Tom Giffard: Diolch, Cadeirydd. Each year, every first Thursday of November is the International Day Against Violence and Bullying at School, including cyber bullying. Around 20 per cent of students report being bullied, but only half have reported incidents to an adult. Formal education can and should play a key role in providing children and young people with the knowledge and skills to identify online...
Tom Giffard: ...during my recent stay in hospital. It meant a lot to me, and it's very good to be back today. It's also good to be back participating in a Welsh Conservative debate today on the impact of COVID on education. Parents, pupils and, in particular, teaching staff have really risen to the challenge of working differently and competing with ever-changing rules and regulations to meet that...
Tom Giffard: ...the bottom of UK rankings for the fifth occasion running. We'll see what happens when the 2022 results come out later this year, but since then, we've only seen significant disruption to children's education in Wales over the last three years because of both the COVID-19 pandemic and now teacher strikes as well. On top of this disruption, Labour-run Bridgend County Borough Council is...
Tom Giffard: .... So, it's deeply concerning to see evidence that shows that the mental health of children and young people has been severely affected by the pandemic, to the point that they are not attending school. I see that the Minister is looking at a communication strategy to encourage children and young people back into school, and that this messaging could be localised. So, I'd be interested to...
Tom Giffard: 5. How is the Welsh Government ensuring the highest possible quality of school education in South Wales West? OQ59205
Tom Giffard: ...talked about confidence, which is the most important thing when it comes to speaking Welsh and everyday Welsh language skills. But it's also important that people in Wales can have Welsh-medium education, and that's why it was nice to hear Sioned Williams and Mike Hedges talking about the importance of Welsh-medium schools and their availability. And Mike is right: both of us represent...
Tom Giffard: ...in Wales. Welsh is not just a language in the traditional sense. For most of us it’s a story, the story of our journey with the Welsh language. Some of us will have spoken Welsh at home and at school, and will have lived in predominantly Welsh-speaking communities throughout our lives. Perhaps others are learning Welsh for the first time, having developed an interest in or love for our...
Tom Giffard: Thank you, Minister, for that response. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that COVID-19 has brought a significant number of additional challenges on secondary schools, and secondary schools and their staff and pupils have really risen to the challenge. But oversubscription has been an ongoing problem since before the pandemic, and at a time when schools and pupils are under significant...
Tom Giffard: ...of all that we do, and yet, since 2011, we've seen 7,000 more pupils enter the classroom and 4,000 fewer teachers to teach them. And that teacher shortage is even more stark in the Welsh language education sector. And while that's in no way a reflection on the dedication and hard work of the profession that we've seen over that time, by consistently failing to recruit enough teachers in...
Tom Giffard: ...committee and said that sport was not just for people who are really good at sport; sport should be for everybody as well. We heard, though, from many giving evidence during this inquiry, that some schools, even though they benefited from twenty-first century schools project money, and part of that funding was to ensure access for the communities in which they serve facilities, that's not...
Tom Giffard: Minister, although the new schools in Brackla and Porthcawl, which Sarah just mentioned, are worth welcoming, it’s important to remind ourselves where Bridgend County Borough Council is in terms of the provision of Welsh-medium school places. We know that Bridgend is one of the areas with the lowest numbers of Welsh speakers anywhere in Wales, and one of the reasons for that is that there...
Tom Giffard: Minister, I think it's important that we stress here that this was due to be a twenty-first century state-of-the-art school with local facilities for children with additional learning needs and a new pool as well, which is much needed in the community. But what must be made clear is the fact that local authorities perhaps need clearer guidance when consulting on issues such as these. This...
Tom Giffard: ...mentioned about how we need more pathways into the profession. People with—. Not just—sorry, I can't remember who said it now—people who have left university only to return to teach in the school that they themselves learnt in, but people with life experience from other walks of life, and that's really important too. So, those are some of the things our motion today is looking to...
Tom Giffard: Thank you for that answer, Minister. Unfortunately, as you'll be aware, Education through Regional Working, or the ERW regional education consortium, is in a bit of a mess. Senior councillors from member authorities have been scathing in the press about the organisation, with Swansea Labour Councillor Jennifer Rayner describing working with ERW over the last few years as being extremely...
Tom Giffard: ...sectors. In the Welsh Government review into gender equality in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, we saw that of those work-based placements in the STEM sector registered with the Education Workforce Council just 22 per cent of those placements were occupied by women. The review also stated that Wales also had the lowest percentage of women enrolling onto higher education...
Tom Giffard: We know that there's a clear correlation between poor academic performance and persistent deprivation. The Education Policy Institute said, and I quote: 'Persistently disadvantaged pupils experienced still larger disadvantage gaps, with those in England suffering a persistent disadvantage gap of 23 months and those in Wales experiencing 29 months. With little sign of these persistent...
Tom Giffard: ...problem: they were worried about leaving the hotel they'd been staying in, they were worried about potentially moving from one location to another and the impact that might have on their child's school, because they've just enrolled in a school in Wales, which was really welcome. But, actually, if they get moved to a different location, they may have to uproot and change all over again,...
Tom Giffard: 6. Will the First Minister make a statement on the schools admission process in South Wales West? OQ56746
Tom Giffard: Will the Minister provide an update on school absence rates?
Tom Giffard: Will the Minister provide an update on school absence rates?
