The independent schools regulations and guidance: call for evidence
The Welsh Government would like your views on potential changes to the independent schools’ legislation and guidance.
How to respond
Submit your comments by 4 February 2022, in any of the following ways:
Email: schoolfoodandindependentschools@gov.wales
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its management, on health and social care in Wales
The Health and Social Care Committee is undertaking work on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its management, on the issues within its remit.
As part of this work, the Committee is keen to hear from anyone with an interest in these matters about any issues they think the Committee should be aware of. The consultation will remain open on a rolling basis – there is no deadline for responses.
The Committee will monitor and review responses to the consultation on an ongoing basis, and will use the evidence to help inform decisions about any areas on which focused work may be needed.
We encourage anyone with expertise or experience to share your views, with the full knowledge that your views will be welcomed and valued.
In addition to inviting written evidence, we may also arrange oral evidence sessions or other activity. Details of these sessions will be published on our website in due course.
Responding to the call for views
There is no fixed deadline for you to submit your views. We ask that you share them with us when you are able so that we can follow things up in as timely a way as possible.
Send your views to: SeneddHealth@senedd.wales
We will publish responses regularly. If you have sent a response, and it has not yet appeared, please be assured that it is being processed in accordance with our privacy notice.
Fuel poverty and the Warm Homes Programme
In order to help inform its inquiry into fuel poverty and the Warm Homes Programme, the Equality and Social Justice Committee is asking for views on the terms of reference below:
- What are the main lessons learned from the Welsh Government’s current Warm Homes Programme
- How can these lessons help shape the next iteration of the Warm Homes Programme to ensure that it better supports those living in, or at risk of, fuel poverty? In particular:
- what should the eligibility criteria for home energy efficiency measures be,
- should the area-based approach to tackling fuel poverty (Arbed) continue,
- what specific support should be made available to meet the challenges associated with rural fuel poverty?
- how can private sector landlords be encouraged to tackle fuel poverty amongst tenants?
- how can any successor scheme(s) better advance equality and social justice considerations?
- How can the Welsh Government ensure that the next iteration of the Warm Homes Programme better aligns with its efforts to decarbonise Welsh housing?
The consultation will run until 20 January 2022.
Impact of the waiting times backlog on people in Wales who are waiting for diagnosis or treatment
The waiting lists for diagnostic and therapy appointments and surgical treatment in Wales have significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The equivalent of around 1 in 5 of the Welsh population is on an NHS waiting list, and around 37 per cent of people waiting to start treatment have been waiting over 9 months.
The Health and Social Care Committee is holding a short inquiry into the impact of the waiting times backlog on people in Wales who are waiting for diagnosis or treatment.
- The Committee is considering in particular:
- The services in place for people who are waiting for diagnostics and treatment, particularly pain management support.
- Access to psychological therapies and emotional support for those who may be experiencing anxiety or distress as a result of long waiting times.
- The contribution the third sector can make in providing peer support and information to patients waiting on an NHS waiting list.
- The effectiveness of messaging and engagement with the public about the demands on the service and the importance of seeking care promptly.
- The extent to which inequalities exist in the elective backlog, with deprived areas facing disproportionately large waiting lists per head of population compared to least deprived areas.
- Plans to fully restore planned NHS care in Wales.
Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Bill
The Children, Young People and Education Committee is undertaking an inquiry into the general principles of the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Bill (‘the Bill’).
The purpose of the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Bill is to establish the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research, as the independent regulatory body responsible for the funding, oversight and regulation of tertiary education and research in Wales, tertiary education will encompass post-16 education including further and higher education, apprenticeships and sixth forms.
Further detail about the Bill can be found in its accompanying Explanatory Memorandum.
The Making Votes-at-16 work in Wales project
The Welsh Government want to hear the views of 16-18 year olds on their experiences of the recent Welsh elections. It should only take you 10-15 minutes to complete and there is a chance for you to win one of our ten £50 vouchers through entering a prize draw at the end of the survey.
Student Health and Wellbeing Survey: register today
All mainstream secondary schools can register for the survey up until 16 July 2021. You will receive, at no cost, a tailored Student Health and Wellbeing Report to facilitate self-evaluation of the health and wellbeing needs of your learners and to support a range of educational priorities. To register today please email shrn@cardiff.ac.uk
There’s still time to have your say:
The following consultations, commissioned by the Welsh Government, close on July 16th 2021. There is still time to have your say:
- Curriculum for Wales guidance for Careers and Work-related Experiences (CWRE)
- Curriculum for Wales Enabling Pathways guidance
- Statements of what matters code
- Cross-curricular skills frameworks
- Curriculum for Wales guidance and code for Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE)
- Guidance on the design and delivery of mandatory Religion, Values and Ethics (RVE)
- Curriculum for funded non-maintained nursery settings
- Draft progression code
An anti-racist Wales: Race Equality Action Plan for Wales
The Welsh Government are seeking your views on a race equality action plan that will help make Wales anti-racist.
Consultation description
We are seeking your views on:
- our vision, purpose and values for an anti-racist Wales
- the different policy areas that should develop tangible goals, actions and outcomes
- areas of government work that may have been missed
- barriers to achieving our goals, action and outcomes
- our use of language.
Curriculum and assessment reforms: preparations for 2022
The Welsh Government has commissioned research to understand schools’ preparations for the planned roll-out of the Curriculum for Wales from 2022.
The research, which is being led by Arad Research in partnership with the Open University in Wales, includes a Wales-wide school survey.
The information collected will be used to identify what type of support is required to ensure schools are ready to implement the new curriculum. This survey is aimed at headteachers, senior leaders and practitioners in schools, pupil referral units and non-maintained settings in Wales.
We encourage schools to take the time to complete the survey, which should take 10 to 15 minutes and has a closing date of 16 July 2021.
Curriculum for funded non-maintained nursery settings
This post was originally published by the Welsh Government.
Consultation ends: 16 July 2021
Consultation description
We are consulting on the draft curriculum for funded non-maintained nursery settings which:
- supports effective planning to ensure the best use of the environment and resources available
- supports the development of appropriate learning environments which respond to children’s interests
- includes the key principles that are essential for learning
- embeds the mandatory elements of Curriculum for Wales within a framework that focuses on the needs of the developing child
How to respond
Alternative ways to submit are available.
Help us make a difference to Youth Work in Wales
Our Journey
Youth Cymru is at the start of a new journey; much has changed over the last few months for all of us and as an organisation whose primary aim is to benefit the lives of young people we want to take action now to ensure the best outcomes for young people in Wales. Our current strategy needs renewing and this is an opportunity to ensure our future work reflect the future landscape, the context and needs of young people, youth workers and youth organisations in Wales.
We want to provide an opportunity for our members and partners to make sure we hear what you need and know what you think. We want to begin and continue a conversation that not only helps create and build our strategy but also creates positive momentum, futures and benefits for all young people and youth workers in Wales.
To use a hackneyed phrase “these are unprecedented times” and we need and want our work now and in the future to place our members, our partners and young people central to our activities, plans and work; we want to set new ambitions to ensure that we remain part of the solution to the problems that exists in these complex, uncertain and unsettling times.
We need your input
We are aware that many are facing very difficult circumstances right now, so while we’d like people to engage with our ongoing consultation there will be no proscribed way of doing this. We will be sending out questionnaires and invitation to workshops and seminars but would equally welcome a telephone call, email or communication through our social media.
Over the coming months, we will be creating multiple opportunities to continue the conversation about our future direction, our relationship with you our partners, members and colleagues and the work we need to do to support you. Help us to shape our new strategy for 2021 and beyond!
We invite you to take part in this period of development as much as you can; to begin the conversation please complete this questionnaire below and look out for forth coming invitations to attend our seminars and workshop
For more information, visit Youth Cymru.
Consultation on non-statutory school improvement guidance
This post was originally published on the Welsh Government website.
We want your views on a proposed framework for evaluation, improvement and accountability of schools, and its implementation.
Consultation description:
We are consulting on the draft school improvement guidance, which aims to:
- strengthen the effectiveness of self-evaluation and improvement planning by schools
- replace the national categorisation system with a similar support process that does not require the publication of school categories
- strengthen and provide clarity about the separation between evaluation / improvement activities and the accountability system
- clearly assign the roles and responsibilities of different bodies in a self-improving system.
Coronavirus and Me Survey launched January 2021
Children in Wales is continuing to work in partnership with the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Welsh Government and the Welsh Youth Parliament on the second phase of the Coronavirus and Me – Nationwide survey for children and young people in Wales, launched on 20 January 2021.
The Early Childhood Education and Care COVID-19 Impact Study
The research is being carried out by staff at Swansea University, School of Education in conjunction with the national umbrella organisation ‘Children in Wales’.
Follow this link to undertake the survey.
The survey will close on the 4th December.
We are looking for input from people who work in the early years sector (with children aged 0-8) — practitioners, childcare workers, setting managers, and teachers — to tell us about their experiences of working during the pandemic.
We wish to better understand the impact of the changes that have been made, as well as practitioner perceptions of these changes; we focus on the impact of coronavirus on early years provision, practitioners and children. The findings from this research will be used to better inform emerging policy and practice across the four nations of the UK, to better understand and support settings and schools in dealing with current and future events of this kind.
Make your Mark
Make your Mark is an opportunity for 11-18 year olds across the UK to have their say and begin their democratic journey by voting on the policies they want to introduce or change.
The issues you vote as the most important will be debated by Members of Youth Parliament. They will campaign to influence the UK Parliament and their local representatives, ensuring that the views of young people are listened to by decision makers.
This is your opportunity to influence decision makers who can make a real difference on the issues that matter to you. Make Your Mark is one of the most important and influential ways young people can take part in a democratic process.
You have until 30th November to cast your vote!
Topics Include:
- Support our Mental Health
- Free University
- Tackle Child Poverty
- Stop Plastic Pollution
- Increase Racial Awareness in the Curriculum
- Take Action on the Climate Emergency
- Votes at 16
- Tackle Discrimination and Hate Crime in the UK
- Include Young People in the Plan for Covid-19 Recovery
- Protect Human Rights
Survey of children’s social services and care rates in Wales
We really value your commitment to helping us bridge the gap between research, practice, and policy. This is why we are calling on you. If you work in children’s social care, we need your views and opinions on social care practice in Wales.
The survey will take 15 minutes of your time, but your contribution will be invaluable to helping us to understand stark variations in the numbers of children in care between local authorities. Plus, you will be entered into a prize draw with other members in your local authority to win £250 for a children’s charity of your choice.
About the study
The number of children in care in Wales has increased in recent years, and there are differences between rates among local authorities. Evidence suggests that a significant proportion of this variation is the result of differences in practice. Our aim is to understand factors influencing practice from the “ground up” including differences between local authorities. This survey is designed for social workers, managers, and senior social services managers in Wales.
This study is funded by the Welsh Government and carried out by the Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE) and the Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCPP) at Cardiff University.
Your responses will be anonymous and individual local authorities will not be identified in our final report. Thank you in anticipation, we can’t wait to hear your thoughts to help us make a better future for children in Wales.
Effect of Covid-19 on learners survey
Closing date: 18 December 2020
The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has affected life everywhere. Welsh Government researchers would like to understand more about the impact the pandemic has had on learners in Wales.
This survey is aimed at;
- current learner aged 16 or older,
- undertaking learning at AS and A levels in a school sixth form,
- further education
- work-based or adult learning in college or in the community
Draft Tertiary Education and Research Bill
Consultations were carried about:
- the needs of the learner
- Welsh language/Welsh-medium
- the needs of the economy and employers
- Regulatory impact assessment
- Post Compulsory Education and Training reform
Embedding a whole-school approach to mental health and well-being
Consultations were made about possible improvements to how the framework will support:
- positive mental health and emotional well-being of all learners and staff
- the development and embedding of best practice
- consistency and collaboration between schools and partners
- activities such as training and awareness
CARE in the time of COVID for care-experienced young people – University of Oxford
Would you like to share your experiences of COVID-19? If you have experience of being in care in the UK and are over the age of 18, send us your own diary entry of a written piece, of music, or of art:
- Written (200 to 600 words
- Audio or video (3 to 5 minutes)
- Music, a song, poetry or spoken word
- Art you have created (please accompany this by a short explanation)
The #CareConvos team will provide weekly prompts inspired by historical diaries and a selection of diary entries will be published on social media.
We are also inviting people to complete a short survey about their mental health status and coping strategies. You will not be asked about your care experience. All those who complete the survey and submit a diary entry will receive a £15 voucher.
To submit a diary entry for this week, tell us about one of the following:
- Tell us about your day to day experiences during COVID-19
- Tell us about your day last Saturday (9th May 2020)
- How do you feel about the length of lockdown (“Stay at home”)? What adjustments have you made to the way you enjoy your time?
You can submit multiple entries, but vouchers are available for only two entries per month.
To take part or find out more:
Visit our website: www.careinthetimeofcovid.org
Contact: aoife.ohiggins@magd.ox.ac.uk
Twitter page: @CareandCOVID
Instagram: @careinthetimeofcovid
Impact of COVID-19 on the language development of infants aged 8-18 months, and aged 18-36 months
This is a Cardiff University project in connection with the outbreak of the Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the measures on quarantine and social distancing implemented by the UK health authorities on 23.03.2020. As parents, we are often interested in following the development of our children and finding out how they have learned at various points in the early years of life. Understanding what children know and how they learn is also important for researchers interested in understanding their development. In this research project, we want to investigate how quarantine and social distancing can affect language development in children aged 8-36 months.
The questionnaire is for parents with children learning English as their main language, and there is going to be a follow-up questionnaire conducted when quarantine measures have ceased. Participate in the survey.
Qualifications Wales launches consultation on grading for summer 2020
Qualifications Wales today publishes a consultation document setting out how, in the absence of exams, this year’s GCSE, AS and A level grades will be standardised across the country and how the appeals process will work. The regulator wants all interested parties to examine its proposals and submit their views before the new arrangements are finalised.
“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Summer 2020 will be proof of that on so many fronts, including education,” said Chief Executive Philip Blaker.
“Given the decision to close schools and cancel exams as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, establishing new arrangements for this summer is essential to enable learners to receive their grades fairly so that they are able to progress to the next stage of their lives, whether that is further study, training or employment.”
Grades will be based on centres’ judgements of each learner’s attainment, which will then be standardised across centres drawing on a range of other evidence. The consultation is seeking views on two key aspects of arrangements for summer 2020.
The consultation is seeking views on two key aspects of arrangements for summer 2020:
- The aims which will underpin the statistical standardisation model that will be used for the award of grades for learners taking the affected qualifications. This will be developed and used by WJEC to ensure that grades submitted by centres across Wales are judged at the same level.
- The specific appeals process that is needed for the 2020 summer exam series given that papers will not be marked in the usual way.
This consultation covers GCSEs, AS and A levels and the Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate that are developed in Wales by WJEC and regulated by Qualifications Wales. The consultation is open from Tuesday 28 April and closes at 5pm on Wednesday 13 May 2020. Full details, including how to respond, can be found on the Qualifications Wales website.
Children in Wales survey
In our last members update on 31st March, we set out some of the changes we are making in the way we deliver our valued services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are now making adaptations and implementing new and exciting ways in which to deliver our core work over the coming months.
The importance and benefits of working together, staying connected and speaking with one voice are even more important now that ever before. This means listening to what our members have to say; advocating for the best possible outcomes for children and sharing the best possible solutions & resources to support our members and the children, young people and families you work with throughout Wales.
We are keen to get the children’s sector’s views so that we can achieve these aims together, and be able to respond as effectively as we can. Please could you take a moment to complete our survey to help inform our programme of work. We have intentionally kept if brief as not to take a great deal of your valuable time.
Co-SPACE COVID-19 study
Are you a parent or carer of a child in school years 0 (reception/foundation) to 11 in the UK? If you are we invite you to take part in a regular online survey being run by the University of Oxford. The survey will take up to 20 mins the first time you do it and about 10 mins thereafter. We will ask you to complete the survey weekly for a month, then fortnightly for a month, and then monthly until children and young people are back in school. Participate in the survey.
Monmouthshire education services survey
We want your views on how well Monmouthshire education services supports schools and youth services. Your opinions will help us judge how effective the education services are at ensuring young people receive the education to which they are entitled.
If you’re a parent, carer, learner or work/are involved in education in Monmouthshire we’d like to hear your views.
Staff training needs questionnaire
WJEC is working as part of a consortium, led by AlphaPlus Consultancy Ltd, commissioned by Welsh Government to develop the personalised assessments. As part of this work, WJEC is providing training to schools on administering and using the personalised assessments.
In order to tailor training provision to your staff needs, we encourage all schools to complete the short online questionnaire.
Changes to disabled students’ allowances
Welsh Government want to improve the quality of support available to eligible students. We are consulting on the following changes:
- amalgamation of allowances
- availability of a pre-arranged package of support
- responsibilities for arranging support
- improving DSA awareness
Structure for Welsh apprenticeship frameworks
Welsh Government are are seeking your views on the structure of apprenticeship frameworks.
Qualifications Wales’ consultation on the nature of qualifications to be taken at 16 is now live
Education in Wales is embarking on a significant period of change, and at the centre of these changes is an innovative curriculum for 3 to 16-year olds.
To complement the new curriculum, they want the next generation of 16-year olds to take globally respected qualifications that inspire and prepare them for life, learning and work. We want to be sure that any changes we make lead to long-lasting improvements and stability for the qualifications system.
Written statement – Consultation, summary of response: Draft Welsh in education strategic plans regulations (Wales) 2019 and guidance
The Welsh Government undertook a consultation on the draft Welsh in Education Strategic Plans Regulations (Wales) 2019 and Guidance between 30 May and 13 September 2019. The document summarising the key themes from the responses received to that consultation and the Welsh Government responses has been published today on the Welsh Government website.
Draft keeping learners safe guidance
Welsh Government wants your views on the revision of the 2015 guidance for local authorities and governing bodies on arrangements for safeguarding children.
Ensuring access to the full curriculum
Welsh Government are seeking your views on the impact of the proposal to change parents’ ability to withdraw their children from Religious Education (RE) and Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in the new curriculum.
Professionals and practitioners child & family poverty survery 2019 C
Children in Wales have been carrying out an Annual Child & Family Poverty Survey for the last 4 years, which helps us tounderstand levels and trends of child poverty in Wales.
Beaufort Research
Draft: Keeping learners safe guidance
Gov.wales want your views on the revision of the 2015 guidance for local authorities and governing bodies on arrangements for safeguarding children. Consultation ends 7 November 2019.
Regulations for licensing Animal Exhibits proposed
Regulations to introduce a licensing scheme for Animal Exhibits such as mobile zoos and petting farms have been introduced for consultation today by the minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs. Consultation ends 21 November 2019.
Education (Amendments relating to the intervals for Inspection of Education and Training) (Wales) Regulations 2020
Gov.wales want your views on proposals to amend the regulations. Consultation ends 25 November 2019.
Ensuring access to the full curriculum
Gov.wales are seeking your views on the impact of the proposal to change parents’ ability to withdraw their children from Religious Education (RE) and Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in the new curriculum. Consultation ends 28 November 2019.
Social media in social work: A research survey
Social media is surrounded by ethical dilemmas and ongoing questions in Social Work practice. As part of my Masters dissertation in Social Work at Cardiff University, I am conducting a short, 5-minute survey. It is an online questionnaire looking at social media use in Social Work and asks questions in relation to how professionals are using social media, examining some of the ethical dilemmas which social media creates.The questionnaire offers the opportunity for participants to highlight how they feel social media helps or hinders their everyday practice. The survey is anonymous and can be completed by anyone working in or training in Social Work or anyone who has worked in Social Work previously. If you are a Social Worker past or present, or currently training to be a Social Worker, I would appreciate your input. Thank you for your support with this research.
Purpose and agency in teaching survey
The research is funded by Cardiff University and is led by Dr Kevin Smith. The study is not sponsored by or affiliated with Welsh Government.
The WRISK survey
Women who are planning a pregnancy, or who are pregnant, get advice and information from many different sources. This can be helpful; but may also cause anxiety – and evidence may not always be well explained. The WRISK project wants to hear about your experiences.
The WRISK survey aims to learn more about women’s experiences of advice and information they received both before and during pregnancy. The survey is open to all women who have been pregnant in the last 5 years, regardless of how their pregnancy/ies may have ended. There is particular interest in hearing from women whose voices are not often heard – such as BAME women, women in receipt of welfare benefits, and younger and older women.
Adverse childhood experiences awareness survey
Public Health Wales wish to gain insight into the views and understanding of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) amongst staff in public sector roles within Wales.
To do this, they have commissioned Strategic Research and Insight (SRI), an independent research company based in Cardiff, to carry out an online survey. This will gather the views of public sector workers across Wales.
The survey is important because it will help understand, for the first time, the levels of relevant expertise, knowledge and skills available in public service to tackle the outcomes of ACEs in the adult and child population in Wales.
Public Health Wales would like to hear from as many Wales-based public sector workers as possible, irrespective of their role. This could include, for example, people delivering front line services or people who work in operational, management or leadership roles. It may also include people who work in organisations which deliver services funded by the public sector e.g. Third Sector.
If you have any queries, or would like any information to help promote the survey, please contact Angus Campbell of SRI at angus@strategic-research.co.uk.
Kinship carers: State of the nation survey
The State of the Nation survey is an opportunity for all kinship carers to help develop services and fight for improvements in support for kinship families. This year the focus is on the time when you first became a kinship carer, because this is such a critical stage and often shapes the support that you and your family receive. We want to hear directly from you about your experiences and the improvements you would like to see. Complete the survey here.
