Estyn has launched a public consultation seeking views on proposed changes to the way education and training providers in Wales are inspected. Feedback from the public consultation will be used to design a new inspection framework which will be implemented in 2010.
Employers, learning providers and senior professionals involved in shaping Wales’ workforce of the future will gather for a landmark conference in January 2009. The high-profile occasion will be hosted by the newly created independent advisory body, the Wales Skills and Employment Board (WESB), which advises the Assembly Government on priorities and on how skills, employment, and business support systems might be improved to meet the needs of employers and individuals across Wales. This event is by invite only but a full report of the conference will be available at a later date.
In September 2008, Estyn hosted a conference on literacy for over a 100 representatives from schools, local authorities, teacher training establishments, the Welsh Assembly Government and other interested parties. The conference focused on the findings of two of Estyn’s most recent reports on literacy – ‘Improving the learning and teaching of early reading skills’ and ‘Best practice in the reading and writing of pupils aged 7 to 14 years’.
The event will be by means of a 5-way video conference and discuss the following items: Estyn framework 2010, policy update on 14-19, Update on the skills qualifications and a presentation from Llandrillo College on their Beacon Award for College Engagement with Employers.
Universities in Wales are working successfully together on a number of collaboration projects. But there is scope to do more and, in some areas, only limited progress has been made. A report, published by the Auditor General for Wales, concludes that the full potential for collaboration in higher education – which can yield cost savings, widen teaching provision and increase research capacity – has not yet been achieved.
The report was commissioned to evaluate delivery of key skills qualifications at key stage 4 outside of the Welsh Baccalaureate context. The findings will inform the advice for the Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills regarding the introduction of revised GCSEs in 2010. The report was commissioned as part of Estyn’s remit.
First Minister Rhodri Morgan officially opened Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Llangynwyd, the first Welsh medium secondary school in Bridgend County Borough and praised the area’s council for ‘creatively solving’ the long standing lack of a Welsh secondary school.
The report "Working Futures" finds that despite the current crisis in both the world and the domestic economy, a more optimistic picture is projected for the labour market over the long term to 2017. Employment is projected to continue to rise over the decade as a whole, with the creation of 13.5 million job openings, of which two million will be new.
This report takes a critical overview of the impact of the Leitch agenda and assesses how the UK, and more specifically England, can move towards achieving the ambitious targets within a tight timescale. It does so in the context of the current economic climate which is very different from that in which Lord Leitch conducted the review, and should place skills development right at the top of the political and employment agenda.
Ed Balls has highlighted the success of a generation of children and teachers whose hard work has seen the educational gap between the least and most deprived communities narrow over the past decade. The Children’s Secretary pointed to figures that showed over ten years the percentage of children in the most deprived local authorities leaving school with five good GCSEs including English and maths had improved by 19.9 points, compared with 13.2 in the least deprived.
One hundred and thirty seven local authorities around the country have now agreed plans with the Government to transform their secondary schools which fall below the target of 30 per cent of pupils achieving five A* to C GCSEs, including English and Maths, Ed Balls announced.
