estyn.gov.uk

01 Estyn News

inspection, improvement, innovation

Inside Stay in touch

02. - A message from the new Chief Inspector

03. - Out and about - Clarificationforteachers - Thematic survey compendium 2014

04. - Sharing our approach with the Middle East and Asia

05. - Working with Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) - Estyn’s Annual Plan - Annual Report - Best practice in the creative arts

06. - National Stakeholder Forum

07. - Conferences and courses

08. - Latest best practice case studies

Estyn News

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June2015

estyn.gov.uk

estyn.gov.uk

02 Estyn News

After some 16 years working at Estyn as an HMI, managing HMI and more recently as strategic director, I am delighted to take up my new post as Chief Inspector.

I am very proud to have the opportunity to uphold the

inspectorate’s strong tradition in Wales of supporting

educational improvement and of championing the interests

of the learners. Estyn’s mission - ‘Achieving excellence for all

learners in Wales by providing high-quality inspection and

advice services’ - remains central to our work.

To help us continue to add value to education in Wales, I intend

to launch a review of our inspection arrangements in September

2015 that will involve consulting fully with the public and all our

stakeholders. We will want to build further on the features of our

inspection arrangements that have been implemented during

thepastfiveyears.

These features include proportionate inspection with follow-up

and support for those providers in most need, the sharing of best

practice, and, in particular, the drive to build capability through the

use of peer inspectors on all our inspections.

I also intend to build on the independent and

evidence-based advice that we provide the Minister for

EducationandSkillsandWelshGovernmentofficials

on different education themes. For example, we are

launching our newly-designed website soon that will help

uscommunicateourinspectionandadvicefindingsmore

effectively.

In summary, I look forward to working with the many education

professionals, policy makers, learners and parents across Wales

tobuildaconfidentandcollaborativeeducationcultureandto

maintain the new momentum in all our work.

Hwyl

A message from the new Chief Inspector

As I start my new role at this crucial time for education, I and Estyn’s Executive and Strategy Boards will be considering how we can continue to add value to education in Wales.”Meilyr Rowlands, ChiefInspector

“

estyn.gov.uk

03 Estyn News

Simon Brown and inspectors Gill Sims and Steve

BellrecentlywenttoLondonandattendedthefirst

Standing International Conference of Inspectorates event

to focus on further education. Gill gave a presentation on

the FE curriculum and links to labour market information.

Latest news

Out and About

In the same month Chief Inspector Ann Keane

and Strategic Directors Simon Brown and Meilyr

Rowlands presented the Chief Inspector’s Annual Report

to the National Assembly for Wales Children, Young

People and Education Committee prior to the report being

discussed in plenary.

In February Strategic Director Simon Brown and

Assistant Director Clive Phillips presented to the

Welsh Government’s Intervention and Recovery Seminar,

which was attended by chief executives, directors of

educationandrecoveryboardmembersofthefivelocal

authoritiesthatremaininneedofsignificantimprovement

or in special measures.

Clarification for Teachers

During our inspections, teachers ask many pertinent

questions about the inspection process. For this reason,

we have created a guide to help with some common

inspection misconceptions in addition to our main

Frequently Asked Questions. Issues addressed include

classroom observations and evidence of pupils’ work, so if

teachers have any questions about the inspection process

theymaywellfindtheanswersby clicking below!

Each year the Minister for Education and Skills asks

the Chief Inspector for advice on a range of themes

in relation to education and training to help inform

policy development and to monitor progress. The 2014

compendium of our advice has now been published and

providesasummaryoffindingsfromallourthematic

reports and it is also a useful reference for accessing their

mainfindingsandrecommendations.

Thematic Survey Compendium 2014

Our thematic reports are a good source of

information and case studies on a variety of topics.

These can all be found published on the Estyn website.

estyn.gov.uk

04 Estyn News

Estyn were recently delighted to attend a recent UK-wide

British Council seminar focusing on the ‘UK National Skills

Strategy: The policy tools and mechanisms the UK has

used to transform technical and vocational education and

training (TVET)’. Hosted by Cardiff and the Vale College,

delegates heard presentations by Simon Brown, Strategic

Director, and Lin Howells, Assistant Director.

Simon explained our role and strategic objectives and

gave an overview of the common inspection framework and our

methodology. Lin outlined the forthcoming framework

for the inspection of further education and explained our

current inspection approach to work-based learning.

GovernmentministersandofficialsfromEgypt,Ethiopia,

Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Tunisia and Yemen attended.

They took part in the seminar which was offered as part

oftheBritishCouncil’sflagshipprogrammefordeveloping

education strategies that ensure that young people are

better prepared for the world of work.

Delegates also visited the college’s International Centre

for Aerospace Training (ICAT) at Cardiff Airport and Coleg

y Cymoedd in Nantgarw.

“I gained a lot of knowledge and learnt about best practice in the UK. I will be using the knowledge acquired to introduce changes in Egypt.”

Dr Mohammad Youssef, Deputy Minister for Vocational Education at the Egyptian Ministry of Education

Sharing our approach with the Middle East

and Asia

estyn.gov.uk

05 Estyn News

During the autumn and spring term inspectors from CSSIW

and Estyn worked together to plan joint inspections

of non-maintained settings. This involved developing

a judgement framework, guidance for inspectors and

common pre-inspection documentation such as a single

self-evaluation report.

We aim to pilot the new arrangements in 2015-2016 and

use the information from the pilots to make any necessary

changes prior to implementing joint inspections from

September 2016. There will be a consultation with

stakeholders before, during, and after the pilots to ensure

thattheproposedjointinspectionsarefitforpurpose.

Working with Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW)

In May we published a remit report entitled ‘Best practice in teaching and learning in the creative

arts at key stage 2’ which highlighted the strength of the creative arts in a number of primary

schools across Wales. The report featured a number a cases studies to help share best practice

more widelyandwasaccompaniedbyfilmshowinggoodteachingpracticeinactioninsixschools.

Thereportandfilmcanbeaccessedhere.

Best practice in the creative arts

Our recently published Annual Plan

outlines how we are going to deliver

our strategic objectives for the year

ahead and summarises our programme

of work, which includes nearly 400

inspections, 50 follow-up visits and over

90 monitoring visits.

The full report can be accessed here.

Annual Plan 2015-2016

Don’t forget that the Chief Inspector’s

latest Annual Report on standards

of education and training in Wales

has now been published. Also

included is a complete set of data for

inspection outcomes and responses to parent and learner

questionnaires from 2013-2014.

Download a copy of the report here.

Annual Report

Page ― 1

The Annual Report of HM Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales 2013-2014

The Annual Report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales

2013-2014

estyn.gov.uk

06 Estyn News

National Stakeholder Forum

Over 30 delegates from key bodies and organisations for

education and training attended our National Stakeholder

Forum in February. Ann Keane, Chief Inspector, made the

opening address summarising key messages from her

Annual Report.

This was followed by updates on inspection from Strategic

Directors Simon Brown and Meilyr Rowlands. Jane Rees

HMI, who was the author of our thematic report on action

onbullying,deliveredamini-seminaronitsmainfindings.

This mini-seminar was intended to pilot a new approach

to disseminate messages from our thematic report.

Discussions took place on how we could help ensure that

practitioners at all levels are aware of our publications

andthemessagesthatmightinfluencetheirpractice,and

what we could consider producing or delivering to support

practitioners, including the sharing and adoption of best

practice. The suggestions from stakeholders were very

constructive and useful.

These have been discussed by Estyn’s management

groups and are being taken up as actions. The forum

closed with a question and answer session with a panel

comprising of Ann, Meilyr and Simon.

Furthersector-specificstakeholderforumswilltake

place throughout the year. For more information on our

approach to stakeholder engagement, please refer to our

Stakeholder Engagement Strategy 2013-2016.

Sharing information, ideas and views

about improving education in Wales

estyn.gov.uk

07 Estyn News

Date Event Title

23rd June Annual update training for Secondary inspectors (N Wales)

25th June Non-maintained advisory teachers one day briefing (Mid Wales)

25th June Annual update training for Secondary inspectors (S Wales)

26th June Annual update training for Secondary inspectors (S Wales)

30th June Non-maintained Stakeholder Forum (S Wales)

30th June Annual update training for independent schools (S Wales)

30th June Annual update training for special schools (N Wales)

30th June Annual update training for Primary inspectors (Mid Wales)

30th June Secondary stakeholder forum

1st-2nd July Annual update training for Primary inspectors

1st-2nd July Initial PI 2-day face-to-face assessments - Secondary (Mid Wales)

1st-2nd July Initial PI 2-day face-to-face assessments - Secondary (Mid Wales)

1st-2nd July Annual update training for special schools (SW Wales)

7th - 8th July Initial Challenge Adviser training (Mid Wales)

7th - 10th July Annual update training for Primary inspectors (S Wales)

8th July Joint training with CSSIW (S Wales)

22nd Sept ACL update training (S Wales)

24th Sept Initial PI Half day pre-assessment - Secondary

29th Sept Initial PI Half day pre-assessment - Primary (Mid Wales)

29th - 30th Sept Initial Challenge Adviser training

Conferences and coursesSummer 2015 - Autumn 2015

Don’t forget! Inspectors will not be able to attend Estyn

training without a DBS certificate.!

estyn.gov.uk

08 Estyn News

Non-maintainedProviding high-quality learning experiencesLittle Acorns Nursery, Bridgend

PuttingwellbeingfirstLittle Scholars Nursery, Wrexham

Creating a positive learning environmentLittle Scholars Nursery, Wrexham

PrimaryFocusing on pupil voiceYsgol y Castell, Carmarthenshire

Respecting rightsHafod Primary School, Swansea

Reducing anti-social behaviour in the communityHafod Primary School, Swansea

Involving pupils in school policiesLlanmiloe C.P. School, Carmarthenshire

SecondaryRaising standards in literacy and numeracyYsgolGyfunGŵyr,Swansea

IndependentDeveloping learners’ transferable skillsColeg Elidyr, Carmarthenshire

SpecialManaging behaviourHeronsbridge School, Bridgend

Using Person Centred Planning across the schoolCrownbridge Special Day School, Torfaen

Further educationMonitoring learner experienceITEC Training Solutions Ltd, Cardiff

Best practiceLatest case studies

Additional learning needs

Leadership Learning environment

Literacy Numeracy

Wellbeing Pupil participation

Teaching Welsh

Self-evaluation Parents

Transition

Browse more case studies