The Renew and Reform Plan

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Education and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:44 pm on 14 July 2021.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 2:44, 14 July 2021

That's very welcome. And Cardiff Council's organised a Summer of Smiles, centred on the lawn outside city hall, which I'm sure will be absolutely wonderful, and there are many other things that are going on, which are laudable, not least the 'learn to cycle safely' courses, which the Deputy Minister for Climate Change might like to know have sold out completely.

But many communities of people are going nowhere in the summer holidays, and many are either reluctant to let their children go into the city centre or don't have the money to go there. So, it's very important that there are things available locally for people to do. And in the context of some of the really serious county lines activities that have happened in Pentwyn in my constituency, I wondered if you can tell us how much you think the school holiday enrichment programme should be carrying the load here. There's a wonderful programme going on at St Teilo's Church in Wales High School, where I declare I'm a governor. For five out of the six weeks, three days a week, there will be activities in that school, and there will be similar sports activities going on in Ysgol Bro Edern, the Welsh-medium secondary school. But apart from that, there are a mere three primary schools in my constituency that have signed up to SHEP, which is no more than we had in 2019, despite the fact that we're in the middle of recovering from a pandemic. So, I wondered if you could give us some indication of your expectations for all schools to be more community-focused throughout the year, but particularly this year, because they are often the last available community resource, and given that the leisure centre in Pentwyn is closed and not reopening any time soon.