Siân Gwenllian: Thank you very much. I’m going to refer to point 3 in the motion, which is on the importance of the education system in its entirety to reach the Welsh Government’s target of a million Welsh speakers. I’m going to discuss Welsh-medium education, rather than the Welsh second language qualification as such. I do note that the Welsh Government, in the ongoing consultation on increasing the...
Jeremy Miles: We will work, Dirprwy Lywydd, with the Education Workforce Council and our initial teacher education institutions to ensure that the nature of educational disadvantage, its impact on educational achievement and how that can be overcome, is a prominent element of our initial teacher education programmes. We will also include this as a key feature of induction and of professional learning...
Nick Ramsay: Very much following a similar vein to John Griffiths's question, Minister, one of the challenges, I'm sure you'll agree, in delivering Welsh-medium education, particularly in the larger rural authorities, is the travel time from home to school. I'm pleased that Monmouthshire County Council is progressing with plans for a new second Welsh-medium education school in the north-east or north of...
Mick Antoniw: ..., by the end of this year, and over the past 10 years, Rhondda Cynon Taf Labour council, with support from a Welsh Labour Government, has invested or committed nearly £0.75 billion in our local education infrastructure, building new schools, renovating buildings, providing our children with the most modern facilities anywhere in Wales and the UK. And what we can see developing is quite...
Samuel Kurtz: ...Minister for introducing this today and giving us sight of the statement beforehand. May I start by welcoming the general direction of today's announcement? As a pupil who benefited from bilingual education, it's good to see that Welsh-medium education for primary school pupils is a priority, because it's important to catch children early if we're to develop the language. I'd be eager to...
Buffy Williams: Minister, improving the health and well-being and the education of our children and young people in Wales is so important—even more so now, following the pandemic. Free school meals will play a vital role in this, and I want to thank the Minister and the education Minister for all their hard work since the review, ensuring that this will become the new normal across schools in Wales. We...
Jane Dodds: Diolch, Weinidog. You will be aware of the decision of Powys County Council to close rural schools in the area, which has been a devastating blow for many communities. I am increasingly concerned about the impact this so-called transformation programme will have on Welsh-medium education in Powys, so thank you for your response. The commitment of many of these rural schools to Welsh education...
John Griffiths: I would like to—not for the first time—raise the issue of community-focused schools, which I continue to believe is very important to the performance of our education system in Wales. I think one issue that Estyn has raised in its report, and consistently raises, is variability in the education system in Wales. That variability applies to community-focused schools. Some schools are very...
Mohammad Asghar: First Minister, Welsh Government figures show that children with special educational leads are being significantly over-represented in permanent and temporary exclusion from Welsh schools. Pupils with SEN made up to 60 per cent of all permanent exclusions from maintained schools in Wales, despite being only 23 per cent of the school population. These figures suggest that exclusions are not...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Presiding Officer. Since becoming Cabinet Secretary, it has been a privilege to visit schools and meet teachers, pupils and parents right across the country. A particular highlight was the opening of the new school at Llandysul. Like colleagues across this Chamber, I’m always impressed by the dedication, the enthusiasm and the ambition expressed by the vast majority of the...
Paul Davies: ...be enormous. In my own constituency, there was a very strong performance at Ysgol y Preseli at A* to A grades, which I'm proud to say is significantly above the national average. However, not all schools in Pembrokeshire delivered improvements, and whilst I understand that improvements have been made at several schools across the county in achieving A* to C grades, Pembrokeshire County...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Alun. Can I say that supply teachers form a very important part of the education workforce in Wales? But under local management of schools, governing bodies have the flexibility to appoint and deploy supply teachers as they see fit. There is nothing, nothing at all, to prevent local authorities and schools, as the employers of teachers, working together with other key...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Llywydd, and may I begin this debate by thanking Claire Morgan, the interim chief inspector of education and training in Wales at the time, for her annual report? This independent report is an important record of the way in which schools and education and training providers responded to the challenges that arose in the academic year 2020-21 as a result of the pandemic. It also adds...
Mark Isherwood: I call for a statement on the education of autistic pupils in Wales. Two weeks ago, Swansea University's school of education issued a statement regarding its preliminary report on the education of autistic pupils in Wales. Its findings include that over three quarters of autistic pupils said that being in school causes increased anxiety, three in four said they had been the victim of...
Jeremy Miles: The link between attendance and educational attainment is, of course, clear. Missing sustained periods of school presents a real risk to a child's attainment, and can also lead to them feeling more disengaged from their education. Monitoring educational outcomes and the links with attendance rates are crucial considerations as part of the development of the new data ecosystem. Simply put, the...
Natasha Asghar: Thank you, Minister. Following on from Jenny Rathbone's comment about school inspections, I believe school inspections are vital to ensure that the delivery of high standards of education is available across Wales. However, figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 show that 189 schools were last inspected between seven and 10 years ago, and a further 417 schools were...
Leanne Wood: I'm asking you about food in children's mouths, not about school buildings. Now, the take-up of free breakfasts remains low, and experts from the Bevan Foundation and the Children's Society and the Food Foundation have all highlighted the need for universal free school meals. Free school breakfasts do not preclude the Welsh Government from offering free school meals. Now, First Minister, the...
Leanne Wood: Thank you, First Minister, and I agree that the aspiration is a good one, and I’m glad that you’ve mentioned education. In your consultation on creating a million Welsh speakers, you explain how education must play a central role. Your main objective, and what you’re asking local authorities to achieve, is, I quote: ‘A significant increase in the number of children and young people...
Kirsty Williams: ..., and I hope that I and my officials will be able to use that experience to ensure that the procedures are quicker next time such a proposal comes. I hope the community is pleased, and I wish that school—I wish that school well. Of course, the presumption against the closure of rural schools is just one of the actions, Presiding Officer, that we are taking to support rural education....
Rhianon Passmore: I would like to take this opportunity to personally and formally welcome the Cabinet Secretary for Education to her role on behalf of the people of Islwyn. I wish her well in her vital role and she should know that she will have my support in ensuring that we leave no child behind in our drive to lift educational outcomes. ‘Education is “the guardian genius of our democracy.” Nothing...
