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Schools will have to ‘opt in’ to receiving Queen’s Diamond Jubilee book says Welsh Government

29 Mar 2022 3 minute read
Elizabeth II & Philip after Coronation. Picture by Cecil Beaton. Right, Jeremy Miles picture by the Welsh Government.

It will be up to schools in Wales whether they want to receive a history book about the Queen produced by the UK Government, the Welsh Government has said.

Last week the UK Government’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales had said that they were working to ensure that every school child in Wales receives the book “imminently”.

But the Welsh Government have now said that schools will receive it on an “opt-in” basis only.

The Welsh Government told Nation.Cymru said last month that the decision on distributing the ‘patriotic’ history book in Wales, which will cost £12m to produce, would be up to Education Minister Jeremy Miles.

According to the Western Mail that decision had left UK Government ministers “furious” and they had intended to distribute a copy to every child in Wales and “can’t understand what the problem is”.

The UK Government had previously said that they will send every school child in Wales the “patriotic” book so that they and other children across the UK develop a “collective understanding” about the history of her time on the throne.

The contract awarded to DK books notes that 211,000 copies of a bilingual version of the book will be sent to pupils in 1,290 schools and other educational establishments in Wales.

But the Welsh Government told Nation.Cymru last month that the decision will rest with them, rather than the UK Government.

“We are not contributing to the cost of these books,” they said. “As Education is devolved in Wales, the Minister for Education and Welsh Language will make a decision on whether the book will be circulated to Welsh Schools once he has seen the final version.”

They subsequently decided that schools would be able to “opt in” to receiving the book, rather than every student receiving it automatically.

‘Patriotic’

The contract agreed with published DK Books includes a clause that the books must be delivered to at least 99.5% of schools in Wales by 11 July 2022.

The book contract says that the supplier will provide a book “written with the aim of being inclusive, patriotic and ‘speaking to all children’ with regard to all regions of the UK”.

“The Jubilee itself will help communicate a narrative about modern Britain and its connections with the rest of the world, through local, community-driven events,
including those led by schools, alongside national and Commonwealth events,” the contract says.

“The book will be a key part of this strategic aim, by ensuring that pupils, families, and teachers develop a collective understanding of the Queen’s reign, and by providing children with an appropriate legacy through personal ownership of this high-quality book.”

It adds: “The book shall be inclusive and patriotic, capturing a spirit akin to the London 2012 Olympics.”

The book is set to cost £12 million to produce with around 4.5 million copies sent to schoolchildren in the UK. However, the individual costs of producing a version for Wales and its distribution has been redacted from the document.

A Gaelic language version of the book will also be produced but will not be dual language.

The Queen became the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years on the throne, on 6 February this year.

Celebrations will culminate in a four day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th June.

A Platinum Jubilee Celebration on 12th -15th May will also see over 500 horses and 1,000 performers create a 90-minute piece of arena theatre.


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Richard 1
Richard 1
1 year ago

Da ya-a-a-a-a-a-a-wn

Grayham Jones
1 year ago

No in Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 no English royals in wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 stop being little Englanders and be proud to be welsh welsh history only in Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Richard 1
Richard 1
1 year ago
Reply to  Grayham Jones

Teaching Welsh history alone would repeat the imperialists’ error

Dai Rob
Dai Rob
1 year ago

Da iawn Jezza boi!
SEND.THEM.BACK.

GW Atkinson
GW Atkinson
1 year ago

If I was a headteacher, I would accept them and use them to give the kids a lesson in propaganda and critical thinking…………………..then burn them.

Kurt C
Kurt C
1 year ago

Fantastic, let’s not create waste and costs by forcing this nonsense onto our kids. It would only be declined or recycled if it was handed to my son.

Mr Williams
Mr Williams
1 year ago

I will not be giving them out in my classroom!

Leigh Richardss
Leigh Richardss
1 year ago

Surely the only reason any school in Wales would ‘opt-in’ to receive this glorified PR exercise for the Windsor family is if there was a shortage of toilet paper?

Dave
Dave
1 year ago

£12,000,000 for a propaganda piece for our kids, no chance. #IndyWales get rid of the German Royals

Tabor
Tabor
1 year ago

Return to sender

Dewi Davies
Dewi Davies
1 year ago

Would the people who are attempting to foist this book on our children be the same people who deny us the right to celebrate our patron saint.

Y Cymro
Y Cymro
1 year ago

With the Tories it’s all about importation. They want to force their will on Wales because that’s the way it’s always been done to the Welsh. You don’t have a choice to decide we’ll make it for you, or else! They keep on forgetting that Education is a devolved matter. And they cannot keep driving their political tanks like Putin’s Army through Welsh devolution using effectively the Welsh Tories like insurgents in the breakaway region of Donetsk to antagonise on their behalf so we will comply to Whitehall brainwashing & grooming our impressionable children with leaflets drops, in this case… Read more »

Gareth Wyn Jones
Gareth Wyn Jones
1 year ago
Reply to  Y Cymro

Very well said

Y Cymro
Y Cymro
1 year ago

Diolch. I find the incessant grooming of our children by Monarchists an affront. We all went through it as children. I can remember the 1977 Silver Jubilee where sweets & coins were given to entice.

The idea that we willingly show blind loyalty and deferential to a Royal Family makes my skin crawl. Look at the rhetoric used. “Your Majesty, “Your Highness,” oh the indignity of it all.

Last edited 1 year ago by Y Cymro
Marc
Marc
1 year ago

They’d better phone the printers and cancel the order

Cai Wogan Jones
Cai Wogan Jones
1 year ago

It would be nice if they had another option. Perhaps, a book about the merits of democracy, elections and selection of heads of state through the ballot box rather than on the hereditary principle.

GW Atkinson
GW Atkinson
1 year ago

Pure bs. The education system these days in Wales is way better than the mess it was when the English ran it. I see the way my kids are educated compared to the crap I had to endure and it doesn’t even come close. You are totally full of it and the only real prince of Wales is Gareth Bale. He has done more for our country than 800 years of inbred royal rule..

Last edited 1 year ago by GW Atkinson
Leigh richardes
Leigh richardes
1 year ago
Reply to  GW Atkinson

Pure rubbish. Look at the statistics and the independent reports, it’s documented how much a deterioration our kids have had to suffer compare to those in England.

GW Atkinson
GW Atkinson
1 year ago

Shows us these statistics then Einstein, because my kids are way more literate than I was at their age. By the way, it was only last night that they reported the problems with maths and English they are having over the border. They are so great at education, they are failing to teach kids their one and only language properly.

Last edited 1 year ago by GW Atkinson
Steve Duggan
Steve Duggan
1 year ago

This is the problem with the current UK government – it believes its English patriotism is British patriotism. It doesn’t listen to the other countries in the UK and just wants to force its ideology on them. Education is devolved in Wales – deal with it ! Soon we’ll cut political ties with you completely.

R W
R W
1 year ago

Hard to imagine any self-respecting head teacher agreeing to hand out this royalist propaganda drivel to its pupils!!

No wales
No wales
1 year ago

You make me sick nation cymru. You do not represent Wales. How did wikipedia work out for you ha ha

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