Hefin David: Further education should be included in the design and development of the curriculum. The Baker clause has recently come into effect in England, whereby schools are required to let FE providers advertise their services to pupils in years 8 to 13, making learners aware of the range of options available to them after they leave compulsory education. With the significant reforms under way to the...
Hefin David: Okay, short, short version. Rhianon did a fantastic job as cabinet member for education and now she’s stepped down to be an Assembly Member. Last week, I visited Heolddu Comprehensive School, which has benefited from a new technology block thanks to Welsh Government funding, and Kirsty Williams was there to open it, and it was a great occasion—’I bawb ei gyfle’ is the motto of the...
Hefin David: Last week, I hosted a drop-in event for Assembly Members on behalf of various teaching unions, including the National Education Union. Teachers who attended told me that they were concerned that cuts in UK Government funding are having a direct impact on their ability to implement the education reforms, including, for example, the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act...
Hefin David: ...with hundreds of others, I attended the funeral in Ystrad Mynach of my constituent Cyril Thomas, who passed away on 12 October last year. Cyril was a former assistant headteacher of Lewis Boys School in my constituency, where he taught both history and religious education. The brother of former champion boxer Eddie Thomas, Cyril worked as a miner before becoming a teacher and was president...
Hefin David: It’s good to hear that the Cabinet Secretary supports that flexibility. At the Children, Young People and Education Committee last week, the NUT said that PPA is a big issue in primary schools in particular. It was Neil Foden of NUT Cymru who said that schools were freeing teachers for the required 10 per cent of their teaching time and releasing them from their workloads, which is to be...
Hefin David: ...deprivation who may not be from disadvantaged backgrounds themselves. So, I'm talking about Valleys communities, particularly places like Senghenydd and Bargoed in my constituency. I went to school in Bargoed. When I was in school, I wouldn't have considered international study—it wouldn't have been on my mind. I didn't come from a disadvantaged background, but it just wasn't in the...
Hefin David: ...welcomed. I think it is, in part, a tribute to the hard work of Sheila Jones, who is a Caerphilly constituent, a former supply teacher, and is now the supply teacher representative for the National Education Union Cymru. I spoke to her earlier today and she said that she still has some concerns. She says that a lot of discretion is still left to individual schools as to whether or not they...
Hefin David: Can I just take the opportunity to welcome your announcement, and also all the work that you've done as education Minister? Since I was first elected in 2016 I've often sat in awe of the work that you've done, and we're very proud to have you as part of this Chamber. With regard to this decision, can I just press you a little bit more on what David Rees asked? And perhaps you could say a...
Hefin David: 5. How will the proposed Additional Learning Needs (Wales) Bill support pupils with the most complex learning and medical needs in our special education schools? OAQ(5)0016(EDU)[R]
Hefin David: ...leave, and want to stay and work and contribute. That's why I've never left my Valleys community and never intend to do so. I did have to find work, though, in Cardiff and I was working in higher education. I managed to stay as well as a county councillor; I've probably mentioned it before in this Chamber. But having worked in higher education representing Valleys communities, I've seen...
Hefin David: I've not been able to contribute to this report as I normally would, as I've been unable to attend the meetings of the Children, Young People and Education Committee because I've been looking after my children, which is something of an irony. I have a 13-year-old stepdaughter who is currently struggling with schoolwork, and a four-year-old autistic daughter, and a three-year-old very...
Hefin David: The Cabinet Secretary visited the Children, Young People and Education Committee on 28 June, and I asked her questions about supply teachers. One of the things she said in the committee was: 'Much of the focus recently has been about low pay for supply teachers. I was recently exposed to the argument about schools that are using supply teachers to cover some of our science, technology,...
Hefin David: ...is a mutual investment model explanation. There are six paragraphs of relatively straightforward public information together with technical documentation. However, if I was a parent whose child's school was going to be built using mutual investment model funding, I wouldn't be reassured by language that the Minister used in her statement. For example: 'This investment will be on pari passu...
Hefin David: ...sitting in a big lecture room being delivered, 'This is how you do it', is less useful than actually doing it. Recommendation 2 urges the Cabinet Secretary to 'ensure that learning from pioneer schools is shared more widely across the education profession as a whole, to help ensure that the education workforce is fully aware of developments and prepared for the reforms on the way.'...
Hefin David: ...rest of this Senedd term, and I think that is something that needs challenge. Let's just look at some of the proposals that they've had through the debates that we've had so far: comprehensive free school meals, universal childcare, a rent freeze, education maintenance allowance, and that big black hole that we don't know anything about—independence. These are things that they are...
Hefin David: ...Change project, which was set up using money from dormant bank accounts and based on a partnership between the Big Lottery and Welsh Government. The aim is to get 16 to 25-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training and who have learning disabilities and/or autism into long-term employment. One of the organisations working with it is Trinity Fields School and Resource Centre...
Hefin David: ...has got to be one of the best committee reports that we've ever had. [Laughter.] The Minister notes in her introduction to her response to the report that the content of the specification presents schools with a choice of delivery models, so a creative approach to curriculum requirements can be undertaken. That's what she says, and I think that fits very much with the approach of the new...
Hefin David: ...in agreement with Llyr Gruffydd’s speech. Particularly, I’d like to draw attention to points—it doesn’t happen very often, but there we go. [Laughter.]—4(d) and 4(e) in the motion. Higher education is an international vocation, and collaboration across nations in teaching and research is highly valued by the academic community. Indeed, I was, in my previous role as a senior...
Hefin David: ...in this area in universities, and they are involving expertise from across Wales and outside. For example, just earlier this year, I helped launch the Cardiff Metropolitan University's Cardiff school of technologies, which is one example of how higher education institutions can harness research and academic expertise. I also last week helped launch the Supercomputing Wales programme, which...
Hefin David: When I tabled the question last week, my intention was to celebrate those improvements in standards, particularly in Hendre Infants School, Trinity Fields School, Nant Y Parc Primary School, St Cenydd Community School, and, most recently, Cylch Meithrin Tonyfelin. These improvements are very welcome, but things are changing with schools as we've seen with the discussion we've had today and...
