John Griffiths: Food is important in so many ways: to health and well-being, quality of life, our economy and environment, to tackling inequalities, and, yes, in our schools. So, it was good to hear the First Minister, in his questions yesterday, making clear his Government's commitment to addressing issues of school meals and quality and ensuring provision. And he was quite clear, wasn't he, that in doing...
John Griffiths: ...at the latest statistics, and, obviously, we'll need to have a look at that—Welsh Government will need to have a close look at that. One aspect that's very concerning to my constituents is lost school time. In secondary schools. for example, whole year groups continue to self-isolate when one of the group has COVID-19, and learning at home does not make up for that lost time, and it is...
John Griffiths: ...COVID-19? And in assisting the front-line NHS effort against the virus, will you carefully consider enhanced testing for asymptomatic domiciliary care staff and enhanced testing in our secondary schools, which would also reduce lost school time?
John Griffiths: ...potential to play a major role in reducing smoking prevalence by denormalising smoking and encouraging smokers to quit, and I believe the same is true for the possibilities of banning smoking in school grounds and park playgrounds, and, indeed, many other places. I hope that we will build on the progress made to date. But, I do believe that if, as a country, we are to make the most of this...
John Griffiths: ...44 accepted in full, seven accepted in principle, one accepted in part—and only two rejected. The recommendations cover a wide range of areas from policy development, data, citizen engagement to education, benefits, fair work, accessibility and health and social care. I cannot seek to do justice to all of those in the time available to me, so I'm going to focus my comments today...
John Griffiths: What steps is the Welsh Government considering to reduce the amount of school time lost as a result of COVID -19?
John Griffiths: ...some really good girls' cricket teams, players for Glamorgan and have hosted Glamorgan matches. They're in some difficulty at the moment, really, around coronavirus because their winter cricket school used premises at Newport Live, the leisure trust, but Newport Live have now commandeered that space for a socially distanced gym and it's no longer available to the cricket club, which will...
John Griffiths: ...understanding and certainty to communities, and probably feed through to greater compliance. So, I'm wondering whether Welsh Government is considering that sort of approach for Wales. As far as schools are concerned, I wonder if you could say anything about Welsh Government consideration of facilitating a system where schools, pupils and staff could get tested quicker, and then the...
John Griffiths: ...local authorities. The length of time involved will depend on the incidence of cases, but are you able to say anything more about how long these measures may be in place? An increasing number of school pupils are self-isolating, further damaging their education after the loss of school time in the last academic year. Might Welsh Government then, First Minister, prioritise testing for...
John Griffiths: ...'s about older people feeling more comfortable walking around their local areas, in terms of their road safety; it's about active travel, allowing walking and scooting and cycling, whether it's to school or work or local shops, and people feeling more comfortable, safe and secure in doing that themselves or allowing their children to do it. So, the benefits of this policy I think are very...
John Griffiths: ...to see—the organisation reaching out and working with the health centre in that way at a time of crisis such as the one we currently face. They do an awful lot in terms of alternative curriculum education, dealing with deprivation factors by taking sport and activity out to the most deprived communities. All of that work, I think, that breadth and depth of work, Dirprwy Lywydd, really...
John Griffiths: First Minister, there is great concern regarding our children's life chances, particularly those in our most impoverished families. Too few pupils considered vulnerable have returned to school, and working at home has been very variable. It seems the return to school at the end of this month will typically be for a few hours once a week and may not include the extra fourth week. And of...
John Griffiths: 8. What further action will the Welsh Government take to ensure that the provision of education from September onwards is of a high standard? OQ55330
John Griffiths: ...to ensure that new groups of voters are aware of their rights and make use of their vote. We therefore recommend that the Bill should include specific provision to roll out an adequate level of education on politics and democracy across all our schools in Wales. We think this should be accompanied by clear lesson plans to empower teachers to deliver these lessons. Welsh Government has...
John Griffiths: ...take engineering jobs at the plant. In the Basque Country, I think it's around half of their engineers who are women, but it's just a small number at the Newport works. They're working with local schools and colleges, but I just wonder what you could say in terms of Welsh Government's ambition to ensure that these opportunities are more open to our girls and women, and indeed employers...
John Griffiths: ...work, in particular: when they gave evidence to our inquiry into parenting, employment and maternity in July 2018; and as part of our joint work alongside the Finance and Children, Young People and Education Committees in November 2018, when we looked at the effectiveness of Welsh Government budget impact assessments; and their work on the cumulative impact of tax and welfare reforms on...
John Griffiths: ...outreach an ever more important part of the service that we provide. It is very wide-ranging and complex in terms of the issues involved, as Members stated. Mark Isherwood was talking about schools recognising issues and problems as young people go through the system. There are many conditions, such as Asperger's and autism, that are related. Young people with mental health issues need to...
John Griffiths: ...some of the plans, and the Act that will hopefully be forthcoming. But there's lots that can be done, of course, here and now, very practical measures to deal with these issues. We heard about the school run earlier, and I think that is significant and important, and there are practical measures that are being taken in schools across Wales that could be taken right across the length and...
John Griffiths: ...issues. We welcome the additional £18 million across portfolios for tackling poverty in the draft budget, addressing, for example, period poverty, the pupil deprivation grant, holiday hunger, school meals and indeed fuel poverty. But we do believe that a more coherent strategy, pulling all the Welsh Government's work on tackling poverty together, would be more effective and we believe...
John Griffiths: ...they should have had but didn't have to learn Welsh and be able to use the Welsh language. Thankfully for younger people now, things are so much better through the growth of Welsh-medium education. And there are other positive aspects as well, even quite basic, simple things such as bilingual signage, bilingual announcements, and, indeed, some adult groups now meeting in cafes and other...
