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Question 1 – What are your views on whether Welsh in Education
Strategic Plans are contributing to the outcomes and targets set
out in the Welsh Government’s overarching Welsh Medium
Education Strategic Plan?
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The Welsh Government’s overarching WMES was published in
2010 and states that it will set the national strategic direction
and establish and maintain the supporting structures of Welsh
medium education and training. Are the supporting structures
sufficient and do they provide local authorities with the
resources, support or clarity needed to fulfil their role? By
now some of the vocabulary is out of date and inconsistent with
current educational terminology. Whilst the accountability
for school improvement for all learners remains with the local
authority, the work to support and challenge schools is
commissioned through the Consortia. Funding via the EIG (WEG
element) is allocated on a consortium basis with an increasing
focus on school to school working) but there is no recognition
within the WMES of these major changes. Categorisation of
schools drives the level of support and challenge provided to
schools but the fundamental contributors to school improvement
and standards of learner achievement, in any language, is
dependent on effective leadership and management of schools and
high quality teaching and learning in the classroom. There is
a shortage of excellent leaders, teachers and support staff in the
Welsh sector which can impact on the standards achieved in both
first language and second language Welsh.
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If you believe that
WESPs are not contributing sufficiently, how do you think this
could be resolved?
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Little account appears
to be taken in WMES of the different context of LAs across
Wales.
Whilst I can comment
from an RCT perspective it would be useful if WG could produce a
position paper on every LA’s performance over the 5 year life
span of the WMES
Are there areas of good
practice we could learn from? Does DFES have a clear overview
of what is happening across Wales to avoid officers in each LA
working in silos?
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Question 2 – What
are your views on whether WESPs are (or have the potential) to
deliver the required change at a local authority level (for example
delivering provision to meet any increased demand for Welsh medium
education)?
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The strategic planning of all provision in English and Welsh
medium is dependent on forecasted pupil numbers and surplus places
identified in schools via WG formula. In our experience forecasting
demand for future provision based purely on parental questionnaires
is not a reliable enough source of robust information because of
poor response rates and the gap is too wide when compared to actual
take up. More accurate forecasting is achieved when coupled with
trends.
In the current financial climate expanding existing schools or
planning new builds is not a realistic option unless the evidence
for demand is documented and robust. Several partners outside the
LA may disagree with this.
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If you believe that
WESPs are not, or don’t have the potential, to deliver
change, how do you think this could be resolved?
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Too early to predict because the
statutory status of the WESP is relatively new.
The WESP as a document is unwieldy
and may have more impact if split to consider different elements in
different ways with different timescales.
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Question 3 – What
are your views on the arrangements for target setting; monitoring;
reviewing; reporting; approving; and ensuring compliance with
delivering the requirements for WESPs (and the role of the local
authority and the Welsh Government in this regard)?
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The
WESP involves gathering information from a wide range of service
areas, aspects of which (School Improvement) are commissioned on a
regional basis.
Time
scales to update every year are too tight.
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If you believe there
are problems in this area, how do you think they could be
resolved?
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We appreciate that the
accountability for improving standards remains within the Local
Authority however, the reviewing and monitoring of target setting
and standards in relation to educational outcomes could be
undertaken by the CSC on a regional basis.
There are other service areas and
partners who contribute to the WESP, e.g. workforce development,
colleges, school organisation, etc. who do not currently operate on
a regional basis, therefore the WESP template could be modified to
reflect the two areas?
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Question 4 – What
are your views on whether WESPs evidence the effective interaction
between the Welsh Government’s Welsh-medium education
strategy and other relevant policies and legislation*?
(*for example school transport policy; 21st Century Schools
programme; A living language: a language for living – Moving
forward policy statement; Flying Start; planning policy)
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Including partners and officers from the above service areas
in the WESP Strategic Planning Group at a local level is critical
to ensure that other policies and legislation are taken into
account when the WESP is compiled and updated. Attendance to
the Planning Group is good and consultation takes place when
changes/modifications are made. Responses to consultation on
the WESP from others outside the immediate group is however
poor.
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If you believe there
are problems in this area, how do you think they could be
resolved?
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Unclear whether joint working
across departments in WG are as robust as they could be. A
variety of WG departments have a role to play in influencing
developments, e.g. WG officers should question the access to, and
quality of Welsh Medium delivery in Flying Start, Communities
First, etc. If WG funds a programme then there is a
responsibility to monitor and QA for adherence to all WG
priorities. Other WG policies and legislation need to give a
clear steer on matters relating to Welsh medium provision and be
more prescriptive.
Time scales are extremely tight,
especially when feedback from WG is delayed to allow modifications,
translation, local scrutiny, etc. to take place before
publishing.
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Question 5 – What
are your views on whether the outcomes of WESPs deliver equal
outcomes for all pupils, including for example, primary/secondary
pupils or children from low income households.
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Welsh medium schools have comparatively low FSM
percentages.
The
WESP in itself would deliver on such a wide agenda. The WESP
in conjunction with other strategic, local and school plans are
better placed to evidence such progress in standards.
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If you believe that the
outcome of WESPs do not deliver equal outcomes, how do you think
this could be resolved?
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WESP does not require
reporting on FSM gap. Should it?
Better quality of leaders,
managers and workforce to teach/support in the Welsh medium sector
and Welsh second language in English medium schools.
The same issues arise in the FE
and HE sectors as well as community tutors who can deliver to a
high standard through the medium of Welsh. This can’t
just be addressed by LAs, it requires wider government
input.
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Question 6 - If
you had to make one recommendation to the Welsh Government from all
the points you have made, what would that recommendation
be?
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Appreciation of the
diversity of the reporting requirements of the WESP across
regional, local services and partners.
The strategic group who meet and
are committees has to be large to encompass all views but as a
result may not have the desired impact. The sheer number of
contributions needed from a variety of stakeholders, all with their
own agenda to populate the WESP is a challenge.
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Question 7 - Do
you have any other comments or issues you wish to raise that have
not been covered by the specific questions?
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May consider
changing the format of the plan and using other mechanisms to
report on standards achieved by learners using data captured
elsewhere. Data on pupil progress is reported to WG elsewhere part
of the template could be pre-populated.
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