Professional Learning Pioneer Schools / Ysgolion Arloeswyr Y Dysgu Proffesiynol
Glan Usk Primary School is proud to have been selected by the Welsh Government as one of only a select number of Professional Learning Pioneer School from across Wales.
On 30 June 2015, the Minister for Education and Skills announced that the Welsh Government would accept, in full, all of the recommendations set out in Successful Futures, Professor Graham Donaldson’s independent review of the curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales. Building on the Digital Pioneers model announced on 10 June 2015, this document sets out how, working in a new way with schools, local authorities, regional consortia, Estyn, leading academics and employers as well as other key stakeholders we will ether build our new curriculum in Wales.
Glan Usk has the privilege of being a dual-pioneer school, working in both the curriculum and the professional learning streams of work. As a Curriculum Pioneer for Health & Wellbeing we work together as part of an all-Wales partnership team to design and develop the new curriculum for Wales. This begins with defining the key ‘What Matters’ statements which will form the basis for the new curriculum and then writing the progression steps which will articulate clearly the progression in development and learning within these areas.
As a Pioneer School we play a key role as pathfinders for the new curriculum, supporting, leading and embedding realisation of the new curriculum framework both locally and nationally - sharing our vision, knowledge, understanding and experience of the new curriculum with other schools.
The Professional Standards being developed by the WG and embedded into the practice of all at Glan Usk reflects the central ethos that all we do as education practitioners is built around the maximising of teaching and learning opportunities for our pupils. Moreover, our extensive school-to-school work, both across the region and nationally, enriches our moral purpose by allowing us to share our ESTYN-commended practice with other schools. Leaders and teachers in our school have responsibility for supporting newly qualified teachers in South Wales through their first teaching year. We also host a broad programme of teaching, learning and leadership workshops for TAs, teachers, Deputy Headteachers and Headteachers in South Wales.
This is a very exciting time for us all at Glan Usk Primary School.