MS, Cabinet Minister for
Education and the Welsh Language: I am pleased to announce a
£200,000 Welsh Government investment in a series of Community
Focused Schools pilots looking at approaches to tackling
behavioural issues and supporting engagement with school. This
delivers our First 100 Days Plan commitment to begin work to
provide a wrap-around approach to mental health, wellbeing, and
behaviour in schools.
This investment is about ensuring learners receive the help they
need to engage, participate and succeed in school.
We know that factors outside the classroom can have a significant
impact on a learner's ability to attend, engage and
achieve. Cost of living, concerns around mental health and
wellbeing, family pressures and increasingly complex support
needs mean that schools are often responding to challenges that
affect every aspect of a child's experience and
development.
The pilots will engage with all these factors and explore how
services can work more effectively together around the needs of
children, young people and their families. By bringing
specialist expertise closer to schools, we can provide
earlier support and prevent challenges from becoming barriers to
learning, wellbeing and achievement.
Community Focused Schools will be central to this work. By
strengthening links between learners, families, communities and
services, schools can act as community anchors that promote
wellbeing, improve engagement and attendance, and help children
and young people to thrive.
A key objective is to ensure that the education
workforce has access to the expertise and practical
support needed to respond confidently to increasingly complex
learner needs. Stronger collaboration across services will help
identify concerns earlier and create more effective pathways to
support.
At the heart of this work is a simple ambition: every child and
young person should have the opportunity
to participate fully in school life, feel a sense of
belonging, and achieve their potential. This investment
complements our other First 100 Days Plan commitment to develop
an integrated framework for attendance, behaviour, and mental
health and wellbeing. By taking a more preventative approach, it
will help ensure learners receive the right support at the right
time.
Work on the framework is underway. Developed with key
partners, the framework will strengthen early intervention and
improve support for children, young people and their families.
This represents an important step towards creating
a stronger system of support around children and young
people. By working in partnership with schools, families,
communities and public services, we can remove barriers to
learning, strengthen opportunities for success and help
ensure that every learner can thrive.
This statement is being issued during recess to keep Members
informed. Should Members wish me to make a further statement or
to answer questions on this when the Senedd returns I would be
happy to do so.
