Laura Anne Jones: ...of those lessons, which I just don’t agree with. You state that, in most cases, parents’ concerns come from not knowing what’s going on. Information sharing is worryingly different between schools, across schools and across local authority areas. But many parents do know what’s going on, Minister, and still do not want their children learning these dangerous falsehoods. Minister,...
Laura Anne Jones: Thank you, Minister. We welcome a national approach on this, as we need to absolutely ensure that school budgets have the money they need in the meantime, before this is sorted, to adapt to these extra pressures that are put upon them. Minister, you'll be aware that the Welsh Government commissioned a resource for sex education in Wales. This ended up with AGENDA being created and used by...
Laura Anne Jones: Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. Minister, since having my education shadow portfolio, I've undertaken a tour of schools across Wales, and resoundingly, the No. 1 concern that they raise with me is ALN, additional learning needs. Reform was needed and no-one disagrees with that, but there are significant concerns about the reality of what is now happening in schools on the ground....
Laura Anne Jones: ...intention to copy the Scottish self-ID Bill with the release of your LGBTQ+ action plan, which intends to make it easier for biological males to enter women-only spaces, push gender ideology in schools, and unfairness in sport. First Minister, there was outrage in Scotland at the gender recognition reform Bill, with polling consistently showing that the Scottish public did not agree with...
Laura Anne Jones: What steps is the Welsh Government taking to make transport for people who are learning at higher education institutions more accessible and affordable?
Laura Anne Jones: Thank you to Natasha Asghar for bringing this debate to the Senedd today in the name of Darren Millar. I’ve said it before—and many of my colleagues have, multiple times—that a decent road and transport infrastructure is the absolute key to a vibrant economy. And you’d think that was an obvious statement to make, yet we have a Government that is insistent on blocking Wales’s...
Laura Anne Jones: Will the Minister acknowledge that there is a real-terms and cash cut in education in your budget this year? And will you also acknowledge that, with you putting the money that is designated for education not solely into the education budget but putting it into local government, there is absolutely no guarantee, even though you say that local government leaders say that they have good...
Laura Anne Jones: Thank you. And whose fault do you think it is that the Welsh Government are cutting the education budget in cash, in real terms? Do you think it's Brexit, or is it a political decision? It's clearly a political decision. You're showing Wales today that the priority of this Labour Government is not to look after the children and young people of Wales.
Laura Anne Jones: Thank you. I think I wasn't down to speak, but I will speak, because I think it's very important that I do speak on education. I can't believe that Plaid Cymru just stood up and said that they were going to support a budget that is, in real terms, cutting education—cutting education by £6.5 million in real terms. That is disgraceful. This Government has a missed opportunity with this...
Laura Anne Jones: ...we do that when we have a teacher retention and recruitment crisis at the moment, which also means that we can't attract those Welsh-speaking, core-subject-teaching teachers into our Welsh-medium schools, and, if we want to develop those Welsh-medium schools, which I think all parties have said that they want to see, how are we going to do that when we can't get the teachers into those...
Laura Anne Jones: ..., as you’ve already outlined. They contribute to the formation of human capital and maintenance of mental and physical well-being, social inclusivity and community cohesion as well, of course, as educating and providing books for those who can’t afford them—particularly important when we see that a massive 44 per cent of pupils rarely or never read books, which is far higher than in...
Laura Anne Jones: Business Minister, I'd like to request a statement from the Minister for Education and Welsh Language on the replacement of BTECs and what our Welsh equivalent of T-levels will actually look like. This month, the Department for Education in England announced a new £12 million T-level employer placement scheme to boost the uptake from businesses to take on student placements and access to...
Laura Anne Jones: ...one and I’d like to focus on just a few key issues from it today. We have seen that additional learning needs pupils often do not get the right, timely support, which results in persistent school absence. The National Autistic Society Cymru found that 43 per cent of autistic students were persistently absent, which is a worrying statistic. We also see that students in poverty, as has...
Laura Anne Jones: Minister, education is devolved. You peddle out the same old excuses when you have levers at your own disposal. Even though the aims of the suggested new supply teacher central portal are the right ones—and I will credit you on that—even people like the Education Workforce Council have said, in practice, it's just not going to work, given there's no incentive, no driver, to make them move...
Laura Anne Jones: Absolutely, Minister—it's an invaluable role, and it's better late than never, I suppose. It's not just a crisis with support staff though, is it? From my conversations with the Education Workforce Council and the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, it's blindingly obvious that we have a crisis in recruiting and attracting core subject teachers. Last year, you hit under 50 per...
Laura Anne Jones: Diolch, Llywydd. Minister, since 2017, 40 per cent of school support staff registered with the Education Workforce Council have left. There's clearly a massive retention problem at the heart of Welsh education, which is causing the industry to lose experienced staff at this rate. Because of this, cash-strapped schools are having to put even more of a strain on their budgets, having to recruit...
Laura Anne Jones: ...the initial headlines from the statement back in December, I thought that Welsh Government had finally had an epiphany and come to the realisation that it’s time to properly fund and support our education system after years of neglect. Alas, as it turns out, this isn’t the case, and, in fact, things are going to get worse for our schools, our educators and our pupils. In November last...
Laura Anne Jones: ...we want to see a fairer Wales. But, as I read through this plan today, I read some of it with disbelief, and I find a lot of this plan genuinely concerning: pushing gender ideology in nurseries and schools, unfairness in sports, and, incredibly, seeing that you still want to push ahead for those powers to emulate the self-identification Bill in Scotland, despite the clear risks that it...
Laura Anne Jones: ...is appreciated, I do still have some concerns that are echoed by parents and practitioners alike. Your statement outlines that data should not be used in isolation to judge performance or compare schools. Traditionally, of course, information on school performance in both Wales and the rest of the UK is used to judge performance and compare schools. Furthermore, comparative data only...
Laura Anne Jones: Business Minister, a whole term has now passed since the beginning of the Curriculum for Wales's implementation in schools, and Estyn inspection teams have, of course, been very busy. For the first time in many years now, the inspection process is the only method by which primary schools are held to account. Secondary and all-age schools have the additional pressure of the external...
