Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and good afternoon, colleagues. The response to COVID-19 has been a profound challenge for the whole of the education community. Our schools and colleges have already stepped up in the defence against COVID, establishing provision for children of critical workers and for vulnerable children, and managing remote learning on an unprecedented scale with...
Kirsty Williams: Almost all learners will have the opportunity to attend their school. I am describing this as a chance to work together for pupils so that they can check in, catch up and prepare for the summer and September. I recognise that for some learners who are shielding this contact may need to be via digital means. I am also proposing that schools open for an extra week, ending on the 27 July, and...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much. I'll do my best to try and cover the multiple questions that Suzy Davies has asked. Key worker children will be able to attend their own schools, for the same hours that they are currently attending their hub schools. And that is the same for vulnerable children who already have an entitlement—they will do that now in their home school, when we move to the next phase at...
Kirsty Williams: Firstly, I think it's really important that we have a testing, tracing and protect regime that is robust to support the safe next stage of educational operations. You'll be aware that SAGE papers made it very clear that, in opening up schools to more pupils, testing and tracing had to be in place. We will have a month of the testing and tracing regime here in Wales before additional children...
Kirsty Williams: Can I thank Siân Gwenllian for her questions? She'll have to forgive me, I don't recall her discussing an August return with me in our weekly meetings, but she is right to suggest that we had explored the possibility of ending the summer term early and starting the new academic year in August. There were many attractions to that particular scheme. Firstly, making the most of the summer...
Kirsty Williams: Well, Siân Gwenllian is right: this period has certainly led to a real boost to developing everybody's digital competence skills—children, teachers, indeed, Members of the Senedd. We're all, I'm sure, much more digitally competent today than we were 10 weeks ago even though some of us, from time to time, still struggle with our mute buttons. It is a real concern to me that everybody has an...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you for that, Mr Reckless. With regard to his disappointment that I had not done this earlier, I do not feel that it would have been safe to do this earlier. As I said, the SAGE advice was very, very clear, we need to have a TTP regime up and running before we could see more children accessing education. That TTP system has only began this week and I was not prepared to see more...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Lynne. Yes, we will publish operational guidance next week. That is being finalised—we are still consulting with our local education authorities, teaching unions and the groups that we have established to make sure that that guidance is as good as it needs to be, and that work is ongoing. It will cover all of the operational issues that are associated with the check-in sessions...
Kirsty Williams: With regard to our very youngest children, I know that this is a particular area of concern to many people because of the ability for our very youngest learners to understand the concept of social distancing. You can have a conversation with older children and they can understand what they can and can't do; the natural instincts of our very youngest learners are to be together, and that can...
Kirsty Williams: Okay. First of all, with regard to FE colleges, I'll repeat what I said in my statement: further education colleges will open for more face-to-face teaching on 15 June. That is slightly earlier, because, in discussions with the college principals, ColegauCymru and the unions, they think they can move more quickly to do that. And she is absolutely right, in agreeing some priorities, that group...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Vikki. One of the reasons why we are taking three and a half weeks—we've explored some of the public health reasons about why we need to give ourselves more time, but one of the other very important reasons is that we need to give time for our school staff to implement this system and to provide training to headteachers, teachers and those who have a responsibility for...
Kirsty Williams: Deputy Presiding Officer, it's a 'yes' to both of those things, and I will report back to Rhianon Passmore as we consider the points that she's made.
Kirsty Williams: Certainly, Angela, I can confirm that Qualifications Wales and the WJEC are already beginning to try and ascertain what an ongoing period of disruption to education—the impact that that will have on the next exam series. You're right; they are actively considering what would be appropriate in terms of elements that would traditionally be carried out, and how that would impact the next...
Kirsty Williams: Oh, the regional consortia—yes.
Kirsty Williams: Yes. So, I can't remember the exact date that we gave those instructions to the regional consortia, but their first report is due to be published on 19 June.
Kirsty Williams: Well, Dai, the Bill is not structured in a way that—. English is on the face of the Bill for all stages of education, and the Bill treats English and Welsh in exactly the same way. The Bill also allows for English to be disapplied in those settings where immersion is well understood to be the appropriate way in which Welsh language skills can be acquired by our very youngest students. What...
Kirsty Williams: Well, the Member is absolutely correct, one of the reasons why we need to take advantage of the summer months is because we can have more of our teaching done outside, and that's one of the reasons why we've taken the decision that we have. With regard to her points on promoting excellence in outdoor education, we're working with a range of stakeholders to ensure that resources and good...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Nick. In publishing guidance next week, obviously that is the national context in which we expect operators, institutions and settings to operate, but as I said in answer to Mr Reckless earlier, I have to accept that one size does not fit all and we have to rely on the professional discretion and the professionalism of setting leaders and individual headteachers. If we're thinking...
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, schools will increase operations form Monday to check in, catch up and prepare for the summer and September. Working together, heads, education staff, unions and councils have ensured that we are the only country in the United Kingdom where all pupils will have an opportunity to return to school before the summer break.
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, Siân Gwenllian is absolutely right to acknowledge the hard work of headteachers the length and breadth of Wales, who have planned so diligently with their staff to provide these opportunities. Members will be aware that I did indeed propose that the summer term should be extended by an additional week and, in lieu of staff working that additional week, that half term in...
