‘Local education progress is slow’

Standards of education and training significantly improved in further education, work-based learning and early-years provision but progress has been slow in schools over the last six years

 

Standards of education and training in Wales have been maintained over the last six years and, in some instances, have improved, but progress has been particularly slow in schools, according to the 2009-2010 Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales.

 

The report highlights that in nearly a third of maintained schools’ provision was not as good as it should have been and very few schools or other education and training providers were consistently outstanding. Only 8% of schools got the top grade across all aspects of inspection.

 

This year’s Annual Report looks at the progress that has been made across all sectors of education and training in Wales over the last inspection cycle (2004-2010) during which time Estyn inspected all education and training providers in Wales.

 

Launching her report today (Tuesday), Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Ann Keane said:

 

“Now more than ever we need to face facts - we need to take bigger strides in improving the provision of education and training in Wales. There are challenges we need to tackle before education in Wales can rival the best in the world. First, evidence over the last six years shows that systems to track learners’ progress throughout their education are not good enough. Different kinds of assessment measure performance in different ways and sometimes, at the end of primary school for instance, assessments are just not robust enough. This makes it difficult to identify gaps in basic skills and to plan support in a consistent way.

 

“Second, developing literacy and numeracy skills is also a challenge. There are still far too many learners of all ages and ability level whose skills are not being developed fully. Schools need to develop literacy and numeracy in all subjects, not just in Welsh, English and mathematics, so that pupils are equipped with these essential skills to help enrich their lives and contribute to their employability.

 

“Third, we also need better training for leaders and education professionals which will help them to be more confident and creating new opportunities for joint working. We need to champion and foster an environment of creativity and innovation in the classroom.”

 

Nevertheless, inspectors did find some significant improvements in some individual settings, such as schools, pupil referral units and providers of adult learning and initial teacher training, with the greatest improvements in further education, work-based learning and early years provision.