Estyn identifies and supports priorities for education and training

Early indications from the Chief Inspector’s Annual Report 2021-22 show that the education and training sector in Wales is continuing to deal with the effects of the pandemic. This year marks a significant change in approach to the way Estyn reports progress.

In a new move to share the Annual Report’s findings as early as possible, Estyn has today outlined what’s working well and what needs strengthening across sixteen sectors including schools, colleges, work-based learning and initial teacher education among others, as well as across themes such as the Curriculum for Wales and Additional Learning Needs reform.

The findings also offer insights on the impact of poverty on attainment and improvements in providers that were in special measures or significant improvement.  

Ahead of his full Annual Report, which is out early next year, Owen Evans, Chief Inspector, says,

These early insights help to make sense of the strengths and challenges for education and training as we begin a new academic year. We’ve also published prompts to help self-evaluation in areas where we have identified a need for improvement.

Resources published alongside these summary findings support those working in education to focus on some of the areas of improvement highlighted.

The inspectorate has shared prompts for self-evaluation in every type of education and training to support:

• leaders in non-maintained settings to evaluate the quality of their provision
• primary, secondary and maintained special schools, and pupil referral units to plan for the Curriculum for Wales
• all age schools to fully maximise the benefits of providing all-through provision
• leadership development in independent schools and in independent specialist colleges
• developing FE learners’ numeracy skills in a vocational context
• officers in local government education services to consider how effectively they evaluate their work and identify areas for improvement
• evaluating the quality of learning experiences in initial teacher education
• adult learning partnerships to improve collaboration
• evaluating the quality of mentoring in initial teacher education
• Welsh for adults providers in improving learners’ speaking skills
• work-based learning providers to improve partnership working

Owen Evans continues,

Learners are, of course, our biggest priority. And they can have an important influence on their own education. That’s why we’ve also published an activity for school councils in primary and secondary schools to help them discuss important topics such as the history of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic peoples and communities and how to influence what and how they learn.