Dawn Bowden: ...in Wales during this Assembly term? Does she also agree that delivering apprenticeships funded by the public purse—and by that I mean both Welsh Government and European funding—through further education colleges like Merthyr could revitalise the further education sector as well as delivering best value for money by reinvesting in the public sector?
Dawn Bowden: ..., European structural funds did provide for discrete training towards vocational skills and qualifications, and such qualification-focused training is currently provided both in our further education colleges in Wales and through private learning providers. This training is clearly an important element in ensuring that there’s a suitably trained and skilled workforce for businesses...
Dawn Bowden: ...of the plan. They also have a role as employers in taking the lead on providing mental health awareness, both in respect of the day-to-day service delivery and amongst their own staff. Local education authorities also have a crucial part to play in raising awareness around mental health issues amongst children in schools, including working to end the stigma that we’ve heard so much about...
Dawn Bowden: Will the Minister provide an update on local education authorities that have recently been lifted from special measures?
Dawn Bowden: ..., but the marginal increase in the overall number of emergency calls being received by the ambulance service highlights the need for continued widespread support and publicity in the drive to educate the public on the appropriate use of emergency services?
Dawn Bowden: ...for his answer on that. I just wanted to widen this slightly to road safety issues that certainly have been raised with me, and I’m sure many other Members, particularly relating to safety around schools. It’s often the case that, even with the provision of zebra and pelican crossings, the safety of children travelling to and from schools is a concern. Ideally, the council would employ...
Dawn Bowden: ...how best we, as a society, can support them. To start addressing this, we do need to have a fully developed prevention strategy. Part of that, as the Cabinet Secretary has alluded to, must be the education, not just of children, but of the whole society. Of particular importance is that everyone appreciates that diversity should not just be accepted but should be welcomed and fostered. It...
Dawn Bowden: Can I thank the Cabinet Secretary for her response previously on this? The active travel plan, which I referred to yesterday, in fact, in relation to road safety around schools, also places an expectation on local authorities in Wales to start drawing up maps of proposed new networks for walking and cycling routes. In Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, as you probably know, there are already...
Dawn Bowden: Diolch, Lywydd. Nine-fifteen a.m., Friday 21 October 1966—the terrible events visited on Aberfan that day reverberated around the world. On the last day of the school term, one small mining village lost 116 children and 28 adults. Nothing would ever be the same for Aberfan, for Wales, for the world. Just one day later, just one hour earlier, things would have been so different. Aberfan was...
Dawn Bowden: ...of concern over the current regime for supporting children and young people with additional learning needs is something that has certainly been raised with me by parents of children with special educational needs, who tell me about their struggle to get the right support for their child. And, in Wales, we've seen a rise of over 6,000 in the number of children with SENs since 2011, and, in...
Dawn Bowden: ...the majority of staff in other areas of devolved public services, would, I am sure, welcome any scrutiny that extends into other areas other than local government, such as higher and further education, for example, where we've witnessed significantly increased salary levels for vice-chancellors while at the same time we have seen huge increases in the number of staff on zero-hours...
Dawn Bowden: ...regime to domiciliary care workers by 2020. Even at an early stage, I think in Wales we are seeing the benefits of the Welsh Government’s decision to introduce registration across the education workforce, and I’ve no doubt that similar benefits will accrue from the registration of domiciliary care staff. In relation to residential care, I’m pleased to note that the commissioner...
Dawn Bowden: Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for that response. Can I highlight some work that’s going on in Cwm Taf Local Health Board at the moment, who’ve been running a campaign to promote public education and awareness of the effective use of prescription medicines over about the last 15 or 16 months? Since the health board started its campaign, support and advice has been given to more than 7,000...
Dawn Bowden: ...dyslexia, and, as a result, appropriate treatment is not provided, despite it being very simple to address with coloured overlays and lenses. So, when a child is not progressing at an early stage, schools should be looking at Irlen syndrome as being a possible cause, before they start looking at dyslexia or ADHD, or at the very least at the same time.
Dawn Bowden: The question is, because I have also written to the education Secretary and the health Secretary about this, because there is only one local authority in Wales—Caerphilly council—that actually recognises Irlen syndrome, and has Irlen screeners in the schools, who are working at an early point to try to diagnose this particular problem. Now, the question, I guess, is whether the Minister...
Dawn Bowden: What discussions has the Cabinet Secretary had regarding the budget allocation to the education portfolio?
Dawn Bowden: ...ve just talked about, with the fee model being fair and equitable across the whole workforce, just to be clear it’s not only the grade and the pay scale that makes a significant difference. Most school and FE learning support workers are not only amongst the lowest paid of the registered staff, but they generally tend to be part-time employees, they’re term-time only, unlike most...
Dawn Bowden: ...experiences that would highlight where improvements could be made, and this report, I think, offers recommendations to enable the Government to do that. Although others have also touched on the education recommendations, that is the area that I want to focus on. I also would like to talk specifically about abuse perpetrated through coercive behaviour, which often gets less attention that...
Dawn Bowden: ...to be able to speak in this debate, and thank Hannah for bringing forward the motion—and the support from other Members? In the previous debate, a number of Members spoke on the importance of education in raising awareness among young people on the issue of gender-based violence. Well, the role of education in tackling prejudice and bullying around LGBT issues is no less significant, and...
Dawn Bowden: 11. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the provision of specialist learning support in schools in Wales? OAQ(5)0101(EDU)
