"I am writing to introduce a monthly electronic newsletter aimed specifically at practitioners in the Foundation Phase and Primary sector. This newsletter is being produced by the Department of Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS). I am keen that you are not inundated with paper and unaligned communications and so this electronic communication will be one of the main vehicles with which DCELLS will communicate with you from now on. I hope you find the material useful and I encourage you to let us know how we can improve the newsletter. If you require further information on any news item, please do not hesitate to contact us”
Chris Tweedale, Director of Children Young People and School Effectiveness Group, Welsh Assembly Government
Education Minister Leighton Andrews has unveiled joint plans between the Welsh Assembly Government and the Welsh Local Government Association to radically change the way school capital programmes are organised and funded in the future. Summary document
A major independent review of how education funding in Wales is allocated to schools, colleges and universities was announced in January by the Education Minister Leighton Andrews. In February, the first stage of the review was awarded to the consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to look at the costs of administering education in Wales.
A major consultation about placing duties on the Welsh Assembly Government in respect of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), has today been launched by Education Minister Leighton Andrews and Deputy Minister for Children Huw Lewis. View the consultation
This document provides guidance for governing bodies and headteachers on issues relating to implementing or changing a school uniform and appearance policy.
A new website called ‘Pupil Voice Wales’ has been launched for children, young people and adults in educational settings in Wales. The purpose of the web site is to allow children, young people and staff to share information, post comments, ask questions and publish case studies about their involvement in decisions that affect them in learning settings across Wales. The new website
Baden Powell Primary School in Tremorfa has become the 1000th school to participate in the Welsh Assembly Government’s Free Breakfast initiative. First Minister Carwyn Jones and Education Minister Leighton Andrews joined pupils at the school’s breakfast club to see how they are benefitting from the scheme and enjoying a healthy start to the day.
Deputy Minister for Children Huw Lewis made his first speech on the subject of play at a conference in Cardiff organised by Play Wales. In his opening address, Huw Lewis stressed the importance of the new duties that will be placed on local authorities to provide opportunities for play as part of the new Children and Families (Wales) Measure which received Royal Approval earlier this month.
In 2008/09, 6.8 per cent of half-day sessions were missed through authorised and unauthorised absence, an increase from 6.7 per cent in 2007/08. Boys and girls had the same rate of both overall and unauthorised absenteeism.
The first all-Wales survey of bullying in schools took place in the summer, 2009. This gathered information from over 7,000 children and young people. The aim of the research was to establish the different types of bullying going on in schools and their frequency.
This report presents the findings from the qualitative evaluation of Flying Start, which examines the user experience and outcomes of Flying Start for families.
Most schools, colleges and other education and training providers are performing well, according to the Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales 2008-2009. Over the last twelve months there has been improvement across all sectors and inspectors have seen more ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ work than ‘poor’ or ‘unsatisfactory’.
This report looks at how schools are tackling child poverty and disadvantage in Wales. It draws on evidence from the three Estyn reports on the RAISE initiative that were published in 2007, 2008 and 2009, and from inspection reports on schools and local authorities.
The website is targeted at 3-19 year olds and provides a range of flexible interactive learning resources to encourage young people to use and apply the Olympic and Paralympic values in learning through use of games, factsheets, films and news articles.
This circular sets out primary initial teacher training intake targets for the Centres of Teacher Education for 2010/11.
If you are interested in content that is relevant to the post 11 sector, please read the weekly post 11 Dysg newsletter
The school curriculum for Wales
School Term and Holiday Dates 2009-10
National Grid for learning Cymru
