Schools
Funding
Plaid Cymru would invest more in our schools to employ more staff. By the end of our first term in office we would:
- Recruit and retain 4,500 extra teachers and specialist support staff.
- Employ additional Learning Needs coordinators.
- Increase professional learning opportunities.
We would deliver a three-year budget for education so that schools and further education settings can better plan and utilise their resources, whilst making sure that funding reaches the frontline in an effective and timely manner, moving away from specific grants, and last-minute allocations. The extra funding we have allocated would allow schools more capacity for curriculum development and special projects.
We would bear down on unnecessary administration and bureaucracy, produce a more effective use of resources and streamline the so-called ‘middle tier’ between schools and Welsh Government, including local authorities, education consortia, universities, Estyn, WJEC, and Qualifications Wales.
Family Schools
We believe that schools should offer holistic, multi-agency services to families, starting with Early Years and would develop agreed criteria for defining the characteristics of family schools and build them into school strategic plans.
Our parenting policies would build on the latest research evidence to help parents provide the best possible early start for their children. We commit to trialling and evaluating innovative programmes and roll out best practice at pace.