Meetings
NDM7342 Plaid Cymru debate - Proposed New Curriculum
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Meeting: 01/07/2020 - Plenary - Fifth Senedd (Item 11)
Plaid Cymru debate - Proposed New Curriculum
NDM7342 Sian
Gwenllian (Arfon)
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Declares its general support for the
purpose of the proposed new curriculum, which is to enable learners to develop
as:
a) ambitious, capable learners, ready to
learn throughout their lives;
b) enterprising, creative
contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work;
c) ethical, informed citizens of Wales
and the world; and
d) healthy, confident individuals,
ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of society.
2. Agrees that introducing the new
curriculum offers a historic opportunity to right many structural injustices in
Wales.
3. Welcomes the Welsh Government’s
recognition that government has a responsibility to take specific steps to
ensure that the curriculum guarantees a baseline of provision for young people
across Wales as a matter of basic human rights and welcomes that some elements
of the new curriculum will be mandatory as a result.
4. Agrees that the mandatory elements
of the curriculum should include:
a) black and people of colour history; and
b) the history of Wales.
5. Agrees that the new curriculum should
support all learners to be fluent in Welsh and English, but that English does
not need to be included in the list of mandatory elements in order to achieve
this aim.
The following amendments have been tabled:
Amendment 1 - Darren
Millar (Clwyd West)
Delete point 2 and replace with:
Agrees that the new curriculum, if it
succeeds in its aims, can help develop a confident, mutually responsible
citizenry who will be proactive in tackling injustice from all sources.
Amendment 2 - Rebecca
Evans (Gower)
Delete points 4 and 5 and replace with:
Recognises that the new Curriculum for
Wales Humanities guidance “promotes an understanding of the ethnic and cultural
diversity within Wales” and “enables learners to take committed social action
as participative citizens of their local, national and global communities.”
Welcomes the Welsh Government’s commitment
to:
a) work with Estyn to ensure that their
review of Welsh history takes full account of Welsh, and wider, BAME history,
identity and culture; and
b) establishing a working group to oversee
the development of learning resources, and identify gaps in current resources
or training related to BAME communities, their contributions and experiences.
Agrees that the new curriculum should
support all learners to learn Welsh and English.
Curriculum for
Wales - Humanities - Guidance
[If Amendment 2 is agreed amendments 3 and
4 will be de-selected]
Amendment 3 - Darren
Millar (Clwyd West)
In point 4, delete sub-points 4(a) and 4(b)
and replace with:
the histories of Wales; the histories of
the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland; and histories of other parts of
the world, and that:
(i) all the above to include black and
people of colour history; and
(ii) all the above to be contextualised;
the teaching of life saving skills, as
identified as a priority by the Youth Parliament.
Amendment 4 - Darren
Millar (Clwyd West)
Delete point 5 and replace with:
Agrees that the new curriculum should
support all learners to be fluent in Welsh and English, ensuring that support
for Welsh learning takes into account the already advantageous effect of
learners’ greater environmental exposure to English.
Amendment 5 - Neil
McEvoy (South Wales Central)
Add as new point at end of motion:
Calls on the Welsh Government to ensure
that the curriculum makes provision for learning Welsh and that this is
accompanied by investment to make Welsh language intensive immersion courses
freely available for teachers and pupils alike.
Amendment 6 - Neil
McEvoy (South Wales Central)
Add as new point at end of motion:
Calls on the new curriculum to ensure that
every pupil is taught a modern foreign language from year 1 of school.
Amendment 7 - Neil
McEvoy (South Wales Central)
Add as new point at end of motion:
Believes that implementing the new
curriculum successfully can be best achieved by cutting class sizes to under 20
pupils.
Amendment 8 - Darren
Millar (Clwyd West)
Add as new point at end of motion:
Calls on Welsh Government to commit to
reconsidering the commencement date for the implementation of the new
curriculum to accommodate delays in preparation due to Covid-19.
Minutes:
The item started at
17.17
Voting
on the motion and amendments under this item was deferred until Voting Time.
A
vote was taken on the motion without amendment:
NDM7342 Sian Gwenllian (Arfon)
To
propose that the Senedd:
1.
Declares its general support for the purpose of the proposed new curriculum,
which is to enable learners to develop as:
a)
ambitious, capable learners, ready to learn throughout their lives;
b) enterprising,
creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work;
c) ethical,
informed citizens of Wales and the world; and
d) healthy,
confident individuals, ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of
society.
2.
Agrees that introducing the new curriculum offers a historic opportunity to
right many structural injustices in Wales.
3. Welcomes
the Welsh Government’s recognition that government has a responsibility to take
specific steps to ensure that the curriculum guarantees a baseline of provision
for young people across Wales as a matter of basic human rights and welcomes
that some elements of the new curriculum will be mandatory as a result.
4. Agrees
that the mandatory elements of the curriculum should include:
a)
black and people of colour history; and
b)
the history of Wales.
5.
Agrees that the new curriculum should support all learners to be fluent in
Welsh and English, but that English does not need to be included in the list of
mandatory elements in order to achieve this aim.
|
For |
Abstain |
Against |
Total |
|
9 |
1 |
46 |
56 |
The motion without amendment was not
agreed.
The
following amendments were tabled:
Amendment 1 - Darren Millar (Clwyd West)
Delete point 2
and replace with:
Agrees that the new
curriculum, if it succeeds in its aims, can help develop a confident, mutually
responsible citizenry who will be proactive in tackling injustice from all
sources.
A vote was taken on
amendment 1:
|
For |
Abstain |
Against |
Total |
|
10 |
4 |
42 |
56 |
Amendment 1 was not agreed.
Amendment 2 - Rebecca Evans (Gower)
Delete points 4 and
5 and replace with:
Recognises that the
new Curriculum for Wales Humanities guidance “promotes an understanding of the
ethnic and cultural diversity within Wales” and “enables learners to take
committed social action as participative citizens of their local, national and
global communities.”
Welcomes the Welsh
Government’s commitment to:
a) work with Estyn
to ensure that their review of Welsh history takes full account of Welsh, and
wider, BAME history, identity and culture; and
b) establishing a
working group to oversee the development of learning resources, and identify
gaps in current resources or training related to BAME communities, their
contributions and experiences.
Agrees that the new
curriculum should support all learners to learn Welsh and English.
A vote was taken on
amendment 2:
|
For |
Abstain |
Against |
Total |
|
30 |
4 |
22 |
56 |
Amendment 2 was agreed.
As
Amendment 2 was agreed, Amendments 3 and 4 were de-selected
Amendment 5 - Neil McEvoy (South Wales Central)
Add as new point at end of motion:
Calls on the Welsh Government to ensure that the curriculum makes
provision for learning Welsh and that this is accompanied by investment to make
Welsh language intensive immersion courses freely available for teachers and
pupils alike.
A vote was taken on
amendment 5:
|
For |
Abstain |
Against |
Total |
|
15 |
0 |
41 |
56 |
Amendment 5 was not agreed.
Amendment 6 - Neil McEvoy (South Wales Central)
Add as new point at end of motion:
Calls on the new curriculum to ensure that every pupil is taught a modern
foreign language from year 1 of school.
A vote was taken on
amendment 6:
|
For |
Abstain |
Against |
Total |
|
16 |
0 |
40 |
56 |
Amendment 6 was not agreed.
Amendment 7 - Neil McEvoy (South Wales Central)
Add as new point at end of motion:
Believes that implementing the new curriculum successfully can be best
achieved by cutting class sizes to under 20 pupils.
A vote was taken on
amendment 7:
|
For |
Abstain |
Against |
Total |
|
1 |
14 |
41 |
56 |
Amendment 7 was not agreed.
Amendment 8 - Darren Millar (Clwyd West)
Add as new point at end of motion:
Calls on Welsh Government to commit to reconsidering the commencement
date for the implementation of the new curriculum to accommodate delays in
preparation due to Covid-19.
A vote was taken on
amendment 8:
|
For |
Abstain |
Against |
Total |
|
15 |
0 |
41 |
56 |
Amendment 8 was not agreed.
A
vote was taken on the motion as amended:
NDM7342 Sian Gwenllian (Arfon)
To
propose that the Senedd:
1.
Declares its general support for the purpose of the proposed new curriculum,
which is to enable learners to develop as:
a)
ambitious, capable learners, ready to learn throughout their lives;
b) enterprising,
creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work;
c) ethical,
informed citizens of Wales and the world; and
d) healthy,
confident individuals, ready to lead fulfilling lives as valued members of
society.
2.
Agrees that introducing the new curriculum offers a historic opportunity to right
many structural injustices in Wales.
3. Welcomes
the Welsh Government’s recognition that government has a responsibility to take
specific steps to ensure that the curriculum guarantees a baseline of provision
for young people across Wales as a matter of basic human rights and welcomes
that some elements of the new curriculum will be mandatory as a result.
4. Recognises that the new Curriculum for
Wales Humanities guidance “promotes an understanding of the ethnic and cultural
diversity within Wales” and “enables learners to take committed social action
as participative citizens of their local, national and global communities.”
5. Welcomes the
Welsh Government’s commitment to:
a) work with Estyn
to ensure that their review of Welsh history takes full account of Welsh, and
wider, BAME history, identity and culture; and
b) establishing a
working group to oversee the development of learning resources, and identify
gaps in current resources or training related to BAME communities, their
contributions and experiences.
6. Agrees that the
new curriculum should support all learners to learn Welsh and English.
|
For |
Abstain |
Against |
Total |
|
30 |
14 |
12 |
56 |
The motion as amended was agreed.