Jane Dodds: ..., to go back to Delyth's point, it was so important for that community. It was run by Tanat Valley Coaches, who I actually visited as well. Tanat Valley were a service that offered bus services to schools as well, and, actually, they told me that they made a loss, but they felt it was so important that they continued with this community resource. I do praise them and support them for that....
Jane Dodds: ...biometric data and of digital rights, so I do thank you for the opportunity to sponsor this and to take part in this debate. Diolch yn fawr iawn. The collection and use of biometric data in schools raises real concerns about rights, legality and the appropriate use of such crucial data. In particular, we need to be assured that schools are complying with the expectations both of the...
Jane Dodds: ...doing. I'm really pleased that we are seeing an increase in dentist provision in rural areas. I know that we are looking at mobile dentistry, and we're looking at those dentists as well being in schools, secondary schools, so I'm really pleased that that is happening and I'm grateful, as well, for the additional funding for a dentist in Llandrindod Wells. We need to obviously protect our...
Jane Dodds: ...our future’. Indeed, they are, aren’t they? I’m really pleased to see so much in this budget that actually focuses on children. I echo many of the statements from Jayne Bryant. We have free school meals. That is about feeding our children—all of our children, it doesn’t matter what their background is. It’s about making sure that our care-experienced children whom we are...
Jane Dodds: Thank you very much, Minister. I want to focus, if it's okay, on the WESPs—you've talked about the WESPs in a previous question—and particularly the part of the WESPs that mention secondary schools and how primary schools in rural areas can ensure that the secondary schools have an adequate number of pupils entering them. There is a balance to be struck here, as I'm sure you can see. In...
Jane Dodds: 3. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to support the Welsh language in rural schools and communities? OQ58914
Jane Dodds: ...the debate this afternoon. I think it is so important that we build up community resilience. I like to call it 'community mental health first aid', and I would like to see more accessible training, education, awareness raising for people who want to become mental health first aiders in our communities. Thank you. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Jane Dodds: ...some time have been calling for local food sourcing, and the more the public sector can do to nudge behaviour in the right direction, the better. I hope we are ensuring, for example, that the free-school-meals programme uses as much locally produced and sourced food as possible. Whilst I recognise that it's ultimately local authorities that make their own decisions regarding procurement,...
Jane Dodds: ...of our local authority staff could be going on this. So, I really would appreciate hearing more about that in this debate in order for me to make a decision. Right now, let's look at what is facing schools, not just here—well, in Wales, we have specific issues—but across the UK. We don't have enough teachers and we want to pay them more. We don't have enough classroom assistants and we...
Jane Dodds: ...happening. Surfers Against Sewage have been running a towns accreditation scheme, plastic-free towns, whereby, as we know, communities take steps to work with local businesses, community groups, schools, et cetera, to reduce their use of plastics and to recycle them in productive ways. Twenty-eight towns in Wales have been accredited or are working towards that accreditation, and I think...
Jane Dodds: ...there were two challenges they face this autumn and winter, given the cost-of-living crisis. One is that they are receiving fewer donations and the other, sadly, is an increased demand. Over the school holidays, a local fish and chip shop in Newtown started providing free meals to children, because families simply didn't have enough money to feed themselves when free school dinners stopped...
Jane Dodds: ..., nor any assistance available to them, which leaves them feeling isolated and abandoned, which my colleague Heledd Fychan touched on as well. They're often forced to leave their employment or education, and become an almost professionalised workforce, administering medication, perhaps with no regular medical and health support. As Mind Cymru stresses, it is essential that the Government...
Jane Dodds: ...we need to have at the forefront of our minds. I want to pay tribute to all of those who are working to protect children—our midwives, our health visitors, our schoolteachers, those working in education, and our social workers as well. As you know, I have a degree of experience in working in social work, and I really just wanted to ask you how the Welsh Government is making sure that our...
Jane Dodds: ...for me was actually getting those children and their families into CAMHS services. I just want to recognise a few things in Wales that I think have gone well. I'm really pleased to see the whole-school approach to mental health continue to be rolled out, because a focus on prevention and trauma-informed school environments are incredibly important in nurturing positive mental health among...
Jane Dodds: ..., regardless of their background, is essential if we are to create a brighter future for every child in Wales. Currently, the costs and complexity of the arrangements between nine months and school age are disadvantaging many families. In order to currently qualify for the childcare offer, each parent in the household must be working and earning below £100,000 a year. So, a child whose...
Jane Dodds: Diolch, Weinidog. You will be aware of the decision of Powys County Council to close rural schools in the area, which has been a devastating blow for many communities. I am increasingly concerned about the impact this so-called transformation programme will have on Welsh-medium education in Powys, so thank you for your response. The commitment of many of these rural schools to Welsh education...
Jane Dodds: 9. Will the Minister make a statement on the impact of recently announced school closures in Powys on the Welsh Government's targets to expand Welsh-medium education? OQ57888
Jane Dodds: Good afternoon, Minister. I wonder if I could ask for two statements please, with the first statement from the Minister for Education and Welsh Language about financial support for small and rural schools. Unions this week have raised the concerns that I raised during the budget process about the removal of the SRSG—the small and rural schools grant—and that the additional funding...
Jane Dodds: ...They are places of historical and political debate, they are places where we have cymanfa ganus, where our brilliant hymn-writers started—we heard many of those names come forward—choirs, where education is—and Samuel Kurz also highlighted the importance of Sunday schools—we've got welfare services running out of them, debating halls, places where politicians started. Then we heard...
Jane Dodds: ...all of the remarks made so far, and I will be supporting the Plaid Cymru amendment as well. In 1943, in the depths of the war, more than 120 Czech children arrived in Llanwrtyd Wells, where a new school had been set up. They were Jewish refugees, brought to the UK by Kindertransport, brought here by Sir Nicholas Winton who rescued many Jewish children. This small town took these children...
