News
Estyn: a model for a better inspectorate EDUCATORS in Wales are preparing for the adoption of wide-ranging curriculum reforms in 2022. As they draw breath, they are also reflecting on the practices of Estyn, the inspectorate of education and training in Wales. Estyn has been tasked with monitoring implementation of the new curriculum by the Welsh Government. The reforms come from Successful Futures, a review of curriculum and assessment carried out by Professor Graham Donaldson in 2015. Five years later, Wales is on the road to implementing the changes he proposed – with many welcome elements, including greater autonomy to set a curriculum which is relevant to the learners in every school. A supportive inspectorate Challenges remain. Funding is an issue, and money promised for Welsh schools is not at a level NEU Cymru has been calling for. The review also made recommendations for the reform of Estyn itself, and we strongly believe this is also a chance for Estyn to reflect on its own practices. Generally speaking, Estyn is not regarded with the same level of concern by education professionals as England’s Ofsted. It is the inspectorate, yes, but NEU
Education Minister Kirsty Williams AM has called for a greater focus on wellbeing and mental health in the new curriculum. 12
Cymru fought hard for it to be a supportive, “listening” inspectorate, and signs that it is responding should be celebrated. Pausing inspections for a year For instance, Estyn has introduced a year-long “pause” to formal inspections from September 2020, so that schools have a chance to prepare for Curriculum 2022. NEU Cymru lobbied hard for this. Instead, Estyn will undertake informal drop-ins, which it has been piloting since last summer, in most cases providing verbal feedback via the head teacher. Members report that these feel supportive and suggest they will mean staff are better prepared for the new inspection framework. There are other positive recommendations in the review too. There is a move towards schools creating their own self-evaluation plans, overseen by Estyn. Summative grades – Outstanding, Good etc – that Estyn uses at the moment will go, to be replaced by more rounded, informative evaluations. Other NEU recommendations Estyn has accepted include: n a more tailored focus on schools causing concern, with diagnostic inspections providing better insights into necessary changes; n timely evaluation of progress of reforms nationally through thematic reporting and a three-yearly ‘state of the nation’ HMCI report; n greater independence for Estyn. Wellbeing and mental health to the fore Education Minister Kirsty Williams AM has called for a greater focus on wellbeing in the new curriculum. It remains to be seen how Estyn will use this opportunity to improve wellbeing and mental health – for learners and professionals alike. Key to this will be how other accountability structures intersect with Estyn’s reformed approach to inspection.
educate Your magazine from the National Education Union (NEU)
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales (Estyn), He said he was ready “to review, to learn and to change. To foster a culture
Already there look set to be some changes at the level of the four regional consortia which oversee education in Wales, in a role that sometimes overlaps with Estyn’s. Perhaps the opportunity can be seized to forge a more supportive approach to educators from the consortia’s at-times adversarial style. Other practices our members question are the seemingly ineffective placing of schools into four support categories (red, amber, yellow, green), and national testing. SATs were dropped in the 2000s in Wales, but our members continue to believe that, with teachers best placed to make judgements about their pupils, there is no need for any national testing at all. The accountability and assessment structures, then, still need some work. But at least Estyn is making a lot of the right noises as it moves towards the “pause” year and a self-evaluation model. Mary van den Heuvel, senior policy officer, NEU Cymru
