Aiming for Excellence 2023
The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) welcomed Education and Welsh Language Minister Jeremy Miles, MS, to deliver a keynote speech at its 10th Aiming for Excellence Conference at Swansea’s Brangwyn Hall on May 26.
The conference, the largest in Wales and one of the biggest in the UK, is arranged annually by The Athrofa Professional Learning Partnership (APLP) and brings together BA Education, PGCE Primary and PGCE Secondary student-teachers to share good practice as they prepare for a career in teaching.
Athrofa is the Centre for education at UWTSD. It brings together Initial Teacher Education programmes and other professional qualifications for educators in all sectors of the education system; career-long professional learning opportunities and programmes, designed using research and close collaboration with partner schools; education research expertise, projects, and expertise; and the University’s Centre for Education Policy Review and Analysis (CEPRA).
The conference provided an opportunity to hear from the Education Minister on his reform agenda and he responded to questions from student-teachers during a live Q&A.
Jeremy Miles said: “It was fantastic to have the opportunity to meet and listen to so many talented and motivated people who are entering the teaching profession.
“It gives me such hope for the future of our profession and I am committed to doing everything I can to support our workforce now and into the future.”
Keynote speakers also included Professor Graham Donaldson, the founding father of Wales’s innovative new curriculum framework; writer, researcher and teacher Darren Chetty, and Phil Beadle, an expert in three fields of literacy/English teaching, behaviour management and creativity.
Professor Donaldson is currently the advisor on educational reform to the Welsh Government and a member of the First Minister of Scotland’ International Council of Education Advisors. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath by the Queen in 2009 for services to education and received the Robert Owen Award as an inspirational educator from the Scottish Government in 2015. He has also received Honorary Doctorates from UWTSD and the University of Glasgow.
Professor Donaldson said: “It is always a pleasure to meet with so many of Wales’s future teachers and educational leaders. Their enthusiasm gives me great confidence that the ambitious reforms in Wales will be sustained and enhanced in the years to come.”
Presentations, which gave a unique insight into the innovative lesson planning being undertaken and delivered in schools by UWTSD student-teachers, were delivered by Ffion Osmundsen, Amber Prosser, and Nia Loren.
The university works closely with a network of more than 100 partner schools across south Wales, from Pembrokeshire to Monmouthshire. Representatives from many of them were also in attendance at the conference.
Professor Dylan Jones, Deputy Vice-Chancellor said: “It is always rewarding to attend this annual conference. The enthusiasm and creativity of our new teachers is very uplifting and a major source of pride.”
Further Information
Rebecca Davies
Executive Press and Media Relations Officer
Corporate Communications and PR
Email: rebecca.davies@uwtsd.ac.uk
Phone: 07384 467071