Welsh Government
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Framework to improve educational attainment unveiled

Education Minister Jane Hutt has recently launched Wales’ School Effectiveness Framework which will put children and young people at the heart of education policy and delivery in Wales.

The Welsh Assembly Government wants to see the whole education community - the Assembly Government, local authorities and schools - working together to improve children and young people’s learning, achievements and wellbeing for the benefit of society as a whole.

The Framework is the result of collaboration between the Welsh Assembly Government , local authorities, head teachers and other key partners and will play a central role in the development of future education polices in Wales.

The Framework has been under development for over a year and will be the focal point of four regional conferences taking place across Wales in the next four weeks.

The document will act as a tool for all schools to apply in their own circumstances. It will be used to create consistency and improve the performance of all schools in Wales.

The Welsh Assembly Government is working with the four education consortia of local authorities. Each consortium will be asked to identify schools to pilot the Framework from September 2008. A range of schools will be required including primary, secondary and special schools; urban and rural; church schools; schools operating through the medium of Welsh.

Specially trained headteachers or local authority school improvement professionals known as “associates” will be released for 25% of their time to work with participating schools.

Taking account of assessment of the pilot phase, the Framework will be rolled out to all schools from mid 2009.

Jane Hutt said:

This Framework is the result of fifteen months of consultation with authorities, schools and experts in the education profession. I want to see the learner at the heart of all Assembly Government education policy and I expect to see levels of attainment rise as the Framework develops and spreads examples of best practice here in Wales.

A total of £5.1m is to be made available over the next three years to develop and roll out the Framework. I am also making £500,000 available in each of the next three years to support applied educational research which will include monitoring and implementation of the Framework.

The Framework is a made-in-Wales policy which draws on the best international evidence on school effectiveness. It is not a strategy for failing schools it’s a strategy for all schools with all heads and LEAs engaging with the effectiveness framework as soon as possible.


Related Information

http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/?lang=en

http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/educationandskills/publications/guidance/schooleffectivenessframework/?lang=en

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