Laura Doel, NAHT Cymru’s national secretary, said: “We congratulate Eluned Morgan on becoming the new first minister and urge her to ensure investment in education is a top priority.

“Schools are facing a host of increasingly difficult challenges which are making it harder and harder for school leaders and their staff to offer the education all pupils deserve.

“They are hamstrung by everything from shortages of funding for their core budgets and support for children with additional learning needs, to a recruitment and retention crisis fuelled by unsustainable levels of workload and years of real-terms pay cuts.

“We urge the new first minister and the Welsh government to get to grips with these issues, for the sake of not only children’s learning and life chances, but also the future of Wales and its economic prosperity.”