Impact Wales Newsletter
Supporting schools to make a real impact - September 2017
Latest News - September 2017
Welsh Government has now published their fully updated national plan for the new Curriculum for Wales.
Download full document here - http://bit.ly/2huB6Li
Two key date changes:
January 2020 Delivery of the final curriculum documents to schools
September 2022 All schools to start using the new curriculum
Secondary have been given a staggered roll out, with Year 7 starting to use the new documents with the primary schools in 2022 adding a year group each year until all of KS3 and KS4 are using the new curriculum in 2026.
Education Secretary, Kirsty Williams has obviously been listening! The overwhelming evidence from teaching unions, Estyn and other stakeholders was that a start date of 2021 was just too soon, especially for secondary schools. Earlier this term Professor Mark Priestley from the University of Stirling who is currently working to support the Pioneer development process, commented of the Curriculum of Excellence in Scotland that, "to the casual observer, S1-3 in the secondary will look remarkably similar today to what it did pre-Curriculum for Excellence." This is after 10+ years of development in Scotland. The journey to prepare for and implement a cross curricular approach to teaching, is a measurably harder one for secondary colleagues, and it is very encouraging that Welsh Government have recognised the difficulties in time to do something about them.
To help schools understand what has changed and when everything will be happening we have created a complete timeline for the new curriculum in one simple document. Just download it as a free pdf from the link above.
Other News
- £1.4M announced by Welsh Government to provide further Mental Health Services support for schools http://bit.ly/2fpDHSC
- Minor revisions have been made to the language of the Digital Competence Framework updates here http://bit.ly/2cD6uox
- GCSEs are to be reformed by Qualifications Wales to align with the new Curriculum for Wales from 2020 for first teaching to take place in 2024.
- All schools in Wales who use GL Assessment Literacy tools are invited to a FREE workshop on Nov. 9th in Cardiff that will highlight how these assessments can be used to develop skills from the Wales curriculum in line with the National Tests. Further details here http://bit.ly/2y7R9WA
Autumn Term Workshops - November Dates
We are delighted to introduce two new workshops for schools this Autumn. The workshops address two key recommendations from Estyn this year; that provision for More Able learners is enhanced and that schools need to focus on the progression pupils' Literacy and Numeracy skills. For more details click on the links below.
Full details of all the support we offer schools here https://www.smore.com/21f5z
MAT Learners Project Workshop - Nov 16th
Training Outcomes
- Practical strategies for Literacy and Numeracy that enable pupils to make measurable progress.
- A mastery approach to teaching Literacy and Numeracy across all Areas of Learning and Experience.
- Tried and tested strategies to enable teachers to identify skills required by each Area of Learning and Experience in line with Successful Futures and the 4 purposes of the new Curriculum for Wales.
- A Donaldson Ready approach to teaching the enabling skills for Literacy and Numeracy as well as those which provide pupils with greater challenge.
Progressing Literacy & Numeracy Skills
Training Outcomes
- Practical strategies for Literacy and Numeracy that enable pupils to make measurable progress.
- A mastery approach to teaching Literacy and Numeracy across all Areas of Learning and Experience.
- Tried and tested strategies to enable teachers to identify skills required by each Area of Learning and Experience in line with Successful Futures and the 4 purposes of the new Curriculum for Wales.
- A Donaldson Ready approach to teaching the enabling skills for Literacy and Numeracy as well as those which provide pupils with greater challenge.
Sketchnotes as Professional Learning - New resources available
Have you used our free sketchnotes based on research for collaborative learning in your school yet? Develop your professional understanding by keeping up to date with the latest educational thinking and practical strategies designed specifically for the Welsh context. Just pop along to our website www.impact.wales and download your free copies today.
Please note these resources are copyrighted materials. As such, we are happy for schools and teachers to use them free of charge for their own professional learning and internal training, as long as our company name remains intact. If you would like to use any of our resources for commercial purposes, please contact us at enquiries@impact.wales for permission.
A Little More About Us
Can you trust us? - We have both worked for Welsh Government supporting schools & senior leaders across Wales. We have held senior leadership posts, delivered support to strategic education advisers, and published curriculum support guidance with Oxford University Publishing...but if you need to know more visit our website for testimonials from schools we've worked with.
Why should you buy our support? - Put simply, because we believe in impact. We do exactly what our name suggests. Our school support is always bespoke, high quality and designed specifically for each school we work with. Our focus is on delivering measurable impact for pupils.
Email: enquiries@impact.wales
Website: www.impact.wales
Location: Wales, United Kingdom
Phone: 0781 775 2172
Facebook: facebook.com/impactwales123
Twitter: @ImpactWales