Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much. Currently, the content and timing of INSET days is for local authorities, governing bodies and headteachers to determine. As you will be aware, last week, I launched a consultation on proposals for additional national professional learning INSET days for the next three academic years, which include questions on the timing of those additional days specifically.
Kirsty Williams: Rhianon, as you say, the consultation does look to the possibility of a national training day associated with the implementation of the new curriculum, but I don't want to prejudge the consultation. What I can say to the Member is that we've had over 300 responses to the consultation already and, when you consider that it was only launched last week, that is an amazing response. I am aware...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Andrew. You are absolutely correct that the consultation does propose a single national training day for the next three academic years in preparation for the curriculum. What I would say to you is that you are taking, if I may say so, a rather old-fashioned view of what professional training actually looks like. The days of when we sent everybody to a WJEC conference, where people...
Kirsty Williams: We have invested over £2.5 million in our Global Futures plan, to enable learners to understand the importance of languages and the life-changing opportunities that they provide. I am aware of the challenges, and that is why, under Wales's new curriculum, learners will experience languages from an earlier age.
Kirsty Williams: The first thing to say is that those students who do take GCSEs in modern foreign languages and A-levels in modern foreign languages perform excellently, with really, really high pass rates at the very highest levels. Many of our MFL teachers have been recognised for their excellence. It is true to say, though, that we have seen a decline in those students who are taking a GCSE. What the BBC...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Rhun. Diolch. Local authorities are responsible for school funding in Wales. Anglesey set their spending priorities for the services they provide, taking consideration of local needs and all the resources available to them. How much an authority sets aside for school budgets is a matter for that authority.
Kirsty Williams: For a moment there, Presiding Officer, it seems that the Member has forgotten that his party were part of the budget-setting process that has seen that local government settlement this year, and had an opportunity to influence the decisions that were made regarding the overall budget. But the Member makes a very fair point with regard to the timely distribution of grants that may be available...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Russell. My national mission sets out a clear plan for delivering the ambitions set out in 'Prosperity for All', ambitious and learning. We have already delivered the most generous student finance package anywhere in the United Kingdom.
Kirsty Williams: What I am clear about is that local authorities have the flexibility to deliver foundation phase hours in a way that is conducive to parents being able to access them, and that is particularly important in your area, where we will see the roll-out of the Welsh Government's 30 hours of childcare, which, of course, will be a combination of 20 hours of childcare funded by Welsh Government and 10...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. And can I thank Lynne Neagle and members of the committee for their work in this area? Given the enormous uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the limited time available to me this afternoon, I will not go into a discussion about the impact of the UK Government's handling of Brexit on the higher and further education sectors here. I fully...
Kirsty Williams: But I can now turn to the committee's recommendations. On recommendation 1, I agree that it is vital that the UK Government's migration policy does not create unhelpful and unnecessary barriers to the universities' ability to attract EU students and faculty to come to Wales, and in particular, that it does not have a differential impact on Wales that puts our institutions at a particular...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. During the Stage 4 Plenary debate on the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill, on 12 December 2017, I informed Members that I would need to make some minor technical amendments to section 91 of the Bill when it became an Act. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Members for agreeing to pass the Bill on the basis...
Kirsty Williams: Could I thank the Chair of the CLA committee for his comments and his acceptance of the further evidence that I and officials provided with regard to some of the merits points raised in the committee's consideration of these regulations? I would agree that in an ideal situation we would have been in a position to draft the Bill in a way that we would have wanted to. Unfortunately, it was...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you once again, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move the motion to approve the Qualifications Wales (Monetary Penalties) (Determination of Turnover) Regulations 2019. The titles don't get any snappier, do they? [Laughter.] The regulations will allow Qualifications Wales to impose a monetary penalty where recognised awarding bodies are non-compliant with regulatory requirements. This will...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much. Can I thank both Members for their contributions? Suzy Davies, on behalf of the Conservatives, says that she is not aware of any consultation with regard to the figure of 10 per cent. Well, last year we went out to consultation on an upper limit of 10 per cent of an awarding body's annual UK turnover. And in that consultation, we also sought to define what constituted...
Kirsty Williams: My job is to ensure that there is consistency across the qualifications sector and the regulations of that particular sector, and we're seeking to maintain that by mirroring the situation across the border in England. The Member, quite rightly, raises concerns about actually how this will work in practice. Before imposing a fine, Qualifications Wales must give notice to the awarding...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. A young person’s ability to benefit from education should never be determined by their background or personal circumstances. Narrowing the attainment gap between pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers is at the heart of our national mission to raise standards and deliver an education system that is a source of national pride and...
Kirsty Williams: Through targeted resources, more intelligent accountability measures, and setting high expectations for all, we will continue to support all learners to reach the highest standards. However, I think most of us in this Chamber can agree that, at times of austerity, too often it is families and pupils from our most disadvantaged backgrounds that struggle the most. I know that the cost of the...
Kirsty Williams: Can I thank Suzy Davies for the comments and questions she has raised this afternoon? The Government has a cross-Government approach and a cross-portfolio approach to the issues of adverse childhood experiences. We are very aware of the consequences of such experiences on a child's ability to learn. Myself and my colleague Julie Morgan support a number of initiatives, such as the ACEs hub,...
Kirsty Williams: Can I thank the Member for her welcome of the additional resources to ensure that we have period products free of charge in our FE colleges? The Member then goes on to make the point around the non-statutory nature of post-16 travel, and the Member is absolutely right in that regard, of course. I remember very clearly sitting on the committee at the time that dealt with that piece of...
