, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
No, I probably wouldn't. I mean, I don't know what ideas you have in your head at the moment, but I guess I wouldn't agree with everything that everybody says everywhere, nor would any of us. In the context of RSE, what we are clearly indicating is that you…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
I think I answered some of those questions in my response to Sam earlier on. I am conscious of the fact that more parents are choosing elective home education. I am aware that we are looking at this in the context of some of the developments in England—that I…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thank you for the question. I think it's clear in the guidance we have around this. The learning linked to RSE needs to be factual and pluralistic. That means schools must present a range of views held in society and not push a particular view. So, it is…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Yes, that work with Anna Freud is continuing.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
We are working on that now, and I expect the updated toolkit to be ready for that full public consultation early next year.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thank you very much. And I also want to recognise the importance of this element of our education system. It is a requirement for schools to teach RSE. It's been interesting in recent weeks—the importance of identifying cases where a relationship isn't…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thank you very much for the question. I do think that this is perhaps the most difficult element of work in this area—not just in this specific example, but historically too. Measuring culture change is something that is very difficult to do, but I do think…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Yes.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thank you very much for that question. We are currently identifying the local authorities that we will work with to identify the schools. But in deciding which ones we will work with, we have looked closely at the statistics in terms of attendance…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thank you. I think we are willing to look at a wide range of support for these learners. We need them to be able to access the curriculum. We need their life chances to be enhanced, and we need to address the barriers that they currently face to achieving…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thank you very much for the question. The roll-out in secondary schools is relatively new, of course, and the policy is relatively new. So, seeing an evaluation or identifying the impact of that may take some time. I don't know, Nic, if we have any…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Not as yet, no, unless officials know anything more.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
I have concerns about the learners and the families and the workforce impacted by those closures, some of which seem to have happened with very little notice. So, a rupture like that in any child's education is something that all of us, I think, should be…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
I think that my very firm view is that this is a joint responsibility, and that's why I think we've done a lot of work on trying to work out what is the role of different parties in a successful education system. Parents and carers clearly have…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
It is a noticeable trend, as you say. I think we probably don't know quite enough about some of these decisions and how linked they are, for example, to additional learning needs or a feeling that needs are not being met in schools, or more complex areas of…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thanks.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Yes, this has been persistent for a very long time, and a lot of interventions have been introduced to try to get to grips with it. But, as you say, it persists. I'm not familiar with the detail of what happened before I arrived, but Nic will be. But there…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thanks.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thank you very much, and I would be delighted to go to Gilfach Goch to look at the work that they're doing there. As I said in my opening statement, I visit one school every week, and I do see examples of exactly what the Chair describes in terms of that…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
We are working very closely with local authorities already on some of this work, and they are, in fact, learning from some of the examples of things that they have done very effectively in supporting families, for example, in persuading learners back into…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Yes, thank you very much. Thank you for sharing that as well. It is a significant challenge for us. Learners who are persistently absent lose 10 per cent of their schooling time or more. That is a significant barrier to their being able to engage with both…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Yes.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thank you. I think this is a point about alignment again, because, as Georgina, I think, mentioned earlier on, what Dysgu is tasked with doing is making sure that the support and professional learning it offers is of a very high standard, is rooted in…
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
As we have throughout, we have maintained very close contact and regular conversations to deal with the outstanding issues, and that remains the case now.
, Early Years, Children, Young People and Education Committee
Welsh Government Scrutiny Session
Thank you. I'll answer that, if I may, and then ask Georgina to speak more broadly on the education workforce plan. We have had conversations around this previously and, certainly, I'm not closing the door to that possibility because I do think it is vitally…
