Jeremy Miles MS, Minister for Education and Welsh Language
On 20 September, I launched a consultation on the proposal to provide an additional Professional Learning INSET Day for 3 academic years (2022 to 2025). The consultation set out that the proposed additional INSET day would be specifically aimed at supporting the profession with changes aligned to the roll-out of the Curriculum for Wales and other national priorities, such as Additional Learning Needs (ALN) reform and equity in education. It also sought views on whether schools should be given the flexibility to decide on the timing of any additional INSET days.
The responses to the consultation supported the proposal. Respondents also agreed that schools should be given flexibility on the timing of the additional INSET day. Respondents further agreed that it should be mandated that any additional INSET day is used wholly or partly to deliver professional learning to support delivery of our priorities for the education system in Wales. A summary of consultation responses is available here.
Research and inspection evidence reveals the single most important influence on learner success within the education system is the quality of teaching and learning. The provision of the additional INSET day in the current and next 2 academic years will therefore play an important role in ensuring that teachers are supported to consider how the curriculum and other education reforms will impact on learner outcomes.
I intend to lay regulations in the spring term to ensure that the additional INSET day is available to schools during the current academic year. These regulations will also reduce the number of required sessions for the 2022/23 school year to take account of the additional bank holidays provided for HM Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral and HM King Charles III’s Coronation.