Council receives Welsh Government funding to help schools recruit

Bridgend County Borough Council has received additional funding of £1.5m as part of a Welsh Government grant to help support learners most affected when schools were closed during the coronavirus pandemic.

The funding aims to help schools meet the demands of the Recruit, Recover, Raise Standards: Accelerating Learning Programme, as announced by the Minister for Education in July, includes two separate grants.

The first grant is a full year allocation of £1.2m for Bridgend county borough which, based on the salary of a newly qualified teacher, would fund the equivalent of approximately 36 teachers or 76 learning support officers.

A further £290k has been awarded to the council for post 16 education provision in schools, to support learners in Years 12 and 13, up until March 2021.                                                                        

Individual schools have been notified of their grant allocations and are making plans for the recruitment of the additional staff required.

Schools have already used a number of ways to appoint staff, for example advertising on education recruitment websites, extending temporary contracts which may have ended in August, a reduction of staff being made redundant via redeployment opportunities and taking on agency staff, where necessary, in the short term.

The council’s cabinet member for education and regeneration Charles Smith

Announcing the funding for schools across Wales in July, the Minister for Education Kirsty Williams said: “Our education family in Wales has met the challenge of the pandemic together, ensuring that our young people are supported with their well-being and learning.

“I now want to ensure schools and pupils have the support they need by recruiting extra staff, to support the recovery phase and continue to raise standards as part of our national mission of education reform.”