Written question WQ86583

The impact of the disruption caused by the Covid 19 pandemic on children and young people’s learning and well-being has been unprecedented, and the impact on children and young people from vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds has been particularly severe. Significant periods away from the classroom have a major impact on children and young people – not only in relation to their day-to-day learning and their long-term achievement, but on their physical, mental, emotional and social development.

Disruption to learning on the scale seen during the Covid 19 pandemic must never happen in our schools in Wales again. It is critically important, therefore, that high quality, face-to-face learning is maintained for all children and young people whenever this is possible. Any transition to online learning should always be the last resort and only happen in exceptional circumstances. Exceptional circumstances would include where providing face-to-face learning would be contrary to the Welsh Government and/or UK Government guidance or where a health and safety or safeguarding risk has been identified for some or all pupils within a school.

To provide support to schools to ensure that any disruption to learning in the future is minimised, the Welsh Government has developed a package of guidance and support which will be launched before the end of November. This will include:

• Emergency planning and response guidance for education and childcare settings;

• Learning continuity guidance;

• A learning continuity planning template.

The Welsh Government will expect schools to use these guidance documents to develop local plans that best fit their context and which can be used as the basis for responding to periods of disruption as they occur, with a strong emphasis on keeping schools open and maintaining face-to-face learning whenever possible. This will ensure that schools and settings are prepared and resilient to emergencies and potential disruption when it occurs but that, in cases where a school has to fully or partially close, the learning and well-being of all children and young people affected is prioritised and high-quality learning continues.