Jeremy Miles: Children may receive education through school settings or other means for example elective home education. Most learners receive their education in mainstream school. Local authorities are able to make arrangements for Education Other Than at School for learners who require tailored support away from mainstream settings.
Jeremy Miles: ...last 12 months, we've looked across the UK and internationally to inform policy, drawing on the expertise of organisations like the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Education Endowment Foundation. As I set out last year, we know from research and inspection evidence that schools that couple effective learning and teaching with a focus on family engagement are...
Jeremy Miles: Our emphasis on community focused schools will play a key role in responding to this challenge. Family engagement officers are vital in ensuring that positive partnerships are created and that bespoke support is offered. Schools that know their families well can ensure that measures are put in place that will help children maintain good engagement and attendance. We've recently provided...
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...
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...
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...
Jeremy Miles: This is a long-term piece of work and I want to ensure that our work in schools is replicated across other public services and across communities. This is why we have ensured strong links between our whole-school approach framework and the Together for Children and Young People NEST/NYTH framework, which complements our whole-school framework by strengthening the response of our partners and...
Jeremy Miles: I know that many schools have already made good progress in implementing this framework and putting in place strategies to support children and young people through an inclusive whole-school approach to their health and well-being. To support schools further, we've commissioned Public Health Wales to develop an evidence-based toolkit that will help them identify what works to promote mental...
Jeremy Miles: Our national mission sets out our commitment to the success and well-being of all learners. Education other than at school is an integrated part of the continuum of education. EOTAS is education provision for children and young people who, for whatever reason, require tailored support away from mainstream schools.
Jeremy Miles: ...and language services, which she highlighted in her question. In this coming financial year, we're increasing funding to local authorities so that they can better support settings delivering early education to reflect the important points that she made in her contribution. As we look to the future, Llywydd, I'd like to touch briefly on the role of Estyn itself. The annual report we've...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'd like to thank the members of the Children, Young People and Education Committee for this important report. What's clear to me in considering the recommendations is the importance of considering attendance along with other influences and factors, as we've already heard, such as socioeconomic status, well-being and broader systemic issues. Tackling the impact of...
Jeremy Miles: ...agree more with the Member. Our strategy's called 'High Standards and Aspirations for All', and that's to recognise that every single learner, regardless of their background, is entitled to have a school system that encourages their aspiration and gives them the best possible opportunity at fulfilling their potential. The range of measures that I set out, both in March and June, support...
Jeremy Miles: I’m delighted to tell you that all 22 of our local authorities have committed to their ambitious 10-year targets of increasing the provision of Welsh-medium education. These targets match the milestones of our Welsh language strategy, 'Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers'. Some local authorities have gone the extra mile and have set targets that exceed our expectations. We want 26 per...
Jeremy Miles: ...funding for them this year so that they can do more work with us in this area. But he's right to mention that one of the challenges in this area is also the workforce that can provide Welsh-medium education, and also the availability of qualifications in Welsh. We've been discussing those with Qualifications Wales as well. The new commission that will come in the wake of the legislation...
Jeremy Miles: ...and develop the professional learning environment that is needed is obviously essential. Part of the investment that we've made, of course, over the recent period is to enhance capacity in our schools to be able to respond to some of the principal challenges of COVID, and that includes questions of well-being, both from the point of view of our learners, but also from the point of view of...
Jeremy Miles: Well, this is a very important point and I want to acknowledge the pressure that school leaders and teachers are facing at present, but also over the past year and beyond. I was discussing on Tuesday morning with local authorities and education unions, and the wider education workforce, and I asked them to pass on our thanks as a Government, and I'm sure, as a Senedd, to their workforces for...
Jeremy Miles: ...didn't quite catch the entirety of the last question, but I think I had the thrust of it, so I will do my best to respond to it. Thank you, firstly, for inviting me to attend, with her, Perthcelyn school. I found it an incredibly inspiring visit, and meeting the head and the pupils and some of the staff there, I saw a school that was committed to giving each individual learner the best...
Jeremy Miles: I'm hoping to join you at the opening of the Tirdeunaw school, in fact, so I look forward to that opportunity. Obviously, we're aware that a number of voluntary-aided schools are in need of replacement and refurbishment, and my officials continue to work with local authorities and diocesan authorities to look at the funding options available. I will, in fact, be meeting with representatives...
Jeremy Miles: I thank Helen Fychan for her contribution, and I agree with much of what she said. She started by talking about learners' experiences and those who had experienced racism in school, and many will have direct experience of that in schools. And that's our objective: not only ensuring that that doesn't happen directly and that there aren't examples of this in schools, but that there is a broader...
Jeremy Miles: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Twelve months ago, I set out a series of actions to set us on the path to address the impact of poverty on educational attainment. Attainment gaps between children and young people impacted by poverty and their peers in primary schools and at key stage 3 have reduced over time. The progress at GCSE level has been less consistent and the impact of the pandemic is...
