Kirsty Williams: The first five-year phase of the twenty-first century schools and education programme will see £87 million invested in the rebuild and refurbishment of schools in Carmarthenshire. A further £129.5 million has been earmarked for the second phase of the programme from April 2019, subject, of course, to the usual process of business cases being dealt with.
Kirsty Williams: Well, can I thank the Member for bringing to the attention of the whole Assembly the official opening of Ysgol Ponyberem next week? I'm very disappointed that I'm not able to attend. One of the most wonderful aspects of being the Minister for Education is to be able to travel the length and breadth of the nation opening new buildings, whether that be a complete new build or very, very...
Kirsty Williams: Well, Angela, you're right; the MIM—the mutual investment model—does give us the opportunity as a Government, working alongside partners, to be able to lever in an additional £500 million-worth of resource into the programme, which allows us to complete even more refurbishment and new-build projects. That needs to be managed very carefully, and local authorities and FE colleges that are...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Joyce. We continue to provide financial and regulatory support to the sector through HEFCW, which, together with our student support reforms, will create a stronger, more sustainable HE sector across the nation.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Joyce. I spoke to the vice-chancellor of that institution last week and received a categorical assurance on the future of educational provision at the Lampeter campus from him.
Kirsty Williams: If I can give the Member a concrete example of how we're doing just that, and that is our degree apprenticeship programme. That degree apprenticeship programme sees individuals based in the company for the vast majority of their time but undertaking some part-time study. That's not the same as thinking that those students just do a normal degree on a part-time basis; the programme that has...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Mark. Welsh Government provides funding to local authorities, Careers Wales, and further education institutions to deliver services that support pupils with additional learning needs entering into post-16 education. Furthermore, our ambitious ALN reforms will deliver improved collaborative assessment, planning and monitoring of support provided to all learners with an ALN.
Kirsty Williams: No, it's not at all a blanket 'no'. We would expect the majority of placements to last for two years, however, all these placements come to me, as Minister, for sign-off and I know that I have signed off, for this financial year, a number of three-year placements, because that three-year placement has been designated and decided is the most appropriate length of study for an individual...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you for the opportunity to discuss the committee's report on the status of the Welsh baccalaureate. I was pleased that the evidence gathered by the committee showed clear merit in young people studying the Welsh bac. I was glad as the Minister for Education in Wales, and, like Lynne, I'm glad as a parent who has two children currently...
Kirsty Williams: As I often say in this Chamber, universities are autonomous institutions, and that is a matter for them, and not a matter for me. But, as I said, the Welsh bac gives students a competitive advantage in being able to clearly demonstrate these skills, and I know that this point will be reinforced at the joint Seren-Oxford event that will be held at the Norwegian church this evening. Now, just...
Kirsty Williams: What's really important, Deputy Presiding Officer, is to recognise the group is a group of the independent organisation that is Qualifications Wales, and the Member will be more than aware that Qualifications Wales will will start its national conversation with regard to the impact of the new curriculum on qualifications in September. Can I take this opportunity to thank members of the...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome very much the opportunity to respond to this motion and to clarify the need for these regulatory amendments. I appreciate that the progress of education reform in Wales, as set out in our national mission, is moving at pace, and I always welcome scrutiny at every stage. Over the past year, I have made no fewer than five oral or written...
Kirsty Williams: What we will have instead, from this summer, is a points-based score system, where every child's achievements—every child, from the highest achievers to those for whom actually getting a D is a massive achievement for them—will be counted. And we will still have headline measures for counting English, maths, as well as science. We're not getting rid of accountability. We're moving to a...
Kirsty Williams: It pretty much sounds like a market to me, Deputy Presiding Officer, and that’s fine. The Member is perfectly entitled to have those values underpinning his approach to education policy. That’s absolutely fine. The reality of living in our country, Mark—the reality of living in this country—is that, actually, children don’t have the ability to move around—[Interruption.] The...
Kirsty Williams: My priorities are clear: raising standards for all, reducing the attainment gap and delivering an education system that is a source of national pride and public confidence. Our 2019-20 budget continues to be committed to the success and well-being of every learner, regardless of background or personal circumstance.
Kirsty Williams: I visited Sony UK, Pencoed with the former First Minister in 2016. Since then significant progress has been made to put provisions in place to improve learners’ coding skills, including the implementation of our 'Cracking the Code' plan.
Kirsty Williams: Powys County Council education services have recently been inspected. I have noted the outcome of the inspection. An action plan has been developed to address the issues and a new leadership team has been put in place within the authority to drive improvements.
Kirsty Williams: Since the 'One language for all' report in 2013, Estyn published a report on Welsh in key stages 2 and 3 in 2018, and two further reviews will be undertaken during 2019-20, looking at language acquisition in primary schools, and the teaching and learning of Welsh at A-level.
Kirsty Williams: With regard to Welsh second language GCSE results, I'm sure the Member is aware that, this year, we saw the removal of the short course GCSE, and that undoubtedly has had an impact on attainment this year. But the percentages that she has quoted are misleading, due to an increase of a third in the number of learners entered for a full course exam. Many learners would have previously accessed...
Kirsty Williams: Well, it's important to recognise that we have increased investment to support the development in the Welsh in education workforce to a record amount of £5 million in this financial year. So, in 2017, we spent £4.2 million, then £4.8 million, and, as I said, this year that's risen to £5 million. This allows us to provide continuous development of practitioners' Welsh language and teaching...
