Kirsty Williams: The Member is absolutely right; the individual AOLE progression steps and 'what matters' statements will be published in Easter. We are doing that in a format that will allow practitioners and, indeed, any interested parties to feed back. I would accept that there is a balance to be struck between becoming so prescriptive in that guidance that we actually might as well stay where we are,...
Kirsty Williams: First, the Member is wrong to say that I'm denying parents the right to withdraw. If the Member has read the White Paper, she will be aware that there are specific questions in the White Paper about how we tackle the issue of the right to withdraw from such lessons. But I can give the Member absolute reassurance that in ensuring that our children learn about relationships and sexuality, they...
Kirsty Williams: Obviously, female genital mutilation is a form of abuse, pure and simple, and it is illegal in our nation. As I said, the Member will have to wait for the individual AOLEs to be published, but we are not going to be in a position where we are listing long, long lists of individual specific subjects. But schools, crucially, have a role to play in supporting, protecting and preventing female...
Kirsty Williams: It will not be tolerated, and education has an important part to play in that, but so do many other agencies. The Member raises the issue of FGM in baby girls. Clearly, that is an issue for midwives and the national health service to address. But let me be absolutely clear again: across the Government, across all departments, we recognise FGM as a terrible form of abuse and we will work...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Hefin. In answering both question 3 and 5, I can assure you that the views of children and young people are essential to our curriculum reform process. We've already engaged with them on key developments such as e-portfolios, online assessments and the relationship and sexuality education programme that we will put on the face of the Bill. Pioneer schools have engaged with learners...
Kirsty Williams: Absolutely. I would absolutely agree with the Member that this is a process that will need to continue. The strategic stakeholder group representing children and young people has been set up specifically to take account of the views of children and young people in the reform journey, and that includes additional learning needs children, young carers, elective home education—so there are...
Kirsty Williams: As I said, what was disappointing about that is that not only had the opportunity not been taken by ADEW to contribute their concerns during formal stakeholder meetings, but I meet regularly with the leadership of the WLGA and, indeed, ADEW, and none of those concerns had been expressed to me. I'm aware that those concerns have not been expressed to the previous Cabinet Secretary for local...
Kirsty Williams: And that's exactly what the strategic stakeholder group for children and young people will be doing to look at the most effective ways and meaningful ways that we can engage with that group. I'm also interested in ensuring that children who are in education provision not in school also have an opportunity to feed in. So, for instance, we'll also be exploring with our youth service colleagues...
Kirsty Williams: Well, I think the Youth Parliament is an exciting new vehicle that we can feed into our work. The introductory meeting of the full Youth Parliament, I understand, will be during the February half term, where each of the 60 Members, I think, has a certain allotted amount of time to discuss issues that are important to them. I hope some of them will choose to talk about the curriculum. It's not...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Dawn. We're committed to ensuring adults across Wales have access to the essential skills they need to thrive in our society and economy. In Merthyr and Rhymney we directly fund the local authority, college and Adult Learning Wales to deliver a range of provision for adults in the region.
Kirsty Williams: Well, Dawn, you're absolutely right. On Monday morning, I had the opportunity to visit Canolfan Soar to meet the history group that were studying the impact of immigration on the history of Merthyr. The participants of the group were telling me that not only did it help them address issues of loneliness, it gave them a reason to leave their house, it helped them to continue to engage...
Kirsty Williams: The Member makes a very fair point. We need to have a variety of ways and a variety of settings that individuals can engage, and I will be discussing with colleagues in FE about what more they can do to support part-time provision, making sure it is accessible to all of those who would wish to participate in it, and I look forward to, as I said, finding new and innovative ways in which we...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Dawn. The curriculum is being designed for all learners. Underpinning the development work is a belief that someone’s ability to benefit from education should not be determined ever by what their background is or where they live. This priority has been an important consideration in developing the new curriculum.
Kirsty Williams: Well, Dawn, you're right that the curriculum will need to be supported by the school's wider support offers; it cannot be the curriculum alone that can tackle these issues. Issues such as inequality and disadvantage go beyond the scope of the curriculum, and must be considered more widely by individual schools, by individual local authorities, and, indeed, the Welsh Government itself....
Kirsty Williams: First of all, can I say how sorry I was that I was unable to attend the event yesterday? But I'm very pleased that Steve Davies, the director of education in Welsh Government, was able to attend on my behalf, because we greatly appreciate the work of all voluntary organisations, faith based or non-faith based, that are committed to assisting our children. When I talk about a national mission...
Kirsty Williams: Caroline, that's precisely why we have to move away from the concept of a long list of what people have to do, because, clearly, in that community, ensuring that the young people have the skills to take advantage of opportunities from local employers will be very different from the kind of curriculum for, perhaps, people in deepest Radnorshire, my own constituency, who will not necessarily be...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Nick. I'm taking forward a number of priorities set out in 'Prosperity for All', primarily under the key theme of 'Ambitious and Learning'. Our 2019-20 budget continues to be committed to the success and well-being of every learner, regardless of their background or their personal circumstances.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Nick. I'm glad to hear about the progress of the school that you referred to. It's not an unexpected spin-off—it's a cunning plan. Indeed, in allocating contracts to companies to build our twenty-first century schools programme, there is an expectation, indeed a requirement, that they do engage with the schoolchildren of that school in the process of building that school, and...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, David. We are able to maintain levels of MEAG investment in the new financial year as in the previous financial year. We will be looking to undertake a piece of work on how to ensure that this money is indeed reaching those communities that need it the most and to look at the opportunities for a more sustainable basis for providing that funding going forward.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Llyr. Developing an understanding of the culture and history of Wales and its place in the wider world is an essential component of a young person’s learning journey across all the areas of learning and experience throughout their education. And I can assure you, this is not a tokenistic bolt-on to the curriculum; it is an essential.
