Since devolution, Wales has had a chance to blossom. Initiatives range from free breakfast for little ones (this page) to the Welsh Baccalaureate (page 10). The proposed three-to-seven foundation stage could bring sound early- years practice to all young children (page 6).

You can attend workshops and talks on these and other innovations at Wales Education 2004 next week. We are pleased to bring you this supplement, which previews new products and training sessions that will inform and inspire.

We are especially delighted because this supplement appears in the launch issue of TES Cymru, The TES’s new weekly newspaper for Wales.

Wales is flexing its independent muscles, and has come a long way in a short time. A decade ago, Richard Daugherty, as chair of the Curriculum Council for Wales, tried to protect a distinctive curriculum, but was overruled by Whitehall ministers. Today, his radical proposals to overhaul assessment in Wales could well become reality.