If you have any suggestions or ideas for our blog, or if you’d like to contribute, please contact
The views of the authors are their own.
How Quality Youth Work has contributed to youth homelessness prevention – Nick Hudd
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Back in 2019, Public Health Wales (PHW) published a document titled Voices of those with lived experiences of homelessness and adversity in Wales: informing prevention and response . In one of the sections of the document, Preventing homelessness...
Why quality is vital to international learning
Monday, February 21, 2022
In our latest blog, Howard Williamson, Professor of European Youth Policy at the University of South Wales, and previous rapporteur-genéral for all three European Youth Work Conventions held between 2010 and 2020, provides his insight into...
Youth work and wellbeing - Tim Opie and Darrel Williams
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Youth work and well-being In their latest blog for the EWC, Tim and Darrel discuss how youth work fosters positive, trusting relationships which can provide the basis for improving well-being, via the underpinning five pillars of youth work -...
Paul Glaze - Good youth work practice and why it’s important to share it
Thursday, December 02, 2021
Paul Glaze - Good youth work practice and why it’s important to share it Youth work services policy and practice in Wales It’s an exciting time (and place to be) for the youth work services sector in Wales. The sector delivers an enormous range of...
Donna Ali - Representation Matters: Introducing a new network for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Teaching Assistants
Monday, November 22, 2021
Donna Ali - Representation Matters: Introducing a new network for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Teaching Assistants Donna Ali, CEO and founder of BE.Xcellence, writes about the need for more diversity in our school workforce and a new network...
Sharron Lusher - Setting pay and conditions for school teachers in Wales: how does it all work?
Monday, September 27, 2021
Sharron Lusher - Setting pay and conditions for school teachers in Wales: how does it all work? The Independent Welsh Pay Review Body (IWPRB) was established in March 2019 as an independent body with the responsibility for making recommendations to...
Keith Towler - Recognising excellence in youth work through the Quality Mark
Monday, August 02, 2021
Keith Towler - Recognising excellence in youth work through the Quality Mark Chair of the Interim Youth Work Board, Keith Towler shines a light on the value of the Quality Mark for Youth Work in Wales, and outlines how it can benefit youth work...
David Williams - What does youth work look like in Wales?
Friday, June 18, 2021
David Williams - What does youth work look like in Wales? When speaking with families, friends and others outside the youth work profession I have often been asked "what is it that you do exactly?" For those of us working in, or connected to the...
Mark Ford - Why it’s time to ‘Talk Pedagogy’
Monday, May 10, 2021
Mark Ford - Why it’s time to ‘Talk Pedagogy’ Professional Advisor on Pedagogy, Mark Ford reflects on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and argues that now is the perfect time to ‘Talk Pedagogy’. In his book ‘In Search of Deeper Learning’, Jal Mehta...
American trained teacher leading the way in Wales
Wednesday, April 14, 2021
American trained teacher leading the way in Wales Katie Davies is a bit different to other school teachers in Wales. Katie teaches Geography and Health & Social Care at Eastern High in Cardiff, but she was actually born and bred in the USA and...
Susan Davis & Chantelle Haughton - Ethnic Minority recruitment to ITE and the teaching profession in Wales: an opportunity to have your say.
Friday, March 12, 2021
Susan Davis & Chantelle Haughton - Ethnic Minority recruitment to ITE and the teaching profession in Wales: an opportunity to have your say. In January 2021, our multi-ethnic team at Cardiff Metropolitan University launched an important research...
Anthony Priest - Mental health, wellbeing and Covid-19: free support for schools in Wales
Friday, February 26, 2021
Anthony Priest - Mental health, wellbeing and Covid-19: free support for schools in Wales As the Covid-19 crisis continues in to 2021, the education workforce has shown an unwavering determination to ensure students are able keep learning, while...
Nick Hudd - 'Blended learning', not 'blended teaching'
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
Nick Hudd - 'Blended learning', not 'blended teaching' The Covid 19 virus appears to have acted as an antecedent to the increased use of the term ‘blended learning’. The educational sector, whose stakeholders I have previously argued are at very...
Jacqueline Cassidy: Children’s Mental Health Week 1 - 7 February 2021
Monday, February 01, 2021
Children’s Mental Health Week 1 - 7 February 2021 Place2Be's Director for Wales, Jacqueline Cassidy, shares her views at the start of this years' Children's Mental Health Week A lot can happen in a year! When we celebrated Children’s Mental Health...
Dr Howard Williamson - From the local to the global: Is youth work coming of age in Wales?
Monday, December 07, 2020
Dr Howard Williamson - From the local to the global: Is youth work coming of age in Wales? I became an accidental youth worker as a teenager, when they built a community centre in the corner of ‘our’ park. We had a self-organised Thursday evening...
Professor Mick Waters - Blended Learning: what’s in the mix?
Friday, November 06, 2020
Professor Mick Waters - Blended Learning: what’s in the mix? Digital technology, a resource that has held promise since computers entered classrooms in the 1980s, suddenly took a big step forward as schools (along with the rest of society) tried to...
Teachers’ professional learning and development
Friday, October 02, 2020
Teachers’ professional learning and development We are at a point of unprecedented opportunity. For teachers, for teacher education, and for schools, reform is a given. And the changes are comprehensive and radical. Will you choose to be part of...
Just landed: new standards visualisation tool for the PLP
Wednesday, September 09, 2020
Just landed: new standards visualisation tool for the PLP Until now, the Professional Learning Passport has given you, as an education practitioner, the space to reflect on your practice and learning in the context of your professional standards....
Keith Towler - Youth Work continues to support young people in overcoming the challenges of COVID-19
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Keith Towler - Youth Work continues to support young people in overcoming the challenges of COVID-19 The First Minister recently announced a number of changes , including the re-opening of community centres this week. The First Minister’s Written...
Aled Roberts - A million Welsh speakers: the role of the education sector
Monday, June 29, 2020
Aled Roberts - A million Welsh speakers: the role of the education sector The Welsh Government has set two ambitious targets by 2050, namely to reach a million Welsh speakers, and to double the percentage of the population who use Welsh daily. The...
Nia Brodrick - Improving mental health provision in the FE sector in Wales
Friday, June 12, 2020
Nia Brodrick - Improving mental health provision in the FE sector in Wales Mental health continues to be a rising concern for the further education (FE) sector in Wales. In April 2018, the Mind Over Matter Report published by the National Assembly...
Sophie Howells - Looking after your mental health during the coronavirus crisis
Friday, May 29, 2020
Sophie Howells - Looking after your mental health during the coronavirus crisis As the COVID-19 crisis continues, the determination of the workforce to ensure students can keep learning is demonstrated on a daily basis. In these unprecedented...
Professor Mick Waters: Planning to get learning going again
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Professor Mick Waters: Planning to get learning going again When the government closed our schools, the natural concerns were about examinations and pupils not losing out. There was less voiced concern about what else children might be losing in an...
Keith Towler: Youth work in Wales rises to the challenges of the lockdown
Friday, May 01, 2020
Keith Towler: Youth work in Wales rises to the challenges of the lockdown We are now plunged into a public health crisis where the dependency we have on one another is central to our ability to ‘flatten the curve’, ease the pressure on our...
Parentkind asks: what are parents’ worries about the impact of coronavirus?
Friday, April 17, 2020
Parentkind asks: what are parents’ worries about the impact of coronavirus? When schools closed in Wales, England and Northern Ireland to help slow the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19), many parents felt a range of emotions. There was initial...
Making education everyone’s business is key to boosting Wales’ productivity
Monday, February 24, 2020
Promoting engagement between business and the education sector isn’t just a nice thing to do, it’s an absolute priority if we want to realise the full potential of the Welsh economy. With businesses telling us every day that access to people and...
Philip Blaker - Testing the Future
Friday, January 24, 2020
Philip Blaker - Testing the Future The Curriculum for Wales is an opportunity to think differently about education. As Qualifications Wales launches its first public consultation on qualifications to support the curriculum, Chief Executive Philip...
Tegwen Ellis - The National Academy for Education Leadership: A new start for Wales?
Friday, November 24, 2017
Tegwen Ellis - The National Academy for Education Leadership: A new start for Wales? I have been a Headteacher in Wales for nearly 20 years and during that time there have been 5 main Ministers of Education, Jane Davidson, Jane Hutt, Leighton...
The PLP a passport to the future...
Thursday, March 16, 2017
The PLP a passport to the future..... EWC Council member Berni Tyler gives an employer’s take on the value and usefulness of the PLP At ISA training it’s currently appraisal time and one of the areas my team always have an excuse for is the...
Rhian Huws Williams - Regulation for success
Monday, August 22, 2016
Rhian Huws Williams - Regulation for success That is how the Minister for Health and Social Services has described his vision for the new regulatory and inspection arrangements for social services and social care in Wales through the legislation...