Bridgend Council’s Cabinet is set to start work on a new support system for schools (pdf).
At present, this work is undertaken by 4 regional consortia, which were set up by the Welsh Government in 2014. Bridgend is a member of the Central South Consortia alongside Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil.
The regional consortia oversee the professional development/training of teachers. Also, when a school receives a critical inspection report, typically the regional consortium steps in to help.
However, when a review of the consortiums was undertaken by the Welsh Government reported back at the start of the year there was a lot of negative feedback from schools and headteachers.
Criticisms include a lack of clarity over reforms introduced across several years, a lack of consistency in support and excessive bureaucracy.
There was also criticism of a lack of support from the consortia for specific challenges facing schools such as poor student behaviour and post-pandemic attendance rates.
Council set to shift to a more localised model
One element of the consortia that generated positive feedback was the level of school-to-school collaboration.
This is set to form the basis of a new model of school improvement, which BCBC will start work on – subject to Cabinet approval.
The assumption is that following the Welsh Government review, councils will take on more responsibility for school improvement – effectively scrapping the regional consortia.
In future, primary and secondary schools are likely to be grouped (i.e. a secondary school and its feeder primary schools) and work with each other directly to support improvement.
Welsh-medium schools and special schools will likely be grouped by health board area (because there are fewer of them).
Professional development is set to be delivered regionally, as it is now – though “with simplified and streamlined governance arrangements”.
