Empowering educators: professional learning and leadership for Wales

Every day, so the saying goes, is “a school day”, an opportunity to learn something new. It’s a saying that crystallises Dysgu’s view as a brand-new body that each and every day, good professional learning is vital for the good health of our education sector. 

Dysgu was established on 1 September 2025 to prioritise and deliver excellent professional learning which is purposeful and impactful. This strategic vision will be reinforced by our corporate and operational plan which will give more detail on delivery.

We have already hit the ground running, piloting new ways of working.

That is because the workforce, whatever its character or location, is entitled to consistent, coherent, excellent support. 

Time is precious. “A school day” already includes any number of training requirements. Yet creating space to nurture, refine and review effectiveness is vital - both for our national priorities and for the personal development of those who lead, teach and support our learners.

Success for Dysgu means excellent professional learning and leadership support, which are coherent, nationally consistent and effective. Strengthening leadership, the quality of teaching and self-evaluation are at the heart of our mission. That is our purpose and our commitment to educators.

In drawing up this strategic vision, we have kept in mind the recommendations of the recent independent review into the roles and responsibilities of education partners and consequently assert that our top priority will be to develop professional learning characterised by “stronger national leadership with clearer national priorities”. 

We also recognise the many challenges facing our education sector. We have already heard calls for clarity, purpose and partnership: a clear definition of our priorities and opportunities for educators and schools to contribute directly to our work and enjoy support in leadership, literacy, numeracy and the quality of teaching.

Let us state clearly, then, that Dysgu is one important part of a bigger jigsaw and that there is a great deal of work ahead. We will continue to listen, adapt and respond as national priorities evolve and be alert, as we grow, to the aspirations of the sector. 

Guided by our core values - being responsive, collaborative, inclusive and innovative - we will work with our partners to deliver excellent professional learning and support continued success across Wales. 

This strategic vision sets our direction over the next four years: to support and inspire learning, to help realise the far-reaching aspirations of the Curriculum for Wales and - each and every day - to work together to improve our schools and educational settings and so too, improve the life chances of learners across Wales.

Prof. Dylan E Jones
Chair

Dr Gwenllian Lansdown Davies
Chief Executive

Objective 1

Establish Dysgu as an effective, inclusive and responsive deliverer of national professional learning whose work demonstrably improves outcomes for learners across Wales in line with the four purposes. 

Objective 2

Ensure that national priorities, first and foremost, shape the provision of excellent professional learning that inspires personal growth and professional development for all educators.

Objective 3

Ensure strong delivery of nationally consistent and impactful professional learning so that educators are empowered as leaders throughout their careers, through formal qualifications, training and tailored support.

Dysgu’s vision is that every educator in Wales can access high-quality professional learning and leadership support which spark their imagination and contribute to their professional and personal growth, supporting them to be their best. Dysgu wants to foster collective responsibility, collaborative learning and purposeful self-evaluation across the sector through excellent professional learning.

Working with and within the sector every step of the way to help create the conditions for better outcomes for learners.

Dysgu leads the national provision of professional learning and leadership support, playing a central role in the work of realising the Welsh Government’s Strategic Education Workforce Plan in line with the Well-being of Future Generations Act and Cymraeg 2050.

By supporting a ‘Once for Wales’ approach to national priorities - literacy, numeracy, well-being, teaching and learning and digital competence - Dysgu will “contribute directly to school improvement and the realisation of the Curriculum for Wales.”

We will support those who learn by empowering those who teach.

We are responsive: we consider, learn from and respond to the sector and reflect on what schools and educational settings are telling us.

We are inclusive: we respect each other by championing a professional learning offer that recognises diverse needs and ways of learning.

We are collaborative: working in partnership is essential to us. We value and seek the expertise of others and welcome local experience and evidence that strengthens national delivery.

We are innovative: acknowledging existing excellent practice, we also welcome new ideas and fresh approaches to delivering professional learning. We embrace emerging technology that offers the chance to innovate and boost opportunities for educators, while rigorously and judiciously evaluating its impact on our work. 

Dysgu wants to maximise its impact. 

After engaging in 300 conversations over the past 6 months with key partners, including local authorities and directors of education, reflecting on the findings of over 550 responses to our snapshot survey, and piloting new offers such as the Dysgu / Estyn Maths roadshows, we will deliver change by focusing on these initial areas: 

Robust and sustainable leadership support

• Leadership for middle, senior and experienced leaders whatever the nature of their role (teaching assistant, teacher, headteacher), youth workers and the wider system.
• The development or continuation of professional learning pathways for teaching assistants, early career teachers, middle and senior leaders and school improvement advisors.
• Research opportunities including Masters and Doctorate qualifications.

Professional learning to address national priorities

• Improving teaching and pedagogy based on evidence and research.
• A focus on literacy and numeracy via national programmes of support.
• Professional learning, scoped and designed in partnership with the Education Improvement Team, to enable the implementation of school improvement guidance by supporting self-evaluation and improvement planning in schools (including evaluation through collaborative inquiry), and developing system leadership.
• The development of Welsh in English-medium schools and settings in line with the Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Act 2025 (Cymraeg Craidd/Core Cymraeg).
• Welsh-medium teaching.

Inclusion at the heart of learning

• Enabling schools to support learners with additional learning needs.
• Promoting mental health and wellbeing.
• Embedding inclusive practices based on a broad understanding of inclusion, including creating equitable and inclusive learning environments, addressing learner behaviour, working towards an anti-racist Wales, supporting LGBTQ+ learners, and reducing the impact of poverty on learners’ progression and attainment. 

These areas of focus will flex over time as new evidence and insights emerge from the sector, local authorities and key partners with professional standards in mind.

A consistent, co-ordinated and accessible offer

Our offer will be fully funded and free at the point of delivery. It will be available nationally through flexible models and methodologies - face to face, online and asynchronously - with approaches that broaden horizons.

Continuous learning through engagement, discussion and testing

We will collaborate with a diverse range of experts and partners to expand our knowledge and embed long-term thinking in our planning. We will keep an open dialogue with educators, involving the sector in the design, delivery and review of our work.

Research and evaluation

Evaluation will underpin everything we do. We will work with professional research companies and Higher Education Institutions to gather insight and data. We will be transparent and share our findings with others, including global partners.

Striving for excellence

As we develop our quality assurance framework, we will set clear expectations and strive for excellence.  Our emphasis will be on excellent provision, commissioning only what is purposeful, useful and inclusive. 

Equity and bilingualism

One of the core ambitions of the Curriculum for Wales is that Cymraeg belongs to us all. Dysgu will ensure that all educators have equal access to opportunities to develop and use the language, supporting the aspirations of Cymraeg 2050.

Working in partnership

We will work with local authorities, various local and national partners to identify solutions that meet differing needs, piloting support such as the Dysgu/Estyn Maths roadshows at a proof-of-concept level.

An offer for all

If every learner in Wales is to reach their full potential, it is vital that all educators in the state sector in Wales have access to the work Dysgu does, and the support it offers. 

Through our operation plan, we will develop a robust approach - and sophisticated methods - to gather evidence and measure the impact of our work. Key performance indicators will be aligned to a quality assurance framework validated and monitored by our Board and shared in our Annual Reports. Success will take the form of consistently strong, evidence-informed teaching, confident and reflective leadership, professional learning that is purposeful and manageable based on clear national priorities. Educators who engage with Dysgu's national professional learning offer demonstrate strengthened professional capability, evidenced through changes in professional knowledge, confidence, practice and leadership behaviours aligned to the professional standards.

Teaching, being an educator, is demanding and complex. 

It requires resilience and enormous dedication. 

Having to respond to the multiple needs of learners and shifting societal pressures while delivering on local and national priorities can be challenging. 

Yet being an educator is also joyous and transformative and while change should - according to the popular theory - be Easy, Attractive, Social and Timely, Dysgu wants to inject Fun into the process! That offers us a FEAST of opportunity, a chance to introduce change that energises education in Wales and injects excellence and creativity into professional learning.

A thriving professional learning culture matters. 

Supporting and inspiring our educators matters. 

That is why Dysgu wants to give every educator in every school and educational setting across Wales the best possible chance of engaging in lifelong learning through excellent professional learning so they can refine their practice, spark curiosity and unlock their learners’ potential. 

Teaching - and learning - which inspires, each and every day. 

Dysgu is ready to listen, to lead and to serve as we work together for success.