The Children of Key Workers

Part of 3. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 12:28 pm on 8 July 2020.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 12:28, 8 July 2020

Thank you very much for that, Russell. The requirement to try and limit the number of contacts that individual children have is one of the very wicked logistical issues that the current operations of schools have identified. This is particularly acute in the county of Powys, because a vast number of people living in Powys actually qualify as a critical worker, and the demand for critical worker care has increased hugely in recent weeks in the county of Powys. I'm very grateful, under the leadership of Lynette Lovell, the director of education of Powys, that Powys have been able to put on five additional childcare hubs during this period and are working very hard to ensure that those children who are attending those hubs are not disadvantaged in terms of their education and their ability to check in and to catch up.

Lynette is just one of those people that we need to say thank you to, Presiding Officer, as Joyce Watson did. As a former headteacher herself, and now a director, she has actually been manning some of those childcare hubs over the holidays and the bank holidays. It is that kind of commitment that we have seen the length and breadth of Wales that has ensured that our children of critical workers have been well looked after, allowing their parents to get on with their important work, and I commend the work of Powys County Council in that regard.