John Griffiths: I very much welcome the new funding and focus on community-focused schools, Minister, which I know we've discussed before. I have some good examples, I think, in my area, including Maindee Primary School, which is multicultural and is doing some really good work, and tells me that they have to invest heavily in staff to support parents and families with wider issues, such as food, housing,...
John Griffiths: ...industrial firm, a family industrial firm, in Newport, GD Environmental. They are diversifying at the moment, and we visited their film studio, in Nash in Newport, where Urban Myth film the Sex Education series. It's all going very well, and the relationship with Creative Wales has been very useful, Minister, which I'm sure you'll be pleased to know. But they now have plans to build...
John Griffiths: ...identity reinforced by the new democratic settlement. It is important for people to have a clear sense of their place in the world, their history and culture, a base from which to sally forth into education, work and life. Language is a key part of identity, and all in Wales, whether they are fortunate to speak Welsh or not, benefit from our unique language and its central role in our...
John Griffiths: ...and my friend, Olwen, who was formerly a Welsh teacher here in the Senedd. She was nine years old when she moved to Newport from Cardiff, where she was fortunate to go to a Welsh primary school. When they moved to Newport, there was very little Welsh in the town, as it was then, and certainly nothing in the schools. In the 1960s, with Lilian Jones, the first headteacher at Ysgol Gyfun...
John Griffiths: ...would have seemed fanciful. Sticking to football for one moment, I want to also pay tribute to Wales international stalwart Chris Gunter, who was born in Newport East and attended St Julian's School. He was part of the recent golden generation of Welsh footballers and, until recently, was our most capped Welsh footballer in history with 109 international caps. Only a certain Gareth Bale...
John Griffiths: ...to our young people in terms of work and travel and personal development. I just wonder, Minister, given the reality on the ground at the moment, what more the Welsh Government can do, working with schools, teachers and other education providers, to reverse this trend and see the sort of progress that the Welsh Government wants to see into the future.
John Griffiths: ...Minister, and I wonder if you would see the sustainable farming scheme as a way to continue and strengthen this work, which I believe is very important, so that as well as, perhaps, connecting the educational sector to farms and farming, we do it on that wider community basis that Ramblers Cymru are taking forward.
John Griffiths: Too often, sites are located far from local services and amenities, including schools, and are usually situated near busy A-roads and industrial infrastructure. We heard from Professor Jo Richardson of De Montfort University, who noted that sites are often located in unsuitable areas, 'because it's the patch of land that had the least hostility, that could be developed'. This deprives the...
John Griffiths: [Inaudible.]—million pounds in this financial year in community-focused schools, given they build partnerships with families, communities and a range of organisations, and provide opportunities to pupils who would not otherwise benefit from them. In Newport East, Maindee Primary School is a fantastic example of a community school. It is based in one of the most deprived parts of Newport....
John Griffiths: 4. How will the roll-out of the new curriculum address the effect of deprivation on education? OQ58753
John Griffiths: Thank you very much for your statement, Minister, and your commitment, and that of the Welsh Government, to lifelong learning and second chance education. It was good to see you at the adult learning awards back in September, Minister, with the Learning and Work Institute, where I think we heard some very powerful testimony from those who benefited from second chance education and found it...
John Griffiths: ...underinvestment in affordable housing and has had an over-reliance on private landlords. Recently, the new Labour council approved plans for 100 per cent affordable housing on the former Caldicot school site, with Monmouthshire Housing Association being the preferred bidder. This illustrates the ambition and the work of the new Monmouthshire County Council, Minister. But I just wonder how...
John Griffiths: This week marks the fifth year of Love Our Colleges Week, a campaign which highlights the amazing and transformational work further education colleges do day in and day out. The celebrations this year will focus on staff, students and skills. Keeping this in mind, I'd like to draw your attention today to the life-changing opportunities on offer at our colleges to international exchange...
John Griffiths: ...communities are often unable to buy or rent homes in those areas. Some areas have seen such a reduction in permanent residents that public services are no longer viable, including the closure of schools. The seasonal nature of the visitor economy has also turned some communities into winter ghost towns, with many amenities closing during those quieter months. Of course, other parts of the...
John Griffiths: ...and that quality of life that we want to see our children and young people enjoying, as well as economic progress and advantage. It's very much underpinned by the aim of reducing inequalities in education. I welcome that national mission aiming to achieve high standards and aspirations for all, and the value of not giving up on learners who are disadvantaged by poverty through the...
John Griffiths: ...to allow people to help make Wales a more equal country. I was looking at the paper that Dr Mark Lang did for ColegauCymru that really was looking at these issues of social mobility and if current education provision in Wales supports that social mobility and adequately enables young people to secure a life of well-being. The focus is post 16, but it also considers education provision more...
John Griffiths: The power of education is very precious to me, Diprwy Lywydd, because my own route out of what I guess was relative poverty was through education and lifelong learning. I went to secondary school, Dirprwy Lywydd, but unfortunately didn't take any exams, and I was then for a period of time out of work with a young family, living on a council estate in Newport, and thinking about not just my...
John Griffiths: Diolch, Llywydd. Knowledge is power: education is a route out of poverty. Llywydd, Mike Hedges, Luke Fletcher and Laura Anne Jones will contribute to this short debate. Llywydd, on Pill library, there is a keystone at the top of the building that states that knowledge is power. I'm very pleased to say that having been born and brought up in Pill, now so ably represented as part of Newport...
John Griffiths: ...of care for looked-after children back in-house, with out-of-authority placements returning to new Newport City Council homes. It's bringing those children back to their home areas, families and schools and providing top-quality care. Would you agree this is the right approach for our young people and in terms of the recent Competition and Markets Authority report on the children's social...
John Griffiths: ...many other things, it's a tremendous strain on the household budgets of those least able to withstand the impact. And particularly, it impacts on families and single parents, so, those children in school from those families are facing a tremendous struggle. One thing I'd like to concentrate on, Dirprwy Lywydd, is that wider education enrichment experience that comes from young people...
