Education Minister Jane Hutt has launched the Welsh Assembly Government’s School Effectiveness Framework which aims to put children and young people at the heart of education policy and delivery in Wales.

The Framework is the result of collaboration between the Welsh Assembly Government , local authorities, head teachers and other key partners and will play a central role in the development of future education polices in Wales.

A range of schools, including primary, secondary and special schools; urban and rural; church schools and schools operating through the medium of Welsh will be piloting the Framework from September 2008.

Head teachers will be trained as ‘associates' and released from their normal duties for a quarter of their time in order to work with other schools in their area to improve collaboration.

The Framework will be rolled out to all schools from mid 2009. £5.1m will be spent on developing the framework over the next three years.

The Framework can be downloaded from the Welsh Assembly Government website.