Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Julie. Whilst I don't have responsibility for play equipment in general, obviously we would want our schools to be inclusive schools and to have facilities that allowed all of their pupils to have full access to the opportunity for play and recreation, and indeed to be able to deliver the statutory part of the curriculum that means that physical education should be delivered to...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Hefin. School governing bodies and local authorities are responsible for employing, deploying and managing the school workforce. Supply teachers employed directly by schools and local authorities are paid in accordance with nationally agreed pay rates. Teachers employed by private supply agencies are paid according to the terms of their employment contract.
Kirsty Williams: I am very anxious that all teachers working in our system are treated fairly and paid appropriately. I am more than aware of the concerns that have been expressed around pay rates associated with those people who are employed by agencies. You will be aware, I hope, that we are working very closely with the MPS Education in preparation for any new tendering process that they will undertake in...
Kirsty Williams: Not only is that taskforce engaging with the Fair Deal for Supply Teachers group, officials are also meeting with that group of teachers who are campaigning on this issue. As I said to Hefin David, we are looking at a range of options that will address the concerns that the Member has expressed.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Jayne. We are committed to a step change when it comes to mental and emotional well-being in schools, and to achieve this we are convening a ministerial task and finish group, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services and myself, to consider a whole-school approach.
Kirsty Williams: I thank Jayne for her welcome for the establishment of the task and finish group. Work has already begun. A multi-agency and multiprofession workshop took place on 7 September to explore what a whole-school approach could involve, and to highlight where in current support there are gaps at present. The findings from the workshop will further inform the work of the task and finish group, and I...
Kirsty Williams: Mark, the announcement of the group has only recently been made. As I said, the work of that group was kicked off by the multi-agency and multiprofession workshop, because before we can design a service that represents a whole-school approach we need to have an agreement on what the whole-school approach actually looks like, so that we're all working towards the same agenda. We work across...
Kirsty Williams: I formally move.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Back in August I had the privilege of celebrating examination results with the learners at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf for A-levels and the West Monmouth School on GCSE day. I'd like to congratulate David's niece. I predicted that as a student of STEM she would do well, and clearly she has, and I know that there are other Assembly Members in this...
Kirsty Williams: I welcome the strong action that has been taken by schools in switching from vocational science to GCSE science. Taking vocational qualifications at 16, such as BTEC science, is absolutely the right path for some of our learners in Wales. But it is not acceptable to me, and I would hope to others in the Chamber today, that schools have thought it appropriate for 40 per cent of learners to be...
Kirsty Williams: The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales monitors to ensure that information on the professional accreditation of degree courses at Welsh HEIs is consistent with regulatory requirements, is up to date and readily available for students. I will work with HEFCW to consider if these arrangements can be strengthened.
Kirsty Williams: By 2019 the first wave of the 21st Century Schools Programme will have provided over £164 million of investment in schools in Cardiff. The second wave starting in 2019 will then see a further £284 million of investment to build and further modernise Cardiff Schools.
Kirsty Williams: The School Organisation Code imposes requirements on relevant bodies, including the Welsh Ministers, local authorities and governing bodies in respect of school organisation and provides guidance to which they must have regard.
Kirsty Williams: The revised School Organisation Code establishes a presumption against closure of rural schools. This requires proposers to follow a more detailed set of procedures and requirements in formulating a rural school proposal and in consulting on and reaching a decision as to whether to implement a rural school closure proposal.
Kirsty Williams: Local authorities are responsible for planning school places. They are responsible for ensuring that there are sufficient schools providing primary and secondary education in their area. Schools are regarded as sufficient if they are sufficient in number, character and equipment to provide all pupils the opportunity of an appropriate education.
Kirsty Williams: I refer the Assembly Member to my response in April that schools funding is a responsibility for Local Authorities as is set out in law in Wales. There are no current proposals to review the way in which schools are funded.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. It has been a widely held view that, for too long, Wales’s education accountability system has not had the desired effect in raising standards. In fact, in some instances, it has led to unintended consequences with detrimental effects on individual pupils’ education. These unintended consequences are well rehearsed. From schools overly...
Kirsty Williams: Could I thank Suzy Davies for those questions? Deputy Presiding Officer, she does herself a disservice by focusing on the fact that she is new to the job. I think the points that you've raised are really relevant and important things that we need to discuss. If I could just go through them as comprehensively as I can, I think there is—. What the Member conflates is the assessment and...
Kirsty Williams: Can I thank Llyr for his welcome for the direction of travel? I'm sure we both have been reading and studying the same research and evidence about the power of self-evaluation in driving improvement and the power of a self-improving school system. If we look at international best practice in high-performing countries, trust in the profession but also a strong system of self-evaluation and...
Kirsty Williams: I believe that there is a huge amount of value to be placed on an internal exercise that looks at the strengths and the weaknesses of an individual institution and, more importantly, what steps are going to be taken to make that institution better. We know, from all the international evidence and research, that schools as learning organisations are a feature of high-performing education...
