Author: Bethan Jones
Last saved by: Gina Rathbone
Company: ESTYN

Developing a self-improving system
Local authorities, together with the four regional consortia have a role to support schools to improve.  
The consortia are increasingly focused on supporting schools to understand curriculum reform. Each region has designed a way to support schools and to identify strengths and areas for development. 
But with their focus heavily on supporting schools to develop pupils’ literacy and numeracy, support to develop pupils’ digital competence is comparably weak. 
A new national resource to support school evaluation and improvement is being developed. Although the effectiveness of self-evaluation and improvement processes improved slightly in primary schools between 2010 and 2017, secondary schools have not really moved on.  

The new resource will help schools to achieve effective evaluation and improvement that: 
Has a consistent focus on achieving the best standards and wellbeing for all pupils 
Is an ongoing process ingrained in school culture
Is linked closely with professional development 
Involves all staff and 
is honest. 
Schools are now working in different ways to deliver education.
Reorganisation has increased recently and led to many success stories. Where reorganisation works well, school leaders are involved well in advance of changes being made, so they can develop a joint vision and ensure that pupils’ learning is not disrupted.  
Federated schools and all-age schools are becoming more common across Wales. In federations, a clear vision by governing bodies, senior leaders and local authorities is vital for success. 
Cymraeg 2050 will also bring change with both English-medium and Welsh-medium schools playing a central role in achieving the government’s target of a million Welsh speakers.