Kirsty Williams: Well, as I said to the Member in answering her initial question, the vast majority of school costs are met out of the revenue support grant. The Member will be aware that the Government has been able to give a significant increase to local authorities this year. The addition to the local government settlement and other new funding for schools and social care totals £220 million for 2020-21,...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, David, for that question. There are two very important points here. Firstly, my expectation is that every single local education authority in Wales meets the needs of children under current legislation, and there should be no excuse for those needs not being met in anticipation of the introduction of the new ALN Bill. There are protections and rights for those children now, and...
Kirsty Williams: Firstly, can I thank the Member for facilitating that meeting yesterday, and for the efforts of the teachers that I did meet yesterday for the work that they do, day in, day out, in our schools, and the individual who actually looks to co-ordinate the approaches to ALN across the region? It was indeed useful to me to receive their feedback. They were very loud and clear that they do not need...
Kirsty Williams: Over the summer and autumn, we piloted a number of approaches to tackling the issue of holiday hunger, including working with play and community-based settings across Wales through our playworks pilot. The evaluation findings will inform thinking about wider provision next year.
Kirsty Williams: Well, Joyce, the reasons why families and children suffer from holiday hunger are ones that are, in many cases, often beyond our control. But I think it is absolutely right that the Welsh Government looks to take action to alleviate the consequences of decisions that are taken elsewhere. In total, the Holiday Hunger Playworks pilot had 92 open-access-play sites and six out-of-school sites....
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Leanne, for that, and thank you for your own personal efforts. It is mirrored by efforts by politicians who sit in this Chamber, and outside this Chamber, in a range of political parties who look to take practical action in this regard. We don't actually run those programmes. We make the finance available for our partners in local government and our third sector organisations to be...
Kirsty Williams: Can I thank the Member for the recognition of the important role that small schools play in our education system? On coming into office, I made a pledge to reform the school organisation code to include a presumption against closure, and I am very pleased that we have been able to do that. The Member is right, we have a small and rural schools grant, which is there to support the education...
Kirsty Williams: The £36 million that has been made available over the course of this Parliament to support smaller class sizes is made up of both a revenue and a capital element. The Member is right: one of the criteria for a successful application is a high percentage of children who are entitled to free school meals. But, we also support schools where, perhaps, standards are not what they need to be and...
Kirsty Williams: Well, in my own constituency, I'm absolutely delighted that the cutting-class-sizes grant is providing for an additional classroom teacher at Trefonnen primary school in Llandrindod Wells, and it is providing a dedicated Welsh-medium early years centre in the Ystradgynlais and Swansea valley area. So, I'm very delighted, in my own constituency, with the impact that it is making. But, let's be...
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, I'm sure I speak on behalf of all of the Chamber in expressing my best wishes for Bethan as she begins a period of maternity leave. If I could offer just a little advice in this regard, don't be in too much of a rush to get back. [Laughter.] And I say that for purely, purely unselfish reasons. Bethan, you are about to embark on the toughest job that you will ever do, and in...
Kirsty Williams: The Welsh Government and I have a hierarchy of preferences. Our preference is to continue to be able to participate on a UK basis in the full programme of Erasmus+. That is our preferred option, because we believe that there is strength in that brand, it is well understood, and it is aligned to the strategic goals that we would have as a Government. I am aware that the Westminster Government...
Kirsty Williams: Well, curriculum, marketing, recruitment and retention of students is a matter for individual institutions and not a matter for the Government. We have delivered, during this Parliament, the fairest, most progressive and sustainable support system, I would argue, anywhere in the United Kingdom, which treats Welsh students very well. But also, I recognise that universities are major employers...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Jayne. I'm committed to ensuring that autistic pupils in schools are effectively supported to overcome any barriers to learning that they may have. Our ambitious additional learning needs reforms will completely overhaul the existing system for supporting learners, and will drive improvements and raise awareness of ALN to ensure all learners achieve their full potential.
Kirsty Williams: Well, thank you, Jayne, and thank you for bringing to the attention of the entire Chamber the availability of that resource, and, hopefully, I can have a closer look at it after questions finish. We are working to improve knowledge and awareness of autism amongst not just children, but also all of our professional groups, including those working in education, health and local authority...
Kirsty Williams: As I said in answer to Jayne Bryant, we have a pan-Wales programme of raising the autism awareness of the practitioners that are working with children. That includes, as I said, producing guides and training material for them, as well as producing resources that can be used in schools, and, of course, our new curriculum gives us the opportunity, in a variety of ways, but primarily through our...
Kirsty Williams: Student recruitment, as I said earlier, is a matter for individual institutions. However, it is my understanding that universities treat Welsh and English GCSEs equally, although individual courses may have specific entry requirements.
Kirsty Williams: Of course, I believe that the ability to be able to practice medicine bilingually through the medium of both English and Welsh would put someone in very great stead for being an excellent practitioner, but as I said in answer to the question, universities themselves are responsible for setting individual grade requirements for the courses. They do that, often, in a way to ensure that the...
Kirsty Williams: The first thing to say, Mark, is that our GCSEs and A-levels and our suite of qualifications are absolutely of the same rigour as those across the border. The decision by the English Government to change their grading arrangements is rightly a matter for them, but Qualifications Wales has been quite clear in their advice that the letter grading system is one that is well understood by...
Kirsty Williams: The Reid review recommendations were accepted in principle by the Welsh Government in 2018 and, since that time, I have been taking forward actions in support of these recommendations with Ministers and officials from across the Government.
Kirsty Williams: The Member is absolutely right, Presiding Officer: we are investing some £15 million in an innovation and engagement fund. That was a fund that was abolished or stopped back in 2014 because of the pressure that was on the Welsh Government budget at that time, and I'm delighted that we've been able to get back into funding that provision. On top of that, we are making allocations to quality...
