Latest news with #Neagle
Wales Online
4 days ago
- Business
- Wales Online
Private firms and universities among organisations getting share of £44m to help schools in Wales
Private firms and universities among organisations getting share of £44m to help schools in Wales The cash is for projects to improve science, maths and literacy in schools over the next three years Funding is being made available to improve schools in Wales (Image: PA ) Private companies and universities are among bodies awarded a share of more than £44m in Welsh Government funding to improve subjects including literacy, numeracy and science in schools. The money is being awarded in grants for projects "to support key priorities in education in Wales" in the next three years. Wales has fared badly compared to other UK nations in these subjects in international tests for teenagers. Grants have been awarded to a range of organisations from the third and public sector, universities and private companies in order to "give schools and settings the expertise, training and materials they need", the Welsh Government said. Details of who has been awarded the grants, and what for, are expected to be published later today (Tuesday, June 3). Sign up for our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here. The funding is expected to go towards the following: Helping children make better progress in maths and numeracy Boosting science teaching Helping schools design "an engaging and challenging" curriculum for pupils Continuing the national music service, providing music opportunities for children Nursery education Nationally consistent support and expertise for relationships and sexuality education for the whole of Wales and ; Helping children develop creativity Cabinet Minister for education Lynne Neagle Article continues below Education Minister Lynne Neagle is also calling for further grant proposals inviting applications for up to £11.9 million from suitable organisations to fund projects in: Building children's computing and digital skills Developing maths in primary schools Literacy to improve attainment in speech, language and reading Making the announcement, Ms Neagle said: "This is a huge investment in high-quality, nationally consistent support for all our schools. Article continues below " We are helping schools to ramp up investment in literacy and numeracy standards, challenge and engage with their learners across the curriculum and maintain our record investment in music education – so every child, whatever their background, can experience the joy of music." 'I'm also pleased to be announcing a new call for proposals for national support on literacy, primary maths, computing and digital skills.'
South Wales Argus
20-05-2025
- Business
- South Wales Argus
Welsh Government invests £3.6bn in new schools and colleges
Since 2014, over 330 projects have been financed, with a total investment of £3.6 billion, benefiting every local authority, the Welsh Government says. The sustainable communities for learning programme has been integral in ensuring that these projects are not only modern but adept at educating the digital generation. Cabinet Secretary for Education and Senedd member for Torfaen Lynne Neagle recently visited Ysgol Llyn y Forwyn, a new primary school in Rhondda Cynon Taf and was full of praise for the investment in schools and colleges across Wales. Ms Neagle said: "These modern, sustainable buildings aren't just raising standards and reducing the attainment gap - they're creating an education infrastructure that's truly world-class and a source of national pride." Ysgol Llyn y Forwyn, which opened earlier this year, offers a multi-use games area, a grass sports pitch, and a nursery facility among others. Reevah, a 10-year-old learner at the school, affirmed the improved conditions, saying: "Because there's so much room and space it's so much better to learn here. "People seem a lot happier and everyone is definitely more positive about learning." The focus of the programme has been on sustainability, and in 2022 it introduced the requirement of net zero carbon operation for all major projects. A total investment of £5.4 billion is poised for 316 new building projects that are currently in development.
BBC News
02-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Adolescence: Welsh education secretary to meet young people after Netflix drama
The education secretary for Wales said she will speak to school pupils to learn more about concerns raised by the Netflix drama drama, about a teenage boy who is arrested for murdering a female classmate, touches on the impact of social media and misogynist online Neagle said she has asked to meet a group of young people who help the Welsh government with its Keeping Safe Online said she wanted to ensure resources provided to teachers and parents were "fully up to date". Neagle said she found Adolescence "deeply worrying" and a "shocking programme"."What I'm worried about is how we keep pace as adults with a world that is so very different from our own," she said."We've got a group of learners who help us with our Keeping Safe Online work."I've asked to meet with them, as well as the team that leads on that, so we can really make sure that the resources we are providing that we're providing via [education online platform] Hwb to children, to parents, and to teachers, are fully up to date and take account of the kind of things that are emerging now in society." Incel culture 'concerning' She spoke as members of the Senedd raised concerns about incel culture - misogynistic online communities of males who describe themselves as "involuntary celibate" - and mobile phones in ap Gwynfor, Plaid Cymru MS for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, asked Neagle if she was considering stronger national guidance on access to mobile phones in said mobile phones were being actively discussed with schools, which can already ban them within the school days.A recent Senedd inquiry on the issue said mobiles should not be banned outright but that schools should get more support to set their own Isherwood, Conservative MS for North Wales, said he had never heard of the term incel until he had seen the series."As parents and grandparents of both girls and boys, I find incel culture extremely concerning," he said."It now applies to online forums in which men discuss feeling angry and resentful towards women because they believe women don't find them attractive."He asked what action was being taken to ensure it was addressed in healthy relationship sessions delivered in minister said the Welsh government's relationship and sexuality education (RSE) curriculum had an important role to said work was taking place to "strengthen our RSE provision".Neagle said: "We fund the Spectrum project and that supports schools across Wales with lessons on healthy relationships, violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. "But I am looking at what more we can do around RSE in Wales."
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Yahoo
Asking police to search pupils' bags 'impractical'
Wales' education minister has been criticised after she said teachers can call on police officers to search pupils' bags if they do not want to do it themselves. Lynne Neagle said there were lessons to be learned following the "terrible incident" at a Carmarthenshire school in which two teachers and a pupil were stabbed. A teenager was found guilty of three counts of attempted murder, leading to calls for improved safety measures in schools, such as security guards. Dafydd Llywelyn, police commissioner for Dyfed-Powys, said it would be "completely impractical" for the police to conduct bag searches every time they are needed. A union said it would not be a productive use of police time to conduct daily bag searches, and called for pupils carrying weapons to be automatically excluded. Responding to calls for heightened security in schools, Neagle said this may not be an option school staff were comfortable with, adding she would be holding a "behaviour summit" to tackle the "complex" problems facing schools. Colleague saved my life, says stabbed teacher 'I'm going to kill you' - how school day turned to chaos amid stabbing Girl 'took knife to school every day' before stabbing This comes as it emerged on Wednesday police received a report of a knife found in a bag at Bryntirion Comprehensive School in Bridgend, after an altercation between two year 10 pupils on Friday, 31 January. South Wales Police said a 15-year-old boy was "assisting officers with their inquiries". A spokesman for the school said the safety and wellbeing of pupils remained their top priority. Neagle told the told Radio Wales Breakfast: "There's been a culture shift and what I'm seeing is a whole range of societal problems are now playing out in schools, and schools are having to do things that they didn't have to before. "I'm hearing a lot from schools about behavioural issues [and] we are seeing more and more young people with complex mental health issues. "One of the things we are doing as a government is I'm bringing together all partners in Wales later this year, as soon as we can, to have a behaviour summit where we're going to look at these issues... I want that to be really action focussed, so we come out with an action plan." Following the verdict, Fiona Elias - one of the teachers who was attacked at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in April 2024 - said she wanted to meet the local authority and Welsh government to make sure no-one else went through "the nightmare I have endured". Neagle said it was important that lessons were learnt from what had happened. "Now that the trial is over, we need to understand what happened in the run-up to this case and we are talking with the local authority about how we best learn the lesson from that," she said. During the trial, it was revealed the teenager responsible for the attack regularly took a knife to school, until her father began checking her bag each morning. Cefin Campbell MS, whose brother works at the school and tried to restrain the girl, previously said employing security guards to assist with bag checks could be an option for schools to consider. "I don't think the onus should have been put on the father to check the bag every day," he said. Responding to the suggestion, Neagle said: "I'm not sure lots of teachers would be comfortable with security guards in schools. And if they don't want to [check pupils' bags] they can ask the police to do that, the guidance is very clear." She added "really strong guidance on the carrying of knives" was already in place in Wales, with schools permitted to search pupils for offensive weapons or permanently exclude pupils if they have a knife in school. "It is an exceptional thing to be carrying a knife in school and these incidents are, thankfully, very rare," she said. "I want teachers to have the tools that they need to be able to deal with these issues in schools, but it can't all be on teachers." The latest guidance on searching for weapons in schools was produced in 2013, almost 12 years ago. It strongly advises schools "not to search pupils where resistance is expected, but rather to call the police". Neil Butler, the national officer of the teaching union NASUWT, said the recent spate of knife attacks in schools "must be a call to action for the Welsh government". The guidance from 2013 "needs updating", he said, adding: "Teachers are worried about what they have the power to do when they are faced with violence in schools." A bag search can endanger a teacher's safety, he said, and can only search pupils when authorised by a school head. "This could all mean it needs to be done by a security professional," he said, adding schools do not have funds to employ them. Butler called for "stronger deterrence", calling for carrying a weapon to "result in automatic exclusion". "After all, it is a criminal offence and should be dealt with robustly," he said. In the Senedd on Wednesday, Conservative Senedd education spokeswoman Natasha Asghar said Welsh government guidance said carrying a weapon "no longer applies as a reason for exclusion" in schools. Education Secretary Lynne Neagle suggested this was incorrect. "Can I just be clear that our exclusions guidance does say the schools can exclude a pupil permanently for carrying a weapon," she said. Plaid Cymru Police and Commissioner for Dyfed Powys, Dafydd Llywelyn, said Neagle's comments about the police were "highly ironic" when the Welsh government axed funding for a school visit programme. School Beat Cymru allowed for 68 officers across Wales' four forces to deliver lessons on substance abuse, safety, safeguarding and behaviour. The scheme was retained in Dyfed Powys. "If there was a particular issue in a particular school, we would have the capacity to do that on an ad hoc basis," he said. "But it's completely impractical to think that every time there's a need for a bag search, that the police would be seen as the ones who do that." Carmarthenshire council said it had referred the Ammanford incident to the regional safeguarding board and is awaiting a decision on the format and timeline of the multi-agency review. South Wales Police said: "Tackling knife crime is a priority for South Wales Police and we will always respond to concerns about someone carrying a knife." School phone bans don't boost grades or wellbeing, study suggests Quiet community left in shock after stabbing in school
BBC News
05-02-2025
- BBC News
Ammanford stabbing: Police can check school bags, minister says
Teachers can call on police officers to search pupils' bags if they do not feel comfortable doing so themselves, Wales' education minister has Neagle said there were lessons to be learned following the "terrible incident" at a Carmarthenshire school in which two teachers and a pupil were stabbed.A teenager was found guilty of three counts of attempted murder, leading to calls for improved safety measures in schools, such as security to calls for heightened security in schools, Neagle said this may not be an option school staff were comfortable with, adding she would be holding a "behaviour summit" to tackle the "complex" problems facing schools. "There's been a culture shift and what I'm seeing is a whole range of societal problems are now playing out in schools and schools are having to do things that they didn't have to before," she told Radio Wales Breakfast."I'm hearing a lot from schools about behavioural issues [and] we are seeing more and more young people with complex mental health issues."One of the things we are doing as a government is I'm bringing together all partners in Wales later this year - as soon as we can - to have a behaviour summit where we're going to look at these issues… I want that to be really action focussed, so we come out with an action plan."Following the verdict, Fiona Elias - one of the teachers who was attacked at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in April 2024 - said she wanted to meet the local authority and Welsh government to make sure no one else went through "the nightmare I have endured".Neagle said: "I've already met with Fiona Elias, I've also visited the school on two occasions. I've been really clear that I want to do everything that I can to support the school who've been through this terrible time, but it is also obviously important that we learn lessons now from what happened."Now that the trial is over, we need to understand what happened on the run-up to this case and we are talking with the local authority about how we best learn the lesson from that."During the trial, it was revealed that the teenager responsible for the attack regularly took a knife to school, until her father began checking her bag each morning. Cefin Campbell MS, whose brother works at the school and tried to restrain the girl, previously said employing security guards to assist with bag checks could be an option for schools to consider."I don't think the onus should have been put on the father to check the bag every day," he to the suggestion, Neagle said: "I'm not sure lots of teachers would be comfortable with security guards in schools. And if they don't want to [check pupils' bags] they can ask the police to do that, the guidance is very clear on that."She added "really strong guidance on the carrying of knives" was already in place in Wales, with schools permitted to search pupils for offensive weapons or permanently exclude pupils if they have a knife in school."It is an exceptional thing to be carrying a knife in school and these incidents are, thankfully, very rare," she said."I want teachers to have the tools that they need to be able to deal with these issues in schools, but it can't all be on teachers."
