Welsh councils are intent on driving up school standards and improving attainment levels and outcomes for Welsh pupils.
Responding to a speech by Education Minister Leighton Andrews yesterday evening, Cllr Peter Fox (Monmouthshire), WLGA Education Spokesperson said:
“Local government is fully signed up to the Welsh Government’s change agenda for education. Improving educational attainment for young people in Wales is a top priority for every council. Wales’ 22 leaders re-affirmed this position during the WLGA’s Annual Conference last week and at a recent meeting with the Minister. We are fully committed to working with the Welsh Government to meet the Education Minister’s 20 actions for raising standards in education. The Minister himself has recognised this and has acknowledged the measures we have put in place to improve outcomes. This includes ensuring that schools benefit from collaborative regional school improvement services which will be put in place from September 2012.”
“The Minister’s actions are part of the drive for reform of the system in Wales which includes central and local government, schools themselves and other key stakeholders like regulators, where a new inspection framework has been recently introduced. Consistency in improving and sustaining practice and raising aspirations are factors in securing better outcomes for children and young people.”
Responding to the challenge set by the Minister for local authorities to increase the pace of collaboration, Cllr Fox added:
“Local government recognises that collaborative working will be one way of ensuring that economies of scale are made that will enable more resources to be released to schools. The four education consortia set up by local government enable local authorities to work very closely together, with their schools and support services. These consortia ensure that the best practice in teaching and learning is implemented across the board by, for example, sharing experiences and solutions in a systematic way. There are examples of first class practice in some Welsh schools and local authorities and local government is committed to sharing these practices so that all benefit from our best and from the WLGA’s “Learning from Our Best” good practice initiative.”
“The WLGA remains firmly committed to the principle of local government being best placed to deliver education in Wales. We look forward to working with the Minister and with Welsh Government on school improvement, raising standards and ensuring better outcomes for children and young people.”
