News Articles Archive - Page 7 of 14 - Estyn

Archives: News Articles

Archives: News Articles

Share this page

Estyn’s report, Developing pupils’ English reading skills from 10 to 14 years of age, highlights that the best schools teach strategies that help pupils to understand what they’re reading and to develop speaking and listening skills. But only a minority of secondary schools implement these strategies consistently in English lessons and across the curriculum. In both primary and secondary, only a minority of leaders monitor and evaluate the impact of these well enough.

The inspectorate recommends that schools provide high-quality professional learning for teachers on the strategies that most effectively help pupils to develop reading skills.  

Owen Evans, Chief Inspector, says,

‘Improving pupils’ reading skills is a national priority. Although the pandemic had a negative impact, especially on those disadvantaged by poverty, we’re seeing that standards of reading are improving again. Schools that have identified specific skills deficits and are focused on filling these gaps are making the best progress.

‘Our findings shows that the best teachers weave listening, speaking, reading and writing together skilfully so that each benefits the others.

‘We recommend that school leaders, supported by their clusters and improvement partners, provide opportunities for staff to learn about evidence-based teaching strategies to develop pupils’ reading skills across the curriculum.’

The inspectorate highlights some challenges, particularly in secondary schools where the more complex and numerous lesson arrangements make it more difficult than in primary schools to develop reading skills coherently.

Case studies in the report share how some schools have risen well to the challenge. Featured is Cyfarthfa Park Primary School in Merthyr Tydfil which prepares their children to be lifelong learners, through developing confident speakers and proficient readers. The school introduced strategies in their reading sessions that nurtured pupils’ listening and speaking roles. Pupils at the school are confident and articulate, and they express a love of reading in and out of the classroom

The report makes a series of recommendations for school leaders, those working in the classroom, school improvement partners and the Welsh Government. Estyn also urges close monitoring and evaluation of the impact of reading strategies in schools, planning between primary and secondary schools for the transition of pupils, and that the Welsh Government continue to promote and develop its whole-school approach to the national oracy and reading toolkit.

Archives: News Articles

Share this page

The inspectorate is revising how they will inspect from September 2024 and beyond. By that point they will have inspected all schools, colleges and other providers at least once in the last eight years.
Owen Evans, Chief Inspector, says,

Making sure that inspection has a positive impact on the lives of all learners in Wales is at the heart of our work. Now that judgements are no longer the headline of most inspection reports, schools and other education and training providers can better concentrate on the strengths and areas for development.
Now, we’re taking the next steps so that our work continues to support improvement. As we move towards the academic year starting in September 2024, we’re beginning to review what our approach will be from then on.
Soon we’ll be involving all our stakeholders in consultations – a process that’s already begun in the youth sector – so that we can include everyone’s ideas.

 
From September 2024 Estyn inspections will:

  • be leaner and more focused on what drives improvement.
  • be manageable for all providers and complement their own processes of evaluation and improvement.
  • explore how broader inspection activities can be tailored to better support improvement across individual providers and sectors.
  • have more regular contact with schools and other providers and offer more up-to-date feedback for parents and carers.
  • bring external inspection and providers’ internal evaluation processes closer together.
  • use resources where they are needed most, such as with settings that need support and monitoring for improvement
     

Archives: News Articles

Share this page

We are considering the impact of industrial action on our work on a case-by-case basis but learners will continue to be our focus.  We have contacted all providers affected and have taken a flexible and sensitive approach.

Where strike action is affecting settings we will make suitable adjustments to our arrangements.  Where settings are closed or partly closed this may include increasing the number of team members or extending the activity.

We have noted that action short of strike is also taking place from 1 February and we have fully briefed our staff and they will make appropriate adjustments when carrying out our work.

If you have any queries, please email enquiries@estyn.gov.wales

Archives: News Articles

Share this page

Estyn welcomes the plans to develop a wider range of information to support improved evaluation and improvement arrangements. We are pleased to note that this work will be taken forward in collaboration with practitioners, local authorities, regions and partnerships. 
 
Estyn places classroom practice at the heart of our work but evaluative information is valuable for schools in defining their priorities. Since 2017, Estyn has worked to reduce the focus on performance information during secondary, LGES and all age inspections. While we welcome any information shared with us during inspection, we do not report on individual indicators, neither would we base a judgement on one source of evidence, in this case, end of key stage information. 
 
As the data available in summer 2023 will be for one year in the first instance, we may consider how schools and local authorities use this information to support their own evaluation and improvement planning but would not make any evaluations on one year of nationally collected and externally verified information alone. For the time being, we will continue with the approach that we have adopted since resuming inspections in 2022. 

Minister’s statement
 

Archives: News Articles

Share this page

Education and training in Wales continues to feel the effects of the pandemic, according to the Estyn Chief Inspector’s Annual Report 2021-22. Most learners’ progress has, to varying extents, been negatively affected and the problem is being compounded by issues in recruiting suitably qualified staff. In response, the inspectorate has this year provided resources to help those working in education and training to support the continuing focus on improvement.  

Curriculum reform remains a challenge and whilst there is good news around how schools are adapting, progress remains variable. Owen Evans, Chief Inspector, says,

Despite the continued effort to tackle the after-effects of the pandemic, there has been a considerable emphasis on developing a new curriculum in schools. What we are seeing from our inspection activity and other engagement with schools is that the most successful leaders have continued to relentlessly emphasise the quality of teaching and its impact on learning. This helps them to address many of their current challenges, including curriculum reform.

Teachers should rely on their own teaching skills and experience to make that difference and use available resources, such as the self-evaluation prompts in my Annual Report and the Welsh Government guidance on the Curriculum for Wales.

The report highlights case studies from successful education and training providers around Wales, including Whitmore High School, Barry. Here, staff firmly believe in values that place learners first and provide them with consistently good teaching as well as many opportunities outside lessons. In Bridgend College, independent living skills learners benefit from a curriculum that offers realistic work opportunities based on their aspirations.

The report highlights how schools can make a difference to the national priorities such as Welsh language education, another area which felt the impact of lockdowns on skills development. It also builds on how Estyn’s research aims to promote greater collaboration across post-16 provision and emphasises equity as a priority across all sectors, an area in which Estyn has also stepped up its focus.

Owen Evans continues,

Alleviating the impact of poverty on educational attainment is of huge importance. The work of schools and other providers is only one part of the solution to tackling child poverty, but they can play an important role. Today’s report has valuable examples of how providers who are particularly effective in this area tackle its impact.
 

Archives: News Articles

Share this page

Schools must make sure that teacher assessment informs teaching and helps pupils to understand and progress their own learning, according to a report published today by Estyn. Many school leaders express some uncertainty about how to approach assessment in the context of the Curriculum for Wales.

Today’s report, The changing approach to assessment, can help schools move towards assessment that supports pupils’ learning. As some schools adopt the Curriculum for Wales and others continue to prepare, the inspectorate recommends that schools should approach assessment in a way that deepens teachers’ understanding of pupils’ learning and how they can progress.

Inspectors visited a sample of schools across Wales previously recognised for having strong practice in teaching.

Owen Evans, Chief Inspector, says,

Getting assessment right is a priority for the Curriculum for Wales. We know that tests are only part of the story when evaluating how well pupils learn. Assessment in the classroom should respond to the needs of individual pupils and be an ongoing and natural part of teaching, not a method of accountability.

Today’s report can help schools to plan how they assess pupils’ work and develop their approaches to reflect the Curriculum for Wales. It identifies good practice from a wide range of primary, secondary, all-age and special schools. 

Case studies in the report highlight how schools have developed effective approaches to assessment. Staff at St Joseph’s RC High School, Newport, ensure that assessment is integral to teaching. In one approach, subject leaders identify key points when teachers must check that pupils have understood before they continue with their learning. The school also regularly reviews the impact of what they are doing and have brought on board parents, pupils and teachers with this system.

Further recommendations in the report include developing teachers’ and leaders’ understanding of this type of assessment and ensuring that teachers use the information they have to adapt their teaching to support and challenge all pupils as appropriate.

Archives: News Articles

Share this page

A new report highlights substantial differences in post-16 learning options available to 16-year-olds. These are influenced by learners’ location, preferred language choice and prior educational attainment.

Findings from Estyn suggest that national, regional and local structures need to tackle inconsistency between, and within, different geographical areas and education and training providers in the curriculum offered to 16-to-19-year-olds in Wales.

The new report calls for every local curriculum offer to include a suitable variety of learning options to meet the needs of post-16 learners. The findings recommend developing a more cohesive suite of qualifications that include progression opportunities from entry-level to level 3 and beyond. More work needs to be done to ensure vocational education options are valued as highly as general qualifications.

The report also recommends that all 14-16-year-old learners receive impartial information, advice and guidance so that they know about all the post-16 options within their local area. Estyn highlights that too many learners lack awareness of work-based learning opportunities such as apprenticeships.

Access to a wider range of courses is needed for Welsh-medium students. The report suggests that collaborative working used in some school sixth forms and colleges, such as merging teaching groups or effective use of teachers’ availability, could be implemented in other sixth forms and further education colleges to ensure greater Welsh-medium teaching.

Owen Evans, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales said: 

Our findings come at a time when a clear strategy is being pursued for learners up to the age of 16 by way of the new Curriculum for Wales. This new report shows that more work needs to be done to ensure that learning options for 16-19-year-olds across Wales are more impartial. The new Commission for Tertiary Education and Research recognises that there needs to a more joined up approach across post-16 services.

We hope that the report and its recommendations will help support Welsh Government in their work with the Commission and other bodies, such as Qualifications Wales and Careers Wales, to develop a more cohesive approach to post-16 education and training.

Archives: News Articles

Share this page

Mae adroddiad newydd yn amlygu gwahaniaethau sylweddol mewn opsiynau dysgu ôl-16 sydd ar gael i’r rhai 16 oed. Caiff y rhain eu dylanwadu gan leoliad dysgwyr, eu dewis iaith a’u cyrhaeddiad addysgol blaenorol.

Mae canfyddiadau Estyn yn awgrymu bod angen i strwythurau cenedlaethol, rhanbarthol a lleol fynd i’r afael â’r anghysondebau rhwng o fewn ardaloedd daearyddol gwahanol a darparwyr addysg a hyfforddiant o ran y cwricwlwm sy’n cael ei gynnig i’r rhai 16 i 19 oed yng Nghymru.

Mae’r adroddiad newydd yn galw i bob cwricwlwm lleol gynnwys amrywiaeth addas o opsiynau dysgu i fodloni anghenion dysgwyr ôl-16. Mae’r canfyddiadau’n argymell datblygu cyfres fwy cydlynol o gymwysterau sy’n cynnwys cyfleoedd dilyniant o lefel mynediad i lefel 3 a thu hwnt. Mae angen gwneud mwy o waith i sicrhau y caiff opsiynau addysg galwedigaethol eu gwerthfawrogi cymaint â chymwysterau cyffredinol.

Mae’r adroddiad hefyd yn argymell y dylai pob dysgwr 14 i 16 oed gael gwybodaeth, cyngor ac arweiniad diduedd fel eu bod yn gwybod am yr holl opsiynau ôl-16 yn eu hardal leol. Mae Estyn yn amlygu bod gormod o ddysgwyr nad ydynt yn ymwybodol o gyfleoedd dysgu yn y gwaith, fel prentisiaethau.

Mae angen i fyfyrwyr cyfrwng Cymraeg allu manteisio ar ystod ehangach o gyrsiau. Mae’r adroddiad yn awgrymu y gellid rhoi gwaith cydweithredol sy’n cael ei ddefnyddio mewn rhai dosbarthiadau chweched a cholegau, fel cyfuno grwpiau addysgu neu ddefnyddio argaeledd athrawon yn effeithiol, ar waith mewn dosbarthiadau chweched a cholegau addysg bellach eraill i sicrhau mwy o addysgu drwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg.

Dywedodd Owen Evans, Prif Arolygydd Ei Fawrhydi dros Addysg a Hyfforddiant yng Nghymru:

Daw ein canfyddiadau ar adeg pan mae strategaeth glir yn cael ei dilyn i ddysgwyr hyd at 16 oed trwy’r Cwricwlwm i Gymru newydd. Mae’r adroddiad newydd hwn yn dangos bod angen gwneud mwy o waith i sicrhau bod opsiynau dysgu i’r rhai 16 i 19 oed yng Nghymru yn fwy diduedd. Mae’r Comisiwn Addysg Drydyddol ac Ymchwil newydd yn cydnabod bod angen dull mwy cyfunol ar draws gwasanaethau ôl-16.

Rydym yn gobeithio y bydd yr adroddiad a’i argymhellion yn helpu i gynorthwyo Llywodraeth Cymru â’i gwaith â’r Comisiwn a chyrff eraill, fel Cymwysterau Cymru a Gyrfa Cymru, i ddatblygu dull mwy cydlynol ar gyfer addysg a hyfforddiant ôl-16.

Archives: News Articles

Share this page

A storybook has been published this week, designed to help children to understand what happens when the childcare service they attend is inspected.

The book “Our Nursery” (Ein Meithrin) was read aloud to children at Ysgol Feithrin Pontypwl by the chief inspectors of Estyn and Care Inspectorate Wales on Thursday morning, 29 September 2022.

Written by the Welsh novelist, Manon Steffan Ros, the book reassures children that the visit is a normal day and that the inspectors are friendly and looking forward to speaking with them. 

The book, which has been sent to all childcare and play settings in Wales, was launched at Ysgol Feithrin Pontypwl as the setting was found to be an example of effective practice in the way it put outside play at the heart of learning, during its last inspection in March. 

Inspectors from Estyn and Care Inspectorate Wales jointly inspect some childcare and play services in Wales, to reduce the burden on providers during inspection. The inspectorates wish to support practitioners and children through the inspection process, as well as sharing best practice.

Chief Inspector for Care Inspectorate Wales, Gillian Baranski said:

This delightful, simple story can be used at circle time to show children what our inspectors will do when they visit, and also encourage children to show the inspectors what they are doing. 

We want to help the very youngest learners to have their say about their care and education.

Chief Inspector for Estyn, Owen Evans said:

We are very pleased to have worked with Care Inspectorate Wales to publish this wonderful storybook. It reflects our commitment, alongside CIW to ensure that our approach is inclusive, transparent, and friendly.

We strive to ensure that learners are at the heart of our inspections and we are clear that it’s never too early to involve children in the inspection process. This book will be a great tool to encourage awareness of, and conversations about the inspection process.

A digital copy of the storybook can be found on the Estyn and Care Inspectorate Wales websites.

Archives: News Articles

Share this page

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.