New teachers in Wales who saw their training disrupted by the
pandemic will receive a term of employment to help them into
their new roles, thanks to an extra £1.7m in Welsh Government
support.
With schooling disrupted by the pandemic many trainee teachers
across Wales missed the opportunity to gain experience with
in-classroom training.
As schools switched to providing services digitally, teachers in
training delivered their lessons online.
With the new school year starting in September and pupils at all
ages due to be back in classrooms, the Welsh Government has
allocated an extra £1.7m in funding to ensure newly-qualified
teachers (NQTs) have a term of employment to support their
transition into teaching.
The funding will support NQTs throughout the autumn term,
providing them with the training, experience and confidence they
need.
As well as giving NQTs more opportunity for training and
mentoring, the support will also allow schools to increase
capacity and free up other teachers to provide extra help to
vulnerable learners.
The extra funding brings total Welsh Government support for NQTs
during the financial year to £7.7m, as part of a £39.1m package
of wider funding backing the Welsh Government’s Renew and Reform
plans for education. This also includes continued support for its
Recruit, Recover and Raise Standards programme, and supporting
learners in exam years to move to the next phase of their
education.
The new support is open to NQTs who have not already found
full-time employment with a school, and more than 400 have been
placed in schools across Wales.
, the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language,
said: “We know the last academic year was incredibly difficult
for learners and teachers – and it especially impacted upon the
training of new teachers, as they were unable to gain the
experience they would usually have seen during a ‘normal’ school
year.
“This new support will make sure they get the chance to build on
their face-to-face teaching skills, plan for and evaluate the
progress of their learners over a longer amount of time and build
on the expertise they need to successfully complete their
induction.
“Those who trained as teachers during the last academic year
worked incredibly hard, and it’s right that we support them and
ensure schools and local authorities are able to retain their
vital expertise.”
, Minister for
Finance and Local Government, said: “As we move beyond the
pandemic, it’s vital that new teachers feel supported in their
new roles.
“This additional funding will ensure that no-one is left behind
as we work to build a fairer, greener, stronger and ever more
successful Wales.”
