School Effectiveness Framework to be piloted in 99 schools in Wales

Labour’s Education Minister Jane Hutt has today announced the names of the 99 schools which will pilot the School Effectiveness Framework in Wales from September.

The Framework will put children and young people at the heart of education policy and delivery in Wales and aims to ensure that the Welsh Assembly Government, local authorities and schools work together to improve children and young people’s learning, achievements and wellbeing for the benefit of society as a whole. Pilots will comprise two models which will take place in a range of local education authority groups with schools being chosen to reflect the social and economic diversity in Wales. The number of pilot schools has also been increased from 48 to over 90 schools to ensure a more representative sample.

In the first model, experienced and effective head teachers or school improvement professionals will be working with the schools in a developmental capacity. They will work with individual schools on their own school improvement agenda and will support the development of ‘learning to bring about improvement within and across schools'. The second model involves Local Authority groups developing their own programme for implementing the Framework in the pilot schools, building on school improvement activity they already have in place. This, too, will be delivered by school improvement professionals, together with serving headteachers who will increase the capacity to deliver this work and support improvement programmes.

These models will be tested and evaluated to ensure that the future roll out of the Framework is effective and fit for purpose. The outcome of the testing and evaluation will inform the level of funding necessary to roll-out the Framework to all Schools in Wales over a three to five year period.

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