MANY readers who take an interest in business of the National Assembly for Wales could be excused for thinking work in the Senedd almost exclusively revolves around Brexit and the latest Ukip fallout.

Whilst both these subjects do grab the media’s attention there are a myriad of important measures that are debated and discussed.

As I write this column, in my office in the National Assembly for Wales, the Assembly has today seen statements by the Welsh Government on Economic Action Plan and the National Academy for Educational Leadership.

I spoke on the cabinet secretary for education, Kirsty Williams AM’s, statement on the establishment of a National Academy for Educational Leadership.

As a cabinet member for education in Caerphilly County Borough Council for five years before being elected to the National Assembly I saw on a daily basis the difference that school leadership could make to transform the mundane to the meritorious.

I see it in Islwyn where the new Islwyn High has a state of the art building with school leadership ready to take the school to the next level to ensure all its children excel.

I see it in Islwyn when I recently visited Abercarn Primary School to be interviewed by pupils in the school’s very own radio station.

I see it in Islwyn where my former school Newbridge continues to be at the heart of its community.

The Leadership Academy has the potential, along with other Welsh Government measures, to restore the lustre and reputation of Welsh education as one of the great assets of the Welsh people.

I will be keen to observe and monitor how the best practice developed in the home of the Leadership Academy in Swansea will be cascaded into every single classroom throughout Islwyn schools.

I, along with my office staff, recently underwent Dementia Friends training.

Dementia Action Week, from Monday, May 21 until Sunday, May 27, has been an important time to take action and unite against dementia.

It has been an opportunity to recognise the importance of increasing awareness and understanding of dementia to reduce stigma and to create a dementia friendly Wales.