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Tag: Press Release

  • PRESS RELEASE : Reading should be explicitly taught even in secondary schools [October 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : Reading should be explicitly taught even in secondary schools [October 2022]

    The press release issued by the Department for Education on 31 October 2022.

    Today Ofsted has published a research report looking at how high-performing secondary schools provide targeted support for struggling readers.

    Reading is essential to every subject and children who cannot read well will find it difficult to keep up with the demands of secondary school.

    Read the report: ‘Now the whole school is reading’: supporting struggling readers in secondary school

    Each year around one quarter of 11-year-olds do not meet the expected standard in reading at the end of primary school. Fewer than 1 in 5 of these pupils can expect to get a GCSE grade 4 in English. Being unable to read well can often also lead to poor behaviour. The consequences of poor reading extend beyond school, as evidence shows that adults with low literacy are likely to have fewer job opportunities and a lower income.

    The aim of our study was to explore how schools make sure that pupils who leave primary school unable to read age-appropriate books fluently can become proficient readers and keep up with all their other curriculum subjects.

    The 6 schools we visited for the research were chosen because a higher-than-expected proportion of their initially poor readers achieved a pass in English language at GCSE.

    In these schools, we found that:

    • Senior leaders prioritised reading by investing in additional, bespoke help for struggling readers and training for staff who taught reading
    • Teachers accurately identified gaps in pupils’ reading knowledge
    • Staff who taught reading had expertise in teaching weaker readers
    • Clear procedures were in place to monitor this teaching and its impact on struggling readers
    • As pupils’ reading improved, they gained confidence and became more motivated to engage with reading in class

    Ofsted’s Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman said:

    The ability to read is a fundamental life skill. However, secondary school leaders and teaching staff should be aware that a significant number of their pupils are lacking the basics.

    All children, with very few exceptions, should leave school proficient readers. That’s why it’s essential that children who leave primary school unable to read well get the additional teaching they need to participate both academically and in wider society.

    The research visits to the 6 secondary schools took place in March 2022.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Salvation Army urges new PM must tackle poverty [October 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : Salvation Army urges new PM must tackle poverty [October 2022]

    The press release issued by the Salvation Army on 25 October 2022.

    The Salvation Army is urging the new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to use his first few days in office to ensure people on benefits can still afford to eat, pay their rent, and travel to and from work or school.

    The simplest way to make this happen would be for benefits to rise in line with inflation.

    Salvation Army Lieutenant-Colonel Dean Pallant said:

    “We know difficult economic decisions have to be made but we can’t ask the most vulnerable people in society to forgo eating, heating and paying rent so the nation can balance the books.

    “Measures by the Government to tackle rising energy prices are welcomed but the cost of everything has spiralled. The people queuing for our foodbanks and using our church halls to stay warm are often working or desperately trying to work and relying on Universal Credit to make ends meet.  Our officers across the country are helping these people get through another week with emergency support like food parcels or providing warm coats but need is growing. We are facing a poverty crisis.”

    On The Salvation Army frontline

    Sara and her husband have two children, one of whom is autistic, and they live in a one-bedroomed flat.  They are both employed but can’t work enough hours to pay for the basics. Sara recently had to use her son’s disability allowance to buy school uniforms. “When I’ve applied for a crisis fund to help pay for uniform, I’ve been told we earn too much. I have to use food support at The Salvation Army, I only go there because they are discreet. I won’t ask unless I’m desperate.”

    The Resolution Foundation* estimate that an additional 600,000 people will slip into poverty unless benefits are uprated in line with inflation. This would bring the total rise in poverty by 2023/24 to 3.5 million people.

    The Salvation Army is calling for:

    • all benefits for people on low incomes to keep up with inflation
    • an increase in housing benefit, so it covers the full cost of rent
    • existing Universal Credit debt to be covered in the Government’s 60-day ‘Breathing Space’ scheme, giving people more time to make repayments.

    Lieutenant-Colonel Dean Pallant continued:

    “This is not only the morally right thing to do but also fiscally prudent as poverty affects physical and mental health and increases the risk of debt and homelessness. Helping people back from the impact of poverty takes love, time and frontline services like the NHS and employment support.  What happens when we are faced with the bill for widespread chronic poverty?”

    The Salvation Army runs services designed to help those who have slipped into poverty to get back on their feet including supporting people into jobs, debt advisors, afterschool clubs with hot meals for children, and help to live independently after being homeless.

    The Salvation Army is also calling for medium term to help people recover from poverty and regain their independence. This includes:

    • expanding free childcare provision, so parents can work or train
    • mandating local leaders to set targets to reduce economic inactivity through Levelling Up funds to help people that have been excluded from the job market
    • a new cross-Government task force to tackle, with empathy and compassion, the reasons people are not earning and are trapped in poverty.

    Find out how we are helping those hardest hit by the cost of living crisis.

  • PRESS RELEASE : QAA Response to NSS Consultation Outcomes [October 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : QAA Response to NSS Consultation Outcomes [October 2022]

    The press release issued by the QAA on 28 October 2022.

    QAA is disappointed to hear that the Office for Students (OfS) intends to proceed with the removal of the summative question 27 in the National Student Survey (NSS) for providers in England – the only question that directly asks students whether they are satisfied with the quality of their course.

    It is especially disappointing that the OfS is proceeding with this given the vast majority of respondents opposed the proposal, with only around a tenth of respondents supporting it.

    As we stated in our response to the consultation earlier this year, QAA believes that prospective students will be at a disadvantage without access to the information provided by this question. We are also concerned that the removal of this question in England signals further divergence from a UK-wide approach to quality, which affects the global reputation of UK higher education.

    QAA further believes that the purpose of the NSS ought to be viewed more broadly than as a regulatory tool in England, as the core survey criteria suggest. The NSS has wider value as a source of information for prospective students and for facilitating enhancement of the student academic experience.

    QAA will continue to advocate for the use of high-quality quantitative and qualitative data that supports institutions in responding to the student voice for the enhancement of the student academic experience.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Calls for more investment into GP training [October 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : Calls for more investment into GP training [October 2022]

    The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 28 October 2022.

    The Welsh Conservatives have called on Labour ministers to invest more into the GP estate improving facilities for training.

    Commenting, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies MS said:

    “While we welcome the pay increase for GPs in Wales the simple fact is that doctor retention in Wales is far too low.

    “For 25 years, successive Labour Governments have run our NHS into the ground, demoralising staff and hurting patients.

    “We desperately need Labour ministers to invest more capital into the GP estate so that doctors have the space they need to train the next generation of GPs in Wales.”

  • PRESS RELEASE : People of Wales paying the price for Labour’s housing crisis say Welsh Conservatives [October 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : People of Wales paying the price for Labour’s housing crisis say Welsh Conservatives [October 2022]

    The press release issued by Welsh Conservatives on 28 October 2022.

    Commenting on the news that Labour’s housing crisis in Wales is forcing more people into temporary accommodation, Shadow Minister for Housing, Janet Finch-Saunders MS, said:

    “What Labour ministers in Cardiff Bay forget is that there is a price that the people of Wales are having to pay for their housing crisis.

    “It’s clear that Labour’s plan to end homelessness is just more empty rhetoric. Labour had the opportunity to take radical action after the pandemic and instead, chose to waste £100 million on more politicians in the Senedd.

    “Labour ministers need to get a grip on the scale of the crisis, build more homes across Wales, reverse anti rent legislation, and take responsibility for their failings.”

  • PRESS RELEASE : Welsh Conservative comment on potential teacher strikes [October 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : Welsh Conservative comment on potential teacher strikes [October 2022]

    The press release issued by Welsh Conservatives on 27 October 2022.

    Teachers in Wales are being asked to vote on industrial action after being offered below-inflation pay rises. It could lead to strikes in the new year after unions rejected a 5% pay offer from the Labour government, here in Wales.

    Commenting on the news, Shadow Education Minister, Laura Anne Jones MS said:

    “The Education Minister, Jeremy Miles, has the levers, he has the money, to pay teachers more, if he wants to.

    “Wales has seen a 10% fall in teacher numbers since 2011, which represents 4,000 fewer teachers despite there being 7,000 more students. Clearly, retention is an issue that the Labour Government need to get a hold of.

    “Let’s see the Welsh Education Minister put his money where his mouth is, grapple with the unique issues faced by the Welsh education system and stop passing the buck.”

  • PRESS RELEASE : Labour cuts NHS beds as waiting list hits 750k [October 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : Labour cuts NHS beds as waiting list hits 750k [October 2022]

    The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 27 October 2022.

    It has been revealed that the number of NHS beds has fallen again last year, despite the treatment backlog covering a fifth of the population, congested A&E departments, and record ambulance delays.

    Official statistics released today show the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay oversaw a fall in NHS Wales beds from 10,340 to 10,275 in 2020/21.

    During the devolution era, when Labour has led every government, the number of beds has been cut by 30%, down from 14,723 in 1999/00, falling year-on-year ever since.

    The average daily number of occupied beds in 2021/22 was 8,342, an increase of 1,171.7 (16.3%) compared to the previous year. The percentage occupancy of NHS beds in last year was 81.2% – 11.8 percentage points more than 2020/21.

    Commenting, Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies MS said:

    “It is astonishing that the Labour Government has chosen to cut the number of NHS beds just as demand on the NHS has sky-rocketed because ministers failed to prepare for post-lockdown recovery, with one saying it would be ‘foolish’ to publish a plan during the pandemic.

    “While it could be argued that bed numbers are down as capacity is being redistributed closer to communities, it comes up against the brutal reality that A&E is busier than ever, ambulance response times are at record lows, and 1-in-5 people are on Britain’s longest waiting lists.

    “This is a naïve and chaotic approach to running a health service under pressure like never before, but it is about to get much worse under Labour as nurses are to vote on striking this winter, just as we learn that NHS nurse vacancies have risen by a thousand in the last year alone.

    “This is the cost of Labour – now they need to get a grip on the NHS and stop breaking all the wrong records.”

    Last month saw Wales record it worst-ever ambulance response times for red calls. There have been significant delays in transferring patients from ambulances into hospital and stories of overwhelmed A&E departments since society and services re-opened after lockdowns.

    Meanwhile, three-quarters of a million people are on an NHS treatment waiting list, with 1-in-4 of them waiting over a year, and 59,000 waiting over two years. Two year waits have virtually been eliminated in England and Scotland.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Senedd votes to support Sam Rowlands’ Outdoor Education Bill [October 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : Senedd votes to support Sam Rowlands’ Outdoor Education Bill [October 2022]

    The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 26 October 2022.

    The Senedd has voted today to progress Sam Rowlands’ bill to guarantee an outdoor education residential visit to all Welsh pupils.

    Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Local Government Minister, Sam Rowlands MS said:

    “I am pleased that my colleagues have decided to back my calls to expand outdoor education provision to all young people in Wales. Over the coming months, I look forward to working with those in the sector and the relevant organisations in bringing this bill forward and making it a lasting success.

    “As I have outlined, the long-lasting benefits of a residential visit are numerous, from improving mental and physical health to teaching children about the natural world.

    “This bill is long overdue. No one should be denied these kinds of opportunities as a result of their postcode or family income.”

  • PRESS RELEASE : ‘Farming confusion needs to be fixed’ says Welsh Conservatives [October 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : ‘Farming confusion needs to be fixed’ says Welsh Conservatives [October 2022]

    The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 26 October 2022.

    The Welsh Conservatives have warned how farmers will be forced to contravene the Welsh Government’s NVZ regulations, should they not be altered.

    Samuel Kurtz MS, the Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs, highlighted the fact that farmers under TB restrictions are unable to move cattle, which in turn, will cause an increase in stocking numbers. In this scenario, the Welsh Government’s 170kg per hectare will have to be broken.

    Mr Kurtz stated that by obeying one set of Welsh Government rules, farmers will be forced to neglect another.

    He questioned the Welsh Government’s position following the Minister’s failure to answer them during the Senedd’s NVZ committee report debate two weeks ago.

    Speaking about the situation, Samuel Kurtz MS said:

    “Welsh farmers are doing all they can to adhere to the letter of the Welsh Government’s regulations, be that bovine TB or NVZ regulations. However, the reality here is that by adhering to one set of regulations, farmers will end up contravening another.

    “If your herd has a TB breakdown, then your stock number will inevitably increase. If this occurs, you’ll surpass the Welsh Government’s derogation limit and face substantial penalties.

    “It is incredibly troubling that this enormous hole in policy has not been identified by the Welsh Government. We only have one chance to get these policies right, so it is of huge concern that these shortcomings have not been identified at an earlier stage.

    “We need a clear indication which of these policies are set to be amended to give way for the other – the sooner this occurs, the sooner our farmers can adjust and prepare.”

  • PRESS RELEASE : Labour throwing new station into chaos [October 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : Labour throwing new station into chaos [October 2022]

    The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 26 October 2022.

    Commenting on the news that Labour ministers have put the building of a new £120 million mainline train station on hold, Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Transport, Natasha Asghar MS said:

    “How long can this continue? Wales is crying out for better infrastructure only for the Labour government to hold our country back.

    “The programme now rests on the recommendation of the planning inspector, which Labour ministers have been known to ignore when it suits them.

    “Labour ministers must abandon their anti-growth policies and build a Welsh infrastructure system suitable for the 21st century.”