Yesterday, Welsh Conservative MS, and Shadow Education Minister, Suzy Davies questioned the Welsh Education Minister on the staggered reopening of schools within Wales. 

She said: "With just three days to go until half term, we've seen the publication overnight of the guidance that schools have been clamouring for, for some days now. Only this morning, actually, parents in one part of Wales received notice that their school would not reopen as anticipated because they hadn't had the guidance on how to carry out risk assessments." 

Though she welcomed the reopening of primary schools for foundation phase pupils, Ms Davies reiterated the need for older pupils to resume consistent learning:

"Older learners and parents are starting to get very agitated now as they see us heading towards the traditional exam period—I know the process is different now—and they're seeing their children getting quite worked up about this."

The Shadow Education Minister concluded by questioning under what conditions secondary schools and colleges could reopen within Wales: "Can you also say whether you've given some thought to, I don't know, more localised full reopening of schools and colleges, as the A-level indicators continue to vary across the country?

Ms Davies has been vocal about the need for students to return to school as quickly and as safely as possible,  as students across Wales fear being unable to catch up on the copious amounts of learning they've already missed out on.*

*Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data. 'The impact of COVID-19 on children’s learning in Wales.' 6th October 2020. Accessed here: https://wiserd.ac.uk/news/impact-covid-19-childrens-learning-wales