Janet Finch-Saunders: Will the Minister make a statement on the teaching of Welsh history in schools?
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...health check on our rights, our justice system and, ultimately, on the rule of law. As an article on the Law Society website outlined, children have been affected heavily by coronavirus through school closures, and most young people are never consulted on decisions. The Law Society supports public legal education and highlighted the Big Legal Lesson during Justice Week. This is a classroom...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...like the new post-anaesthesia care unit at Ysbyty Gwynedd, plants the seeds for improved giant beanstalk-size growth in recruitment through maximising the potential for a north Wales medical school, and sees a dedicated mental health worker teach GP practices across Wales. Llywydd, the new chief executive of the Betsi Cadwladr University Health Board is now in post, and I have great...
Janet Finch-Saunders: .... Almost two years on, this Welsh Government has failed to deliver on the First Minister's leadership promise—and I quote—to 'Develop a new Clean Air Act to ensure that our children can go to school, be active and play outside safely without fear of respiratory problems, such as asthma, because of pollution levels in some of our towns and cities.' In September 2019, you told this...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...-19 vaccination programme. The first asks for police officers to be given the COVID-19 vaccination as a priority, whilst the second petition calls for prioritisation to be given to teachers and school and childcare staff. These are two of a number of petitions submitted to the Senedd about such issues, which have also included ones calling for others, such as retail staff,...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...people across the country that the scheme is going to be looking to target students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The UK Government has moved us from being EU focused to having a proactive global education agenda. As the chief executive of the Association of Colleges has put it, 'The Turing scheme opens the world’s door to work and study placements for college students.' Now, in your...
Janet Finch-Saunders: .... It is a sad fact, however, that the BSL community continues to face such challenges, even after the petition submitted by Deffo!, which then called on the Welsh Government to improve access to education and services in BSL to improve the quality of life for D/deaf people of all ages. Our nation has simply not delivered and I wholeheartedly agree with introducing the requirement that...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...it could see the cost and demand for the service rocket. That research does need to be commissioned, so I implore you to do this quickly and liaise with your Cabinet so to pursue a boost via education and bringing apprenticeships into the frame. Now, according to section 6 of the local authority, they would provide the building control function for all category 1 properties. It is noted...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...actual expenditure in 2020-21 on the visitor experience team has increased, the visitor engagement team has increased, and the community engagement team has increased by £17,000, and finally, the education and young engagement team by £36,000. Now, nobody appreciates more than me that some of these staff have been seconded. But I would be grateful if you could explain why the expenditure...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...we've all been asking for, we've been pointed to the TAC, the technical advisory cell. This informs you that high numbers of incidents continue to be reported mainly in residential care homes and school settings. Councillor Sam Rowlands, who has his finger on the pulse as the leader of Conwy County Borough Council, wrote to the Welsh Government, explaining that the: 'spread of the virus we...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...and local development plans. Issues affecting rural Wales are of national significance, and as such, I reiterate calls for those policies to be amended so that they champion the saving of our rural schools and facilities, improvement of our B roads, diversification on our farms, and the Welsh Government working with digital communication providers to address the needs of rural areas. I...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...on the upcoming Senedd elections in May, where 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to vote for the first time in Wales, sound really good sessions, and whilst I acknowledge there is a need for education ahead of this—I think it's overdue, really—I struggle to see how this can be achieved effectively without reference to and inclusion of all our political parties in Wales, and I would like...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...led and intentionally moves away from specifying lists of topics and content to be taught. Instead, as the Minister has outlined on other occasions, the new curriculum seeks to give teachers and schools the freedom to take their own decisions about what is taught within a broad national framework. Now, if I may digress slightly, this tension between the vision for the new curriculum and...
Janet Finch-Saunders: Diolch, Llywydd. Thank you. This debate is a first for the Petitions Committee as it actually covers two petitions, both of which concern the teaching of history in our schools. We welcome the opportunity to discuss these petitions together and we believe that this is a timely debate, given that the new curriculum for Wales is currently being scrutinised and due to be taught from 2022. The...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...and greater at recycling, so I implore you to be even more ambitious in this climate crisis. And I have one more plea, Deputy Minister. Will you, please, work with Dŵr Cymru, and let's get some education out there about the damage that wipes are doing to our planet, climate change and, indeed, our water supply? Because, whenever I do a beach clean, whenever I go to our local sewage works...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...in policy 4 says it all: 'The future for rural areas are best planned at the regional and local level.' You could do better than this. Why not introduce policies that champion the saving of rural schools and facilities, improvement of B roads and access, and Welsh Government working with digital communication providers to ensure that the needs of rural areas are addressed, and utilisation...
Janet Finch-Saunders: I would like to start with a big thank you to all higher and further education staff and, of course, pupils for their efforts during this catastrophic pandemic, in particular in north Wales. Despite all these difficulties, I have been rather interested to see scientists at Bangor University work with Dŵr Cymru and United Utilities to monitor the background levels of coronavirus in waste...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...answered on 4 and 8 June, the letter dated 27 May answered 30 June. Frustratingly slow action by the Welsh Government is also clear from the content of those responses. On 4 June, the Minister for Education advised that, almost two months since lockdown, the guide for parents of education-other-than-at-school pupils and pupils with ALN had not been published, and the guidance on risk...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...students received four lessons per day. What steps have you taken to improve this? Then, on Monday, you did announce that £1 million has been allocated to support those children to re-engage with education over the summer holiday, especially those who have not been in school. But I do ask: how realistic is it to expect this of children over the summer break, especially when many have...
Janet Finch-Saunders: 7. Will the Minister make a statement on educational support for children who have not returned to school? OQ55418
