Kirsty Williams: Our approach to STEM is set out in our STEM in education and training plan. Education reforms will see practitioner-led and evidence-based changes to the STEM curriculum, with networks for excellence to support our teaching workforce. We are also enhancing computer coding in schools.
Kirsty Williams: Our overall approach is set out in our STEM in education and training plan. Actions include new rigorous STEM-related GCSEs and A-levels, which have been supported at unprecedented levels—over £10 million via our education consortia across all subjects—gaining very positive feedback from practitioners.
Kirsty Williams: Torfaen County Borough Council have statutory responsibility for improvement in their schools. I expect them to work closely with Education Achievement Service consortium to provide support and challenge to the school. An agreed action plan is in place to address Estyn’s concerns and I understand progress is measured through monthly improvement meetings.
Kirsty Williams: The Welsh Government is committed to supporting the delivery of healthy relationships education. This is why Welsh Government has funded programmes such as, Hafan Cymru’s Spectrum Project, and the All Wales School Liaison Core Programme to ensure that appropriate support and resources are available for teachers.
Kirsty Williams: The maximum fee that may be charged by a Welsh institution is currently £9,000. I confirmed yesterday that, from 2018, I have agreed to return to the pre-2012 policy of an inflation-linked maximum tuition fee level for three academic years.
Kirsty Williams: School governing bodies and local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure that they recruit sufficient numbers of individuals with the appropriate skills, qualifications and experience to meet the needs of the school. This includes the arrangements for deploying temporary supply teachers to cover staff absence as required.
Kirsty Williams: The teaching of languages is highly valued in our schools, which is why the Global Futures plan was published in 2015. The plan aims to improve the teaching of modern foreign languages across all schools in Wales, and aims to provide all young people with opportunities to learn languages.
Kirsty Williams: We’ve made considerable progress towards a self-improving system in Wales and must build on these strong foundations. These gains have been driven by our national model for regional working, which is based on collaboration and school-to-school support, and is enabling us to plan together for the new curriculum.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Janet. Rural schools benefit from the full range of policies we have in place across Wales. In addition, since taking office, I have introduced a new small and rural schools grant worth £2.5 million a year, and, more recently, commenced consultation introducing a presumption against the closure of rural schools.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you for your question. It’s important for Members to be aware that any changes to the schools organisation code will not be applied retrospectively, and I want to be very clear about that. The school site that the Member talks about, it really is a matter for the local council to pursue the building of that new facility. But I will write to the Member, having made enquiries with my...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Simon. You’re absolutely right—the first consideration regarding the future of a school should be the educational viability of that school. Simply a school remaining open is not good enough. The education that that school provides has to be a first-class educational opportunity for those children. I don’t want children to have any less of an opportunity because they attend a...
Kirsty Williams: I would be delighted to, Huw, because, in Ogmore, 36.5 per cent of pupils on free school meals achieved level 2 inclusive at key stage 4, and that is a 12 per cent increase since the introduction of the PDG. Three quarters of free-school-meal learners achieved the core subject indicator for key stage 2, and that is up from 62 per cent in 2012, an increase of 14 percentage points. The teachers...
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, can I thank the Member for that question? The Member is absolutely right. Unless we give due recognition to the issue of a child’s well-being, then they will not reap the benefits of the educational opportunities that we provide for them. As the Member will be aware, it is my intention to publish an updated version of ‘Qualified for Life’, and I hope that he will be...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Suzy. The Welsh Government produces quite comprehensive guidance to schools on how they can use the PDG. That includes reference to the Sutton Trust toolkit, which is an invaluable resource, evidence and research-based, about what actually works in these circumstances. But each individual school is responsible for deciding on how best to use the PDG allocation because they know...
Kirsty Williams: It will have no effect on the pupil development grant, because the pupil development grant is paid directly from Welsh Government to individual schools on the basis of how many pupils they have on free school meals.
Kirsty Williams: First of all, as I said, I am not an expert on the Labour Party’s manifesto for the Assembly elections of last year, but what I am aware of is that what that manifesto commitment said was that Welsh students would be better off than their English counterparts. The fact that this Government will introduce a grant scheme that will see our poorest students entitled to a grant equivalent to the...
Kirsty Williams: And that, Presiding Officer, is the truth of the matter: Darren Millar is not willing to listen to parents and he is not willing to listen to the teaching profession when they say that class sizes do matter. My manifesto said that we would aim to reduce class sizes to 25, starting with the largest classes first, and that is exactly what we’re doing with the £36 million that has been made...
Kirsty Williams: I am absolutely committed to raising standards. That is my and this Government’s national mission: to raise standards and to close the attainment gap and to ensure that we have an education system in Wales that is a source of national pride and national confidence. The reformed GCSEs are an important part of that process. The reason why Qualifications Wales—the independent body that...
Kirsty Williams: It is absolutely crucial for teachers and pupils that they are undertaking their work in an environment that is fit for purpose and meets all the necessary health and safety regulations. That’s why we are, as I said, investing in the largest building of schools and colleges since the 1960s, and the removal of unsuitable buildings is a key part of how we prioritise our investment in the...
Kirsty Williams: Well, as you quite rightly said, a presumption against closure was a manifesto promise in the Welsh Liberal Democrat manifesto, and I’m delighted to be in a position to make progress on that when in Government. As I said in answer to the first question from Janet Finch-Saunders, we are currently out to consultation on the reform of the school organisation code to strengthen that code and,...
