NAHT Cymru Director Laura Doel: “While we await this apparent ‘emerging evidence base’, it seems the Welsh Government is determined to push ahead regardless.

“Yet again the language being used refers to fitting in with modern patterns of family life and employment. Schools’ focus has to be on teaching and learning and while support for working families is admirable, that is not the evidence base on which to make major changes to schools.

“NAHT Cymru supports tackling education inequalities but the international evidence shows that extending the length of time in school has little or no impact on learner attainment.  Strong leadership, highly-skilled teachers and smaller classes have the biggest impact, yet these factors are not being supported.

“This enrichment programme cost £2m to support 1,800 learners for just 10 weeks. We have single schools that have that many learners. How does the government propose to fund such a project? Unless of course it commits to the full-scale review of education funding and spending we continue to call for and makes sure all money spent in education offers the very best value for our learners.”