Written question WQ87964
- Asked by
- Andrew RT DaviesConservative
- To be answered by
- Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 12 days
Question
Will the Minister confirm what proportion of teacher training courses in Wales include special educational needs and disabilities training, and what the Welsh Government is doing to encourage special educational needs and disabilities training in Welsh education generally?
Answer
Answered by Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
It is a requirement for accreditation that all programmes of Initial Teacher Education prepare student teachers to foster inclusive classrooms and to have an understanding of the individual needs of all learners including those who may present with additional learning needs (ALN) or disability.
The professional learning offer available to practitioners, system leaders and advisors enables them to develop the skills they need to meet the needs of learners with ALN so they can put in place differentiated teaching or other targeted interventions and make best use of expert advice and support. The professional learning offer includes a national ALN professional learning pathway which has been developed to help all teachers support learners with ALN, and especially ALNCos who have a strategic role in schools and colleges and are the first point of call for teachers seeking advice and guidance on ALN. Education practitioners can also opt to enhance their professional knowledge of ALN by pursuing the ALN pathway on the National MA (Masters) in Education (Wales).
The Welsh Government has worked with education consortia and regional partnerships, with support from the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, to create an online professional learning package on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). This national professional learning resource will support practitioners, head teachers, governing bodies and local authorities to develop an awareness and understanding of the UNCRC and UNCRPD. A consistent professional learning offer is required to support schools to meet the requirements of Section 64 of the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Act 2021. The first two modules will be made available during the summer term 2023 via the Welsh Government’s online learning platform ‘Hwb’. A virtual Policy Insight Event scheduled on 25/04 will showcase the UNCRC/PD modules, together with a range of other new professional learning resources launching next term.