Torfaen MS Lynne Neagle has called on Welsh Government to ensure schools are well prepared to support children when schools in Wales reopen at the end of June.
The MS, who is chair of the Senedd’s Children, Young People and Education Committee, used a question to the Education Minister Kirsty Williams to flag her concerns that the lockdown had been traumatic for everyone but particularly for children.
She said: “How will you ensure that schools are well prepared for managing and supporting what could be a lot of very traumatised children, when they do eventually come back?”
Lynne raised a series of questions with the Minister in response to the Minister’s announcement that school children in Wales can return to school from June 29.
She said that like many people, she wanted to take some time to digest the news and the associated documents but she did welcome the opportunity for children to touch base with teachers.
She said: “One of the huge concerns for me in this pandemic is that most of our children are largely unseen and hidden. So, the opportunity for welfare checks for our children, and the opportunity to touch base with teachers, is, I think, something that I, personally, would welcome.”
The MS added, the issue of the well-being of school staff needed to be thought about, too. Her more specific questions focused on how social distancing was going to work in practice and whether a child rights impact assessment had been undertaken.
In reply the Minister said she would publish operational guidance this week she said: “That is being finalised—we are still consulting with our local education authorities, teaching unions and the groups that we have established to make sure that that guidance is as good as it needs to be, and that work is ongoing. It will cover all of the operational issues that are associated with the check-in sessions being made available for children.”
Click here to read the full transcript of the session held on June 3.
