Decision details

Debates are one of the most frequent items of business on the Plenary agenda. Many types of debate are brought forward in Plenary, including:

• Opposition party debates on a topic of their choice;

Other than in the case of Government debates, the time allocated for all other types of debates and their frequency are determined by the Business Committee

The item started at 17.11

Voting on the motion and amendments under this item was deferred until Voting Time.

A vote was taken on the motion without amendment:

NDM5341 William Graham (South Wales East)

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

1. Recognises there are attainment gaps within Welsh education, which are holding back different groups of children;

2. Believes those who are not achieving their full potential can often feel disenfranchised, and this can lead to problems in later life;

3. Further recognises the move between primary and secondary education is a great upheaval at an already difficult period of a child’s development; and

4. Calls on the Welsh Government to ensure learning is not disrupted during this period by implementing a robust and discrete 8-14 education strategy.

For	Abstain	Against	Total
12	0	43	55

The motion without amendment was not agreed.

The following amendments were tabled:

Amendment 1 - Elin Jones (Ceredigion)

Insert at the end of point 1 ‘, particularly the gap between attainment and deprivation’

A vote was taken on Amendment 1:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
50	0	5	55

Amendment 1 was agreed.

Amendment 2 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Insert at the end of point 1:

‘and welcomes the increase in the Pupil Deprivation Grant announced in the Draft Budget 2014-15, which will help break the link between poverty and educational underachievement.’

A vote was taken on Amendment 2:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
43	12	0	55

Amendment 2 was agreed.

Amendment 3 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Insert as new point 3 and renumber accordingly:

Recognises that young carers in particular are often vulnerable to educational underachievement due to the additional challenges they face, and calls on the Welsh Government to examine ways to improve identification and support for young carers to help fulfil their educational potential and support the transition into adulthood.

A vote was taken on Amendment 3:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
55	0	0	55

Amendment 3 was agreed.

Amendment 4 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Insert at the end of point 3:

‘and calls on the Welsh Government to formalise partnerships between schools and ensure that the early years education offers a better balance of pastoral and academic teaching, to help improve the transition of pupils from primary to secondary schools.’

A vote was taken on Amendment 4:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
55	0	0	55

Amendment 4 was agreed.

Amendment 5- Elin Jones (Ceredigion)

In point 4 delete ‘and discrete’

A vote was taken on Amendment 5:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
55	0	0	55

Amendment 5 was agreed.

Amendment 6 - Aled Roberts (North Wales)

Insert at the end of point 4:

‘and supporting pupils to reach their full potential by reforming the school banding system to ensure that it measures school performance with regard to individual pupil performance.’

A vote was taken on Amendment 6:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
44	10	0	54

Amendment 6 was agreed.

A vote was taken on the motion as amended:

NDM5341 William Graham (South Wales East)

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

1. Recognises there are attainment gaps within Welsh education, which are holding back different groups of children, particularly the gap between attainment and deprivation and welcomes the increase in the Pupil Deprivation Grant announced in the Draft Budget 2014-15, which will help break the link between poverty and educational underachievement;

2. Believes those who are not achieving their full potential can often feel disenfranchised, and this can lead to problems in later life;

3. Recognises that young carers in particular are often vulnerable to educational underachievement due to the additional challenges they face, and calls on the Welsh Government to examine ways to improve identification and support for young carers to help fulfil their educational potential and support the transition into adulthood and calls on the Welsh Government to formalise partnerships between schools and ensure that the early years education offers a better balance of pastoral and academic teaching, to help improve the transition of pupils from primary to secondary schools;

4. Further recognises the move between primary and secondary education is a great upheaval at an already difficult period of a child’s development; and

5. Calls on the Welsh Government to ensure learning is not disrupted during this period by implementing a robust 8-14 education strategy and supporting pupils to reach their full potential by reforming the school banding system to ensure that it measures school performance with regard to individual pupil performance.

For	Abstain	Against	Total
27	0	28	55

The motion as amended was not agreed.