Kirsty Williams: Our operational guidance states that face coverings should be worn by secondary school learners in all parts of the school building if social distancing cannot be maintained, and on dedicated school transport. This is one of a range of measures to keep schools as safe as possible for both staff and learners.
Kirsty Williams: I'm not aware that we're asking children to wear masks in an unsupervised situation at all. Children are supervised on school transport and when they're in classrooms they are supervised. The advise that we're giving is that when social distancing cannot be maintained, then masks should be worn because that offers a level of protection, as I said, to both staff and learners. There are times...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, David, and thank you for your kind words. Coming from you, who I have appreciated working alongside, as a member of the class of 1999, they are worth that much more. Can I assure the Member that there is flexibility? Where learners have a specific barrier to wearing a face mask, then that should be recognised by schools. That might be in the case of neurodiverse learners or where...
Kirsty Williams: Welsh Government is working with our stakeholders and employers to ensure that support is available for teachers in Pembrokeshire and, indeed, across Wales during the pandemic. This support includes a tailored package of well-being and mental health support, and additional funding to create capacity within the school workforce.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Paul. The framework does indeed provide a level of assurance that individuals will be treated fairly. And we have come to an agreement with the Welsh Local Government Association to once again communicate with their schools and make it very clear to the schools in their local authorities that schools should only be using those agencies that appear on the framework. I will give a...
Kirsty Williams: Caerphilly received over £56 million during first wave of twenty-first century schools and colleges programme funding, and, of this, £28 million was spent in the Islwyn constituency. A further £110 million is planned for the second funding wave, and we are working with Caerphilly to make their plans a reality.
Kirsty Williams: Rhianon, you're right—the twenty-first century schools and colleges programme is a partnership approach and we would not have been able to realise the ambition of the programme without the close collaboration and working that we have with local education authorities. As we discussed at length yesterday, there is a multibillion-pound pot of money within Welsh Government to look to work with...
Kirsty Williams: On 15 March, we published our framework on embedding a whole-school approach to emotional and mental well-being. It places well-being at the heart of learning and, together with funding of £2.8 million to deliver well-being support to learners in the current year, to ensure that their return to education is all that it should be.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Lynne. I, too, am absolutely delighted that the framework has now been published and will be there to support schools in this really, really important aspect of their work, because if we think about the interruption to education that we have all witnessed and our children and young people have experienced, we're not going to be able to move forward from that unless we...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Delyth. I think you have hit upon one of the aspects of the interruption to education that has really impacted upon children and young people, and that is a sense of isolation and the inability to spend time with their friends. And that's why schools the length and breadth of Wales have been focusing on that when they have seen the foundation phase return. And, indeed, that...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Angela. Welsh Government has so far provided Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire local authorities with £1,649,000 to recruit, recover and raise standards, supporting learners at crucial stages in their education. I recently announced an additional £72 million to support learners, taking our total support for learning—I was going to use the word 'recovery', but after what I've...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Angela. Whilst inspection activities have been suspended during the pandemic, I want to reassure you, and indeed other Members, that Estyn continue to engage with schools that were previously identified as needing an additional level of support. Clearly, that has been done remotely and has been done in a sympathetic way, recognising the conditions under which those schools are...
Kirsty Williams: Supply teachers in Wales can be employed either directly via local authorities or schools, or via commercial supply agencies. Headteachers and governing bodies are responsible for all staffing decisions and for ensuring that they have an effective workforce in place under the Staffing of Maintained Schools (Wales) Regulations 2006.
Kirsty Williams: Indeed. Mike, as I said in my opening question, there is nothing to stop local authorities creating a supply list of their own, and may I suggest perhaps the best way forward is to discuss that with Councillor Jen Rayner in your own local authority? I'm sure she'll be very happy to oblige.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Bethan, and this is probably the last question that Bethan will ever ask me, so I just want to wish Bethan all the best. Bethan, since the introduction of our student finance reforms, which are unique in Europe, there has been a 40 per cent increase in first degree part-time students in Wales, and we've also seen a 21 per cent increase in Welsh part-time students from the most...
Kirsty Williams: Bethan, as I said, actually, in terms of first degrees that are being studied on a part-time basis in Wales, there's been a 40 per cent increase.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Colleagues, the last year has been tough for us all. Our way of life changed beyond all recognition as we learned to live with the ever-present danger of coronavirus. The cumulative effect on our wellbeing has been enormous, and even more so for our children and young people. The fear of illness, the impact of furlough or job losses on the adults...
Kirsty Williams: Deputy Presiding Officer, could I, first of all, thank Suzy Davies for her comments and questions? With regard to the summer, I think the holidays provide a wonderful opportunity to look to support a number of activities to ensure that our children, who have really missed that social contact that Suzy talked about, have an opportunity to do just that. The Member will be aware of our very...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Siân, for those points. Whilst I in no way disagree with the importance of nutrition for children and the important role that that plays in their education, I think it is just a little naive to think that, and that alone, can tackle the challenges of promoting good well-being and mental health in our schools. Can I say, one of the things that we do know that causes a great deal of...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Lynne, first of all for your kind words. I guess serving an apprenticeship before becoming a Minister for some 16 or 17 years on committees perhaps gives you a perspective that isn't always present, sometimes. By engaging with you and your committee, I think we have achieved more than if the Government had just tried to move along this path on its own. And can I say, a lot of that...
