, and so I was delighted earlier this week to hold my first Ministerial Delivery Board, bringing together education partners from across Wales to turn our FLNP into action. Together with the Ministerial Headteacher Advisory Group and our social partners we will build coherence across the system.
Consultation on literacy guidance starts
Today, we’re launching the consultation on our new Literacy Progression guidance for learners aged 3-16. This is about giving teachers and leaders the clarity you’ve told me, time and again, that you want and need.
Practitioners and leaders are central to this work. Your insight into what works in classrooms and schools will help us develop guidance that is clear, practical and effective. I encourage everyone working in education to take part and help shape the final guidance, which is designed to supplement existing curriculum guidance and make clearer expectations for literacy learning.
In the same vein, after half term we will publish the consultation on additional numeracy detail and then, before Christmas, CAL:ON will publish its Guide to Phonics for Schools in Wales, which will support teachers to deliver phonics programmes effectively and with fidelity.
In addition, we have already begun development work on our new baseline assessment, so that from the moment a child starts school, we understand where they are and what support they need to move forward.
Making Wales’ future: A connected system for all learners
After half term, I’m looking forward to bringing headteachers together at our conference in November, to look at how we build a genuinely connected education system that works for every learner in Wales.
This will be an opportunity to engage you with the work that will take place on the review to strengthen the Curriculum for Wales, as well as how we can build a more sustainable model for ALN provision and support.
It is crucial that your knowledge and understanding of the realities of school life are brought to bear as we craft a new long-term vision for education in Wales.
A shared endeavour
There’s a lot happening, and a lot still to do. I won’t pretend otherwise: there are hard yards ahead, and difficult decisions still to make.
But Wales is a proud educating nation, with a skilled, dedicated and compassionate workforce and civic society that believes in the power of education to change lives.
The plan we’ve published, the consultations we’re launching, the board that’s now meeting, the conference we’ll hold in November: none of it means anything without the people who turn policy into practice in classrooms right across the country.
I look forward to continuing to listen to and learn from you as our plans develop.
Diolch o galon
