Schools won’t have full inspections or colour codes next term

Invalid EmailSomething went wrong, please try again later.

When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Your information will be used in accordance with ourPrivacy Notice.

Full face to face school inspections in Wales, already halted for more than a year, will not resume next term.

School performance measures and colour categorisation will also remain suspended for the 2021-22 academic year to help ease the burden on schools caused by the pandemic, the Welsh Government said.

Schools will also no longer be required to report performance measures such as exam results and attendance in prospectuses or to governing bodies, the Welsh Government said. Instead that data will be available on the Welsh Government statistics online.

Read more: ‘I found a suicide note in a corridor’ Headteacher says schools must never shut again

Education Minister Jeremy Miles said he wanted to “ease pressure within the Welsh education system”.

Suspending Estyn’s core inspection programme for schools and pupil referral units and other measures will help cut administrative burdens on schools and enable “a more individualised approach to supporting young people in Wales”, he said.

School inspectorate Estyn said it would concentrate its work on recovery and reform before aiming to pilot reformed inspections in spring 2022.

A revised framework of how inspections will work will be published in November. Estyn said it would be “sensitive to settings’ experiences of the pandemic when we resume inspection”.

The education watchdog said it would help schools and pupil units prepare for Wales’ new curriculum, being rolled out from next year and for additional learning needs reform.

Engagement visits to schools and pupil referral units will continue and inspectors would also focus on monitoring schools causing concern.

Wales Matters delivers the best of WalesOnline’s coverage of politics, health, education, current affairs and local democracy straight to your inbox.

Now more than ever this sort of journalism matters and we want you to be able to access it all in one place with one click. It’s completely free and you can unsubscribe at any time.

To subscribe, click here, enter your email address and follow the simple instructions.

Meilyr Rowlands, chief inspector for schools in Wales, warned in his annual report at the end of last year that literacy and numeracy had been affected by school lockdown closures.

Some headteachers and teaching unions have said they are less worried about pupils catching up on knowledge than about restoring good life and learning habits, relationships and skills.

Estyn said in a statement: “We recognise that the last year and a half have been difficult and challenging for many learners and their families and for education providers and their staff.

“During the rest of the summer term, we’ll be asking for your feedback on our new inspection arrangements. We’ll consider with Welsh Government the best balance of engagement and inspection work to support the journey towards Curriculum for Wales.

“During the next academic year, 2021−2022, we intend to continue to support the education system in renewing and reforming.”

From spring 2022 the inspectorate said it aimed to pilot the new inspection arrangements in a small number of schools and pupil referral units.

“This will allow us to make sure the changes we’ve made support renewal and reform. We’ll ask individual providers for their agreement to be involved in pilots and may still carry out inspections of other schools in exceptional circumstances,” the statement added.

The Minister said, “My priorities for the coming year are to renew and reform, putting learners’ progression and wellbeing at the heart of everything we do.

“As we recover from the pandemic, working towards delivery of the new curriculum, I want to build on the innovation, flexibility and focus on wellbeing that have helped us through this period of disruption.

“The clear message I’ve received from the education workforce is that they are determined to do all they can to help learners progress, but there are pressures that are affecting their ability to do this. I have listened and am taking action to support them.

“The action announced today build on the range of measures we’ve already taken this year to ease pressure and provide flexibility. This is being backed by over £150m of funding to support wellbeing, learning and teaching this year.”

Next term Estyn said it will:

Continue with engagement visits to maintained schools and PRUs

Continue to monitor schools in a statutory category of follow up and those in Estyn review

Undertake agreed national thematic work

The inspectorate also works with other providers. This is how it will engage with them:

Independent schools

Estyn will resume annual monitoring visits to independent schools who provide additional learning needs provision.

From spring 2022 it will resume with its new inspection arrangements in independent schools.

Joint Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) and Estyn inspections of non-maintained settings

The joint inspection programme was suspended in March 2020. The Care Inspectorate Wales and Estyn have decided to extend the current suspension of joint inspections to the end of the autumn term.

They said this will allow Estyn to support the sector in renewing their arrangements and plan for curriculum for Wales and additional learning needs reform.

“We aim to re-start joint inspections in the spring term 2022. We will continue to monitor the situation carefully and evolve our plans as necessary.”

Local government education services

Inspections of LGES will resume in autumn 2021 adapted to take into account the effects of the pandemic,

Further education colleges

Work will be carried out in the rest of this term and in the autumn terms to consult on changes to the inspection arrangements.

In the autumn term Estyn will continue engagement visits to colleges and publish an update report on how the FE sector is developing its vocational, technical and general education provision. Core inspections are planned to resume during the spring term 2022.

Adult learning in the community

In the autumn term Estyn will continue engagement visits to adult learning partnerships.

Work-based learning

No core inspections of work-based learning providers in the first year of the new contracting period. Instead Estyn will do a monitoring visit to each of the work-based learning providers over the course of the year.

Independent specialist colleges

Annual monitoring visits to resume during the autumn term, before restarting core inspections from January 2022.

School bans girls from wearing all skirts saying they wear them too short

This is what head teachers think should happen as schools recover from Covid disruption

The Minister said: “My priorities for the coming year are to renew and reform, putting learners’ progression and wellbeing at the heart of everything we do.

“As we recover from the pandemic, working towards delivery of the new curriculum, I want to build on the innovation, flexibility and focus on wellbeing that have helped us through this period of disruption.

“The clear message I’ve received from the education workforce is that they are determined to do all they can to help learners progress, but there are pressures that are affecting their ability to do this. I have listened and am taking action to support them.

“The action announced today build on the range of measures we’ve already taken this year to ease pressure and provide flexibility. This is being backed by over £150m of funding to support wellbeing, learning and teaching this year.”

School inspections in Wales, already halted for more than a year, will not resume next term.

Education watchdog Estyn said it would concentrate its work on recovery and reform before aiming to pilot reformed inspections in spring 2022.

A revised framework of how inspections will work will be published in November. Estyn said it would be “sensitive to settings’ experiences of the pandemic when we resume inspection”.

In a statement posted on its website today (MON JUNE 21) Estyn said: “During the next academic year, 2021−2022, we intend to continue to support the education system in renewing and reforming and particularly we will help schools and pupil referral units plan and prepare for the Curriculum for Wales and additional learning needs reform.

“We’re extending the suspension of our core inspection programme for schools and pupil referral units to include the autumn term 2021.”

The inspectorate said no one was available to speak to about the decision but Meilyr Rowlands, Chief Inspector for schools in Wales, warned in his annual report at the end of last year that literacy and numeracy had been affected by school lockdown closures.



Estyn's chief inspector for schools, Meilyr Rowlands

Estyn’s chief inspector for schools, Meilyr Rowlands

READ MORE:The Mark Drakeford interview: The point at which lockdowns end, the third wave and masks in 2022

Estyn added: “We recognise that the last year and a half have been difficult and challenging for many learners and their families and for education providers and their staff.

“During the rest of the summer term, we’ll be asking for your feedback on our new inspection arrangements. We’ll consider with Welsh Government the best balance of engagement and inspection work to support the journey towards Curriculum for Wales.

“During the next academic year, 2021−2022, we intend to continue to support the education system in renewing and reforming and particularly we will help schools and pupil referral units plan and prepare for the Curriculum for Wales and additional learning needs reform.

“We will therefore focus on continuing with our engagement visits to schools and pupil referral units to support them on their curriculum journey. We will also focus on monitoring schools causing concern, and undertaking agreed national thematic work.”

Wales Matters delivers the best of WalesOnline’s coverage of politics, health, education, current affairs and local democracy straight to your inbox.

Now more than ever this sort of journalism matters and we want you to be able to access it all in one place with one click. It’s completely free and you can unsubscribe at any time.

To subscribe, click here, enter your email address and follow the simple instructions.

From spring 2022 the inspectorate said it aimed to pilot the new inspection arrangements in a small number of schools and pupil referral units.

“This will allow us to make sure the changes we’ve made support renewal and reform. We’ll ask individual providers for their agreement to be involved in pilots and may still carry out inspections of other schools in exceptional circumstances,” the statement added.

Next term Estyn said it will:

Continue with engagement visits to maintained schools and PRUs

Continue to monitor schools in a statutory category of follow up and those in Estyn review

Undertake agreed national thematic work

The inspectorate also works with other providers. This is how it will engage with them:

Independent schools

Estyn will resume annual monitoring visits to independent schools who provide additional learning needs provision.

From spring 2022 it will resume with its new inspection arrangements in independent schools.

Joint Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) and Estyn inspections of non-maintained settings

The joint inspection programme was suspended in March 2020. The Care Inspectorate Wales and Estyn have decided to extend the current suspension of joint inspections to the end of the autumn term.

They said this will allow Estyn to support the sector in renewing their arrangements and plan for curriculum for Wales and additional learning needs reform.

“We aim to re-start joint inspections in the spring term 2022. We will continue to monitor the situation carefully and evolve our plans as necessary.”

Local government education services

Inspections of LGES will resume in autumn 2021 adapted to take into account the effects of the pandemic,

Further education colleges

Work will be carried out in the rest of this term and in the autumn terms to consult on changes to the inspection arrangements.

In the autumn term Estyn will continue engagement visits to colleges and publish an update report on how the FE sector is developing its vocational, technical and general education provision. Core inspections are planned to resume during the spring term 2022.

Adult learning in the community

In the autumn term Estyn will continue engagement visits to adult learning partnerships.

Work-based learning

No core inspections of work-based learning providers in the first year of the new contracting period. Instead Estyn will do a monitoring visit to each of the work-based learning providers over the course of the year.

Independent specialist colleges

Annual monitoring visits to resume during the autumn term, before restarting core inspections from January 2022.