ABSTRACT
Wales is a particularly interesting context for addressing educational equity. Like many school systems that are said to be successful, it is small. The design of Schools Challenge Cymru drew extensively on lessons from the City Challenge programme in England. However, there was a political concern to show that the initiative retained a strong Welsh flavour. Examples of the developments that had taken place had been presented by schools at a workshop for the 40 headteachers held in March of 2015. These included accounts that focused on areas such as teacher professional development; pupil leadership; transition between schools; strengthening literacy in science lessons; involving hard-to-reach parents; and restorative practice in relationship to behaviour. The chapter describes how, despite a highly positive independent evaluation, the project was discontinued as a result of changes in political leadership. Much of the work of advisers had been concentrated on working with senior staff to build confidence and strengthen their leadership skills
