Janet Finch-Saunders: ...to be elected as a member. But currently, for instance, local authority employees are expected to then resign from their jobs immediately so as to take up that office, undoubtedly putting teachers, school cooks and many others off. Now, there's a current situation where if you provide a service to a local authority, such as a keep-fit instructor or a swimming instructor, and you receive...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...'s Commissioner for Wales. When you think of some of the projects that she's worked on—. We now have the election of Youth Parliament, which we've worked together with her on; the first secondary school rights conferences for students and staff; and the support given to major public bodies to adopt a children's rights approach. The annual report goes to highlight some fantastic facts...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...financial support where an additional financial strain caused by the increasing number and complexity of cases can actually be proven. Support for looked-after children is also provided by schools. However, sadly the percentage of children achieving the core subject indicator at key stage 2 fell to 58.3 per cent in 2018-19. We have the pupil development grant for the remainder of the...
Janet Finch-Saunders: According to the report recently published by Great School Libraries, only 67 per cent of schools in Wales have access to a designated school library space. Schools in England, however, are up to a third more likely to have a library. Now, the disparity indicates again the inequality of opportunity of pupil space in Wales compared to England. A lack of libraries is hitting our poorest...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...as our chairman of the CYPE committee, the preparation of this report and also for introducing it here today. She has hit the nail on the head: there is simply not enough money going into the Welsh education system, and certainly not enough finding its way into our schools. Now, of course, since the publication of this report—[Interruption.] I haven't even started. Sorry, I can't. Since...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...Commission on Justice in Wales has published its recommendation regarding the law council for Wales. Its intended aims are to be commended, especially the promoting of assisting students in their education and training as future practitioners. The details of the proposed council highlight that it will help Welsh law schools to provide their students with the necessary education and...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...consortia. Concerns, indeed, have been raised in the committee during the funding inquiry, and I look forward to a review of the regional consortia. Neath Port Talbot Council voted to leave the educational consortium ERW, and GwE has not yet reached a number of targets in its 2017-20 business plan. These include the need to provide good leadership and management, ensure that schools are...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...through the foundation phase and childcare offer? And finally, I was unsurprised to read in your statement that you are now considering the feasibility of expanding the offer to support parents in education and training or on the point of returning to work, because I think you'll be aware that, certainly, myself and my colleague Suzy Davies AM did raise concerns about this previously. We...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...local authorities. This is fiscally irresponsible. If you don't believe me, look at the conclusions of the Finance Committee report, and recommendation 20 of the Children, Young People and Education Committee report, to which the Deputy Minister has replied that: 'it may not be possible to provide more detailed estimates' of the unknown costs.
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...a clear picture of where improvements now need to happen. Mark Isherwood was quite right to highlight the calls for better implementation, strengthening autism empowerment and an action plan for education and employment and the value that they bring to the workplace. The Welsh Government has nowhere to hide, so it needs to agree to the change requested by Members sitting on these benches...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...[Laughter.]—of teaching the new curriculum are closely aligned and that they can be transferred to teaching the Welsh bac qualification. What this means is that we have teachers in secondary schools across Wales now worried about the delivery of the Welsh bac and the new curriculum. This is now being seen as yet another pressure on our teachers. I really do think it is time to consider...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...bac is not valuable to future careers; understanding of the qualification by universities decreasing beyond the Welsh border; and there is major variability in the delivery of the qualification at schools and colleges, with some treating it as a filler, and there being a complete lack of consistency in timetabling across Wales. It will come as no surprise, therefore, that we as a committee...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ..., and, of course, Mandy, you also made some extremely good points about the public strength of feeling, not just Extinction Rebellion, but also, too, the fact that children are now so aware in our schools—we cannot let them down as politicians. Mike Hedges, of course—I liked the point that you actually said about how we are actually facing—and it's not a word I can say really...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...it was set up as a positive response to the tragic drowning of the son of Mrs Debbie Turnbull, Christopher Turnbull, at Capel Curig in 2006. This organisation—really, a sole lady doing this—has educated around 200,000 young people and adults across north Wales about the dangers of open water. She has gone into schools. But a lot of this teaching and awareness building, she's had to do...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...likely to have fewer qualifications and have poorer access to higher level study in the most economically deprived areas in Wales, a good example being Conwy, which has a relatively strong higher education index score of 81; Flintshire is less than half of this. Minister, the index does seem to indicate that opportunities in education remain unevenly distributed across Wales. What measures...
Janet Finch-Saunders: 8. What action is the Minister taking to improve educational opportunities for young people in each local authority area across Wales? OAQ53962
Janet Finch-Saunders: ..., this should be helping parents across Wales to afford support and for them to be confident that they can remain in work. As Huw Irranca-Davies AM will know from the Children, Young People and Education Committee, however, whilst taking evidence, there has been some disappointment at the take-up of the childcare offer and concern about raising public awareness. Therefore, First...
Janet Finch-Saunders: As indicated by research from the Department for Education, the most vulnerable carers are those who are unsupported and whose responsibilities are disproportionate to their own age and maturity. As recommended by Estyn, the first task for educational sites should be to identify those students that do have caring responsibilities and to go further by compiling a record of the total number of...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...carers. The motion being debated today is an extension of our former work here, with the introduction of the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act 2014, the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 and the Donaldson review. However, our motion goes even further, proposing that the more than 21,000 young adult carers in Wales are not only officially recognised...
Janet Finch-Saunders: ...the release of radiation, flooding, and extreme weather variations. The chief medical officer states that more work with GP practices is needed to ensure appropriate antibacterial use. Similarly, schools should continue to be encouraged to provide both MMR vaccinations to children so that the current percentage rates of those being vaccinated rise. I am keen to ask the Welsh Government...
