TEACHING leaders today demanded the Welsh government increase money to schools for extra staff in response to Estyn’s annual report.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) Cymru cautiously welcomed the chief inspector of schools’s annual report but warned curriculum changes had come at the wrong time.

NAHT Cymru National Secretary Laura Doel said: “As this report shows, pupils are still showing the impact of the pandemic in their learning and outcomes. 

“We do need to see the Welsh government doing more to prioritise children and young people, both by taking steps to help families with wider societal problems, but also by properly investing in and resourcing schools in their recovery efforts. 

“Additional challenges like delivering the new curriculum have come at just the wrong time, and if we hope to close the recovery gap, we need to make sure schools have the staff and funding to focus on the key part of their jobs — educating.”

A Welsh government spokesperson said: “Despite our overall budget being worth £1.3bn less in real terms, we have re-prioritised funding within the education budget so we can protect school funding as much as possible.”