Claire Armitstead is making the opening address to education leaders from across Wales who are gathering in Cardiff for the association’s annual conference.

Her speech comes after Lynne Neagle, Cabinet Secretary for Education, last week announced an additional £50 million in 2024-25 to support education in Wales. Ms Neagle is also addressing the ASCL Cymru conference.

Ms Armitstead will say: “The challenges we face now are enormous. They’re more than that – they’re overwhelming, paralysing, and terrifying.
 
“We work in a system that’s so different from the one we joined. The pandemic has changed everything – it has reshaped what we thought we knew and altered the context of every single school.
 
“And we work in an education system catastrophically short of the funding it needs – even though that need is greater than ever before.
 
“Many of our schools have financial deficits. Many of our schools are having to make impossible decisions – to cut their curriculum offer; to increase class sizes; to reduce pastoral support.
 
“We welcome the additional £50 million of funding announced last week by the Cabinet Secretary for Education. She has listened and she has responded.
 
“But the sad reality is that our education system has been chronically underfunded for far too long and the damage runs deep.
 
“The extra money is a starting point – but it has to be followed up by further investment in order to put our schools on a more sustainable footing.
 
“And it is not only schools that are struggling.
 
“Wider support services are also on their knees with huge pressure on things which are often a lifeline to young people, such as youth services and specialist mental health support.

“Our children need and deserve so much more.”