A new £7million Convergence initiative to prevent thousands of disadvantaged youngsters from dropping out of school and becoming economically inactive across the Heads of the Valleys has been announced by Deputy Minister for Skills, John Griffiths.
Estyn has published a report that maps out how the National Children and Young People’s Participation Standards for Wales relate to Estyn’s Common Inspection Framework. The report is intended to help staff in schools and other providers to review their self-evaluation procedures and to consider whether children and young people are sufficiently involved in the process.
WAG response to the remit report
This is a full evaluation review of the service that Teacher Support Cymru (TSC) provides. TSC was launched by the Minister in Wales in April 2002 as an arm of the Teachers Support Network in Wales (formerly known as the Teachers Benevolent Fund). It is a free counselling, support and advice service for teachers in Wales.
The Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) is an employment based route to gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). Under the GTP, graduates who do not have QTS may be authorised by the Welsh Assembly Government to undertake training in a school following an approved training programme.
During 2008, Estyn inspected the learning in three of the four adult male prisons in Wales and contributed to an Ofsted led inspection of a women’s prison in England holding Welsh women. Estyn also inspected the learning for offenders in the community, in all four Welsh probation areas.
There were 125,540 HE Student enrolments at Welsh HEIs, 2.1 per cent lower than 2006/07. 38 per cent of enrolments were part-time. There were 101,965 Welsh domiciled HE student enrolments at UK HEIs, 3 per cent lower than 2006/07.
Searching for published research by academic staff at Welsh Higher Education Institutions is set to become significantly easier following the launch of a new on-line service – the Welsh Repository Network.
Lifelong Learning UK is producing an application guide for lifelong learning practitioners in Wales delivering Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship (ESDGC). This guide will define the knowledge, understanding, values, attitudes and professional practice of ESDGC required by all those working in further education, work-based learning and adult and community learning providers in Wales.
This consultation provided information on changes that need to be made to existing legislation affecting the GTCW as a result of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.
Hundreds of employers have given Apprenticeships the thumbs up in a new survey in which 81 per cent of businesses said apprentices helped to generate higher overall productivity.
Growth in higher education will be delivered through an increase in the number of part-time students as demographic changes mean a falling number of 18 year olds, John Denham told senior academics at a conference to debate the future of higher education.
The focus of this e-bulletin from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills is on employment and skills issues from research and policy perspectives. This edition's spotlight feature examines a new Welfare Reform White Paper, Raising Expectations and Increasing Support. The report sets out the UK Government's proposals for reforming the welfare state, in particular focusing upon a vision for a personalised welfare with higher expectations.
On February 24 LLUK published 'The Training Game', a special supplement with The Guardian that looks at aspects of the skills and training world in the light of the current economic climate. The supplement covers a range of subjects, from the impact of informal learning in libraries to developments in the higher education sector.
