Improving schools: full plan - Learning Wales - Welsh Government

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IntroductionHow are we doing internationally?Progress in Wales alongside other countries is measured by PISA, a worldwide study forevaluating education systems and used by governments to inform policy. Figure 1 showsthe 2009 results. These were lower than in 2006 for Wales, lower than the three other UKcountries, and Wales dropped down the ranking of countries. In particular, mathematicssaw the fifth largest fall across countries. Compared to others, Wales had fewer higherachievers on reading scores and almost none on mathematics. Wales showed relatively lowbetween‐school and high within-school variation: consistency within schools was a biggerissue than between them. Less than 10 per cent of the variation between and within schoolswas explained by socio‐economic factors: school-related factors had the greater influenceon results.Figure 1: Performance in reading, mathematics and science by country (2009)650PISA mean score (2009)600550500450400350300250200150100500Reading Maths ScienceSource: OECD4 Improving schools
How are we doing nationally?Progress against the three priority outcomes of improving levels of literacy, numeracy andreducing the impact of deprivation on these levels, is currently measured against learnersreaching expected levels of attainment linked to their age. Figure 2 shows that five per centmore learners overall in 2011 reached expected levels of attainment than in 2008 in primaryschools and six per cent more learners in secondary schools. This means that four in five(80 per cent) learners by the end of primary school and half of learners by the end ofsecondary school currently attain the expected levels. At the end of primary school, nearly onein five learners (19.6 per cent) was assessed in Welsh first language, with 82 per cent gainingthe expected level. In secondary school, 15 per cent of entries were assessed in Welsh firstlanguage, with 73 per cent of learners achieving the expected level (A* to C grade).Overall the progress of learners eligible for free school meals (e-FSM) does not compare wellwith their peers. In primary schools, seven per cent more e-FSM learners now attain theexpected level than in 2008 compared to five per cent for their peers. This means that the‘gap’ in attainment between learners’ e-FSM and their peers has narrowed. In secondaryschools, three per cent more e-FSM learners now attain the expected level than in 2008compared to seven per cent for their peers. This means that the ‘gap’ in secondary schoolshas widened. Some important trends underpin the national measures.• In primary schools, English/Welsh is weaker than mathematics and within English/Welsh,writing is weaker than reading and oracy, especially for boys.• In secondary schools, mathematics is weaker than English/Welsh.• There are ‘gaps’ in performance between learner groups such as looked after childrencompared to all learners: 10 per cent attain the expected level in secondary schoolcompared to 50 per cent for all learners.Improving schools5
Page 1 and 2: Improving schools
Page 3 and 4: ContentsMinisterial foreword 2Intro
Page 5: in setting high expectations for al
Page 9 and 10: Figure 3: Overall performance by lo
Page 11 and 12: Figure 5: Absence in schools by loc
Page 13 and 14: SummaryThe three priorities for imp
Page 15 and 16: • Building capacity at a national
Page 17 and 18: 1. Schools - effective learning and
Page 19 and 20: • progress with the development o
Page 21 and 22: The priority now is to make the pro
Page 23 and 24: • publish guidelines for the 2013
Page 25 and 26: • draw together a range of guidan
Page 27 and 28: 2. Schools - effective leadership a
Page 29 and 30: • work with experienced and aspir
Page 31 and 32: Figure 12: High level timeline for
Page 33 and 34: Figure 13: Building effective partn
Page 35 and 36: school improvement challenges from
Page 37 and 38: There is now a range of policy deve
Page 39 and 40: 4. Roles, responsibilities and reso
Page 41 and 42: Improving schools39
Page 43: To assist them, DfES is working wit

Improving schools: full plan - Learning Wales - Welsh Government

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