WLGA responds to PISA Results
07 December 2010
In response to the OECD PISA results released today, Cllr Peter Fox (Monmouthshire), WLGA Spokesperson for Education said:
“These results are disappointing, unacceptable and reflect very badly on the education system in Wales.
Whilst we need time to consider the full implications of the survey results, there is no room for complacency and urgent action is needed. Children and young people in Wales deserve and have a right to expect a better service and we are all ultimately accountable to them.
Education is a shared responsibility between schools, local authorities, the Welsh Assembly Government and other stakeholders and we need an air of urgency, honesty and openness as we seek to address these issues. We are all committed to improving outcomes for children and young people but that needs to translate into improved attainment.”
Dr Brett Pugh, Chair of ADEW (Association of Directors of Education in Wales) said:
“As directors of education we are, like many others, concerned about Wales’ poor performance in the PISA results. The children and young people of Wales deserve better. We are committed to working with our schools and other partners to ensure that within the next two PISA rounds there will be significant improvement in the performance of our young people.
It is clear that if we are to achieve this we need to work together to up the pace of the improvements already set in place in teaching and learning. In particular we need to redouble our efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning in literacy and numeracy and break once and for all the link between poverty and low levels of educational achievement.
We must all respond to this challenge using the Welsh Assembly Government’s School Effectiveness Framework to drive a relentless focus on literacy and numeracy at school, local authority, consortium and national levels. We must use this to reduce the impact of social and economic deprivation on educational achievement in Wales.”
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Notes to Editors
1. Local government is inviting all schools to share exemplary practice in teaching and learning in a systematic way by developing professional learning communities. In order to spread good practice, local authorities will work even more closely together across Wales in four consortia. The four consortia are working with schools to ensure that the best practice in teaching and learning is implemented across the board.
The consortia are developing systems leaders to further spread good leadership and support to groups of professional learning communities. Systems leaders will be selected on the basis of their proven expertise to improve teaching and learning. Systems leaders will work with schools to evaluate the impact of professional learning communities in raising standards of achievement in literacy and numeracy. In this way, direct lines of accountability will be emphasised to ensure standards rise across the board.
The four consortia of local authorities will be working closely with their schools and with the Welsh Assembly Government to further develop and take forward the details of this strategy. Swift action is of the essence to set in place rapid and radical improvement in literacy and numeracy across Wales. Only by taking such radical measures will we reduce the impact of poverty on educational achievement in Wales.
2. PISA- Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 Results.
3. The Association of Directors of Education in Wales (ADEW) is the professional group of local authority officers accountable for statutory education functions in each of the Local Authorities in Wales.
4. Dr. Brett Pugh (Chief Education Officer, Newport) is currently the ADEW Chair.
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