Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Delyth. Since 2015 we have invested over £2.5 million in the Global Futures programme to ensure that our learners experience the benefits of learning modern foreign languages. This includes funding consortia partners to develop centres of excellence with schools and universities and the student mentoring programme, specifically aimed at increasing uptake of language qualifications.
Kirsty Williams: Can I say that I agree with the Member? We still clearly have a great deal of work to do to address the decline in modern foreign language uptake at GCSE level. The students that take modern foreign languages do exceptionally well at them, but those numbers are a worry to me and a worry, I'm sure, to everybody in this Chamber. What was more heartening to read in that British Council report...
Kirsty Williams: We are taking positive steps to improve mental health support for learners in further education and across the whole education sector. Work is already under way and further options are being framed for future implementation and to ensure a joined-up approach across education sectors and with Public Health Wales.
Kirsty Williams: I regularly visit schools, and talk to head teachers and local authorities about school funding. I have listened to the evidence presented to the recent Children, Young People and Education Committee inquiry in to school funding, which demonstrates the complexity of the current system.
Kirsty Williams: Figures published by the Education Workforce Council show that as at 1 March 2019, there were 923 registered secondary trained schoolteachers in Wales who had undertaken their initial teacher education to teach a modern foreign language subject.
Kirsty Williams: Education provision is the responsibility of the local authority. It must decide how many and what type of schools and services should be provided, in line with 'Our national mission' aims to provide the best possible outcomes for all students.
Kirsty Williams: Llywydd, today sees the publication of the 2018 PISA results, and for the first time ever, Wales is in the international mainstream, and that is thanks to the efforts of our teachers and our students. I want to let every teacher, every student, every parent, and every employer know that we have caught up. We have improved in all areas and we've got more top performers than ever before....
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, can I thank the Member for that series of questions? I will do my best to make sure that I've logged them all and answered them all. There is no sigh of relief from me today, Presiding Officer—just a determination to carry on with the reform programme and to do even better. The Member says that we have dropped the target of 500 and then she just says at the end of her...
Kirsty Williams: Diolch yn fawr, Siân. And can I say thank you for recognising the efforts of teachers in achieving these results today? As you went on to say, we are in the midst of the largest reform of education anywhere in the United Kingdom, so we're already asking an awful lot of the profession to engage in those reforms, especially in the curriculum, and therefore to be able to achieve these results...
Kirsty Williams: Can I, Presiding Officer, thank Mark Reckless for his acknowledgement of the efforts of staff and students in achieving these results today? If I could start with that last point first, I don't know which schools did PISA. Some people find that extraordinary, but that actually is part of the rules of engagement. I can't tell you which schools did and which schools didn't do PISA. So, we don't...
Kirsty Williams: So, I've had less than—let's see, Thursday, Friday—. Well, Wednesday afternoon, I saw the initial results and then got the report on Thursday, so I've only had a few days myself to acquaint myself with it. But we have had OECD back in Wales earlier on in the autumn term to, again, give us an independent assessment on where we are with our reform journey, and they are looking to report...
Kirsty Williams: I want to thank David for his commendation of our teachers and students and for his question. The aim of the new curriculum is to be a much broader-based curriculum that will address both the knowledge that our children will need but also to give them the skills and experiences. And that does mean that, potentially, there is more scope within that curriculum for a more vocational focus. But...
Kirsty Williams: Well, I'm not sure if the Member availed himself of the opportunity to attend the briefing this morning—I'm afraid I was at the Seren conference—if he was there, he would have received a very deep analysis of the figures, and it's simply not true, what he has characterised. Statistically, we are performing at the OECD average. Is average good enough? Well, as the old cricketing saying...
Kirsty Williams: I move.
Kirsty Williams: I'm not responsible for the coverage.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm grateful for the opportunity to respond to the points that have been made in the debate today. I think it was Oscar that used the phrase 'frustration and dismay'. Well, I can tell him that I am frustrated and I'm dismayed that he and some of his colleagues continue to quote incorrect data and seem scarily unaware of what is going on in terms...
Kirsty Williams: We've also extended our pupil development grant to education other than at school provision and those children who are not in a regular school setting. Of course, as David Melding rightly pointed out, we have much, much more to do for this particularly vulnerable group of learners, whose educational achievements, whether within PISA or outside of PISA, continue to be not where they should be....
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'd like to begin by thanking Suzy Davies for bringing this debate to the Chamber today and begin by stating that I believe in Wales becoming not just a trilingual but a multilingual nation. Irrespective of the current political changes that we face, I recognise the importance of teaching international languages within our education system. I'm...
Kirsty Williams: Now, Suzy is right, there are parts of Global Futures that have delivered and there are parts of Global Futures where we have not seen the progress that we would want to. That's why I will be publishing a refreshed approach to the Global Futures programme in April of this year. And we will continue to work with our partners to support our schools as we transition to our new curriculum. We...
Kirsty Williams: Local authorities are responsible for providing suitable provision for all learners, including those with special educational needs, and funding is allocated to local authorities via the revenue support grant. I have also made available £20 million to support the wider ALN transformation programme.
