Suzy Davies: ...point in conclusion, here, Rhun: I can see that officials have been sharing their thoughts and experiences with other organisations on how we nurture bilingualism. Would it be possible to include school and college leaders at some point? Many people will be considering how they can deliver the expectations of the curriculum in order to make bilingualism a reality for our pupils. Part of...
Suzy Davies: ..., preferably an oral statement but a written one would be okay, I think, to update us on how well the £40 million package promised to the over-16s needing assistance to find work, training or education, or to pursue self-employment, is going. We already have the highest proportion amongst the UK nations of young people not engaged in any of that, and, as we've all heard previously, youth...
Suzy Davies: ...a number of burly stevedores to lift it off the ground, so I hope we've all been eating our spinach to get through this one. Siân, we really do share some of your concerns about the future of education, and that's why we look forward to the new curriculum and some of the other Government reforms, with hope, but no little trepidation. But there is a difference, I think, between much-needed...
Suzy Davies: ...and as cost-effectively. To be honest, I'm not sure that anything would be quite as efficient and effective in overcoming the bystander CPR problem, as two hours of training every year in schools is a pretty tiny amount of time to be spent on it. I think two hours is not cluttering up a curriculum. And what it does, of course, is introduce or create that ability to step in, just like the...
Suzy Davies: Thank you. I don't underestimate the task for secondary school heads, in particular, of reconfiguring school layouts, timetables and attendance times in order to comply with the rules on social distancing and hygiene. But I don't think there can be any justification for hundreds of pupils being sent home to self-isolate just because one individual has tested positive. Five hundred and fifty...
Suzy Davies: ...are now saying that their mental health has been impacted, and the main reason for that is late arrival of new guidance on any changes that they're expected to deal with. I think the combination of education reforms and the disruption of teaching and learning due to COVID have placed a very, very visible strain on practitioners in the sector, which was already struggling with years of...
Suzy Davies: ..., and the different deals on whether gyms, for example, should be kept open. But when the Welsh Local Government Association leaders speak as one, with one voice, on something as important as our schools, it seems that Welsh Government is perfectly content to instruct and not to listen. And I hope that the implication isn't that those leaders haven't given due consideration to the...
Suzy Davies: Diolch, Llywydd. Good afternoon, Minister. Why did Welsh Government ignore the wishes of all 22 local authority leaders to keep secondary schools fully open during the forthcoming lockdown?
Suzy Davies: 7. Will the Minister make a statement on the changes in the new guidance regarding full school years being sent home to self-isolate? OQ55758
Suzy Davies: ...I think you said—despite COVID, and I don't think we can just leave it as 'despite COVID'. It is the big elephant in the room in the delivery of this curriculum. As the head of Pencoed secondary school in my own region said when notice of this statement was being made, 'It's completely lost in the fog of COVID-19'. So, how will all the relevant parties, the stakeholders, in this get to...
Suzy Davies: Thank you for that. I think it would be helpful as well if colleges within a certain area might be prepared to speak to some of the headteachers in schools within their area about some of the good ideas that they've had. Further education and higher education have both received over £20 million each from the Welsh Government COVID pot, despite a projected funding gap of more than £400...
Suzy Davies: Yes, Minister, I was listening to your response to Jayne Bryant there and that observation that schools and colleges aren't vectors for the spread of COVID. Yet we've seen considerable numbers being sent home from some schools—200 in one case, and over 400 in another. You say you're monitoring what's happening at the moment, but have you learnt anything yet about why further education...
Suzy Davies: ...Wales have got their own summer 2021 stakeholder group to meet between now and December. So, could you tell us how that work and that of the review will relate to each other? And when will schools and colleges know exactly what they need to teach and how pupils' work will be assessed? Because that Qualifications Wales work won't be finished until a third of the way through the academic year.
Suzy Davies: ...there, and thank you to Mick Antoniw as well—I think those points were well made. Once again, I'm assuming, Minister, that you're bringing forward these regulations to ensure that staff in schools don't fall foul of the law, and, bearing in mind that you've already said that this doesn't negate the need for school staff to do their very best in order to deliver the curriculum, I suppose...
Suzy Davies: ...'re additional, but I'll come to that in due course. But let's start with point 2 of our motion: 'students deserve value for money in return for the investment they make in their higher and further education.' How has COVID affected the college student? Well, we still might be seeing higher numbers of entrants choosing to stay at home at a time of great uncertainty about travel, lockdown...
Suzy Davies: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Welcome to everyone who's going to take part in this debate, and I move the motion, which is actually about more than higher education, but it's certainly part of what we'll be talking about today. I'm looking forward to an informative and useful debate about something that I think, in essence, we can agree about. There's certainly been no attempt to amend the first...
Suzy Davies: Minister, I'm looking for some detail from you about what you're trying to secure by way of further consequentials in that budget from further education spending. Further education is obviously going to be one of those sectors that we rely on to help us recover from COVID, and while the specific pressures are obviously for another Minister, the £23 million that came from the Welsh...
Suzy Davies: ...just wanted to say that I agree with the sentiment behind Plaid's amendment 5. I just wish they'd been a bit more specific on where masks should be mandatory, because I'm not big on subjecting our school leaders to lots of formal regulation, but I am quite keen to avoid them being left open to complaints or even legal action about discrimination in any made-in-school policies on face...
Suzy Davies: ...time for everybody, including yourselves, but most importantly our constituents. Thank you very much for your statement. I think we have to start off with the top line of my position, which is that schools must stay open unless they absolutely—absolutely—have to close. And while, of course, the situation with exams is difficult, and perhaps for another day, I think we do need to look a...
Suzy Davies: As we're embarking on the scrutiny of the curriculum Bill, I think it would be helpful if we could have some clarity on protecting the existence of Welsh-medium schools. I know the education Minister, in recent exchanges about the requirement to opt out of English, has said that this is not about the medium of teaching, it's about subjects, but I think that prompts the question then about how...
