Kirsty Williams MS, Minister for Education
This was published under the 2016 to 2021 administration of the Welsh Government
Today I am pleased to announce that Professor Charlotte Williams OBE has agreed to chair the ‘Communities, contributions and cynefin: BAME experiences and the new curriculum’ working group.
Professor Williams is Honorary Professor in the School of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences at Bangor University and former Associate Dean and Professor of Social work at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. She holds Honorary Fellow appointments at Glyndwr University and the University of South Wales.
Prof Williams is known for her commentary on issues of Welsh multiculturalism, and for her groundbreaking text “A Tolerant Nation? Exploring Ethnic Diversity in Wales”. Her award-winning memoir of growing up in Wales, “Sugar and Slate”, won Welsh book of the Year 2003. She is currently working on the third edition of the book ‘Social Policy for Social Welfare Practice in Wales’ due for publication in 2021.
In 2007, Professor Williams was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for services to ethnic minorities and equal opportunities in Wales.
In the first phase of the project, the working group will complete a review of resources currently available to support the teaching of themes relating to BAME communities and cynefin across all parts of the curriculum. It will highlight examples of good practice as well as identifying areas that need further work. I expect this phase to be completed in the autumn term, to feed into teaching for the coming academic year.
In the second phase of the project, the working group will review professional learning related to BAME communities, their contributions and experiences, and cynefin, across the curriculum. I expect that the group will present key recommendations in this area by the end of December.
The work of the group will be closely aligned to the Estyn review of Welsh history.
Informed by the outcome of this work, we will commission new resources to support the teaching of themes relating to BAME communities, cynefin, contributions and experiences. The group will oversee the development of these resources in advance of the phased introduction of the new Curriculum for Wales in 2022, and I would intend to reflect on progress within the 2020/21 academic year.
Further details of the membership of the group will be announced during the summer.
This statement is being issued during recess in order to keep members informed. Should members wish me to make a further statement or to answer questions on this when the Senedd returns I would be happy to do so.