Agenda item

Report by the GwE Assistant Director.

To accept and approve the content of the report along with the high-level priorities noted.

DECISION

To accept and approve the content of the report along with the high-level priorities noted.

Discussion

Presented - Assistant Director's report presenting information to Joint Committee members as regards the current position of schools and PRUs in terms of addressing the renew and reform agenda, based on the evidence gathered by GwE School Improvement Advisers as part of their work in supporting schools during the autumn term 2021. The Joint Committee was asked to accept and approve the content of the report along with the high-level priorities noted.

The Chair of the Management Board confirmed she and chief officers fully support the reform journey, and that they appreciate the comprehensive overview from the Managing Director and his team, and also input from other officers in Management Board meetings regarding opportunities to support curriculum delivery.

It was noted a number of challenging elements are currently under way. It was asked is there anything the Joint Committee should be especially mindful of at this point. In response, the Managing Director noted: -

·         The need for everyone to be aware of the significant shift from a national curriculum, whereby everyone is relatively uniform in its delivery, to a local curriculum that is purpose led, and the importance of governors and leadership in schools leading this offer in their communities and for their pupils, and that they communicate this clearly.

·         School leadership is so important in defining the provision for pupils to ensure they succeed in their local community and this has not, potentially, been fully realised.

·         Another challenge for politicians and officers is that provision will be different in schools, and that comparison of schools will also be slightly different.  

·         Even though leadership needs to be clear about the rationale for its local offer, communities are completely different in terms of language and culture etc. There will be some core common elements, but other elements would make the offer in different areas unique, specific and personal to those pupils and their journey to the world of work, education or training.

·         We have the task of educating ourselves, and officers in their scrutiny reports will need to explain and give a context to the change in culture and the difference between school offers.

Concern was expressed as regards the capacity of the infrastructure to cope with all the pressure in moving forward e.g. the curriculum and the ALN Transformation Programme, and it was asked whether we should push back a little, and state it is not 'business as usual' in education. In response, the Managing Director noted: -

·         There are priorities agreed on a national level and which must be adopted on a local level. It is agreed there is tension, and the role of GwE is to assist schools to improve and put things in place, so that adopting the transformation does not take place between 31 August and 1 September, but rather over a period of 2-3-4 years.

·         The shift in the ALN Transformation Programme is considerable and places the burden on a school level, and in bringing everything together it is key that support services are at the forefront in terms of schools' needs, and are preparing for the next steps.

·         As the pandemic has had more of an impact on some schools than others, it is important to break these elements down into smaller parts, to enable schools in different situations to cope.

·         Estyn's decision to double the number of inspections and reduce the notice period to 10 days presents a higher level of concern in the system. 

·         GwE is discussing the definition of 'readiness' with Welsh Government.  We were ready to commit for September in the secondary sector, but the quality of the offer needs to be built into this, in order to be able to offer something better than what is happening at present.

·         Taking everything into account, leadership, well-being and taking care of middle and senior managers in schools as well as colleagues in local authorities, people are under considerable strain. The agenda would have been challenging without the pandemic, but with the pandemic is it extremely challenging, and this is why the support element is so important.

·         The important question to ask is this: how does the narrative actually look when the regulator asks schools to prove what they have done, and how empathic will this be, given the context of the last 2 years?

Even though there is value in a local curriculum that reflects the needs of the local community, it was noted the key element in all this is the blended leadership between leaders and school governors, in order to ensure consistency as learners transfer from the primary sector to the secondary sector. Otherwise, considerable problems could arise as pupils from a number of different primary schools start in Year 7 without having had the same experiences and opportunities to develop the same set of skills.  

It was noted chief officers are doing their utmost to assist headteachers to be as ready as possible for 1 September, and are constantly conveying the message to Welsh Government and Estyn that it is not 'business as usual' in education. It was explained headteachers have been given opportunities to engage at a convenient time and pace within the schedule set for the beginning of September. It was added headteachers feel frustrated as they are constantly being pulled back to deal with day to day operational matters due to the pandemic despite the considerable issues on the horizon, especially challenges in managing pupil behaviour as a result of the trauma caused by the pandemic.

It was noted GwE is doing exceptional work in continuing to support the development of the new curriculum.  

It was noted the readiness of the profession for the new curriculum is not the only concern but the readiness of pupils too, and concern was expressed this has not been discussed on a national level.  It was explained the 2 years of disruption to education has affected pupils' social development, and their ability to receive face to face education. The chief officers intend to continue to discuss this with Welsh Government, and it is also an issue of which to be mindful when Estyn undertakes inspection.