Month: September 2018

The Education Workforce Council (EWC) has launched a public consultation on changes to its Code of Professional Conduct and Practice for registrants.

Anybody working as a teacher or in a learning support role in a maintained school or further education college must be registered with the EWC and comply with its Code. The same also applies to work based learning practitioners and qualified youth and youth support workers.

The Code sets out the standards expected of those registered with the EWC and is intended to help and guide their behaviours and judgements both inside and outside of work. However, it also provides an important safeguard for learners, parents and the general public as it sets out what they can expect from anybody working in teaching and learning in Wales.

They want to hear from as many people as possible, including registrants, the public and those with an interest in ensuring that all learners in Wales receive a high quality education. They encourage you to give your views and help them to develop a Code that is robust, clear and concise.

The consultation documents can be found here.

The consultation closes on 14 December 2018.

We are very excited to let you know that applications to become a Welsh Youth Parliament Member are open.

If you know of any young person aged between 11-18 who live or receive their education in Wales and who is interested in standing, they can get more information and fill in the nomination form on the Welsh Youth Parliament website https://www.youthparliament.wales/stand.

Voter registration is also still open until 18 November for anyone who hasn’t registered to vote yet https://www.mi-nomination.com/wypregister/form/landingpageenglish.

If you have any questions or would like us to come out and speak to your school or group, please contact us at hello@youthparliament.wales.

We wanted to update you on progress with the Mind Over Matter report.

This week the Welsh Government has announced the establishment of a Ministerial Task and Finish Group chaired jointly by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services. The Chair of the Assembly’s CYPE Committee, Lynne Neagle AM, has issued the following response, and a formal media release will follow on Monday:

“I welcome the establishment of this Group as a direct response to the very significant concerns outlined by the Children, Young People and Education Committee in our recent report on the emotional and mental health of children in Wales. The Committee looks forward to working with the Welsh Government to ensure that the necessary action is taken to deliver, as a matter of urgency, the step change needed to support our children and young people’s emotional well-being. Cross-sector and cross-professional cooperation is key to this, and as an independent participant in the Group’s work, I will do all I can to ensure that a ‘whole-system’ approach to emotional and mental health is delivered for Wales’s children and young people.”

The establishment of the Group follows the publication of the CYPE Committee’s Mind Over Matter report in April 2018. The report called on the Welsh Government to deliver a step change in the emotional and mental health support provided to children and young people in Wales, stating that the urgent challenge lies in prevention and early intervention services. The Committee concluded that the costs of emotional and mental ill health – both personally to the individuals and families involved, and to the public purse – are too high for the flow not to be stemmed earlier.

In July 2018, the Committee rejected the Welsh Government’s written response to its report. Cross-party disappointment was expressed on the floor of the Senedd Chamber, and calls made by the Committee for the Cabinet Secretaries to revisit their response. Following the announcement of the Ministerial Task and Finish Group, the Committee has called for a revised written response by March 2019, to reflect the work of the Task and Finish Group and the ongoing work of the Together for Children and Young People Programme.

The Youth Work Reference Group (YWRG) met on 10 August 2018.
They have now met 6 times this year, further details of the current role of this group is in Annex A. The purpose of circulating the following key messages is to enable the sector to understand the work that the YWRG has been undertaking, and that which is planned.

Key Messages
• At the latest meeting, the YWRG met again with Keith Towler, Chair of the Interim Youth Work Board for Wales. They discussed the role and remit of both the Board and the YWRG and agreed that there needed to be a changed focus for the Group. Therefore from the October 2018 meeting the YWRG will change to a Youth Work Stakeholder Group. The work of the group will feed into the work plan of the Board and further discussions about this will take place once the Board is established. As part of this there will be further consideration of the Terms of Reference of this group and the membership.

• The group discussed the Estyn Report `Youth Support Services in Wales – The value of Youth Work’. They welcomed the opportunity for this discussion to take place, it was broadly acknowledged that the report was timely and the findings will now feed into the development of the new Youth Work Strategy.

https://www.estyn.gov.wales/thematic-reports/youth-support-services-wales
• The group were made aware that Keith Towler would shortly be sending out two statements, the first to the wider sector giving them information about his role and his intentions over the next two years; Message from the Chair – Sector CYM ENG the second aimed at young people; Message from the Chair – Young People CYM ENG . Keith asked all group members to disseminate the messages when they were published to their own stakeholders, and any young people they work with.

• The group received a presentation from Kelly Harris from the Welsh Youth Parliament. They welcomed the opportunity to have an update on how things were progressing, and to have the opportunity to work with Kelly and her colleagues going forward as the Parliament develops, and to further explore how this can help to shape the development of the Youth Work Strategy.

The group discussed the need for Welsh language support and provision to be a key part of the new Strategy, linking in with other work such as Cymraeg 2050. The group agreed there needed to be greater coherence with the way services are both funded and provided across Wales and this would be a challenge for the Board going forward.

Annex A
The Youth Work Reference Group (YWRG) was established in December 2014 to support Ministers to implement the National Youth Work Strategy. The remit of the group has changed over time and revised Terms of Reference were agreed in January 2018 which states;
“the purpose of the Group is to provide advice, support, guidance and challenge to Welsh Ministers and the Welsh Government on youth work in Wales. The Group has no executive powers and is advisory in its purpose.”
In March 2018, the Minister for Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning set out her intention to develop a new long term National Youth Work Strategy, and recruit a new interim Youth Work Board. Details of the statement she made in March can be found <here>.

The YWRG have played a key role in taking forward this work and the members of the group have remained committed to work needed in developing a new Youth Work Strategy for Wales. This has included giving consideration to key areas that will underpin the strategy, and processes for engaging with young people and the sector in its development.
Current membership of the YWRG includes representatives from the Welsh Government, the Welsh Local Government Agency, local authorities, Principal Youth Officers, Council for Wales of Voluntary Youth Services (CWVYS), Estyn, The Professional Association of Lecturers in Youth and Community Work (known as TAG), Education Workforce Council (EWC), Education Training Standards Wales (ETS), Trade Unions, the Association of Directors of Education in Wales (ADEW), Ethnic Minorities and Youth Support Team (EYST), youth workers, Children’s Commissioner for Wales’ Office, and independent youth academics.