Kirsty Williams: Rhianon, you're right—the twenty-first century schools and colleges programme is a partnership approach and we would not have been able to realise the ambition of the programme without the close collaboration and working that we have with local education authorities. As we discussed at length yesterday, there is a multibillion-pound pot of money within Welsh Government to look to work with...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Paul. The framework does indeed provide a level of assurance that individuals will be treated fairly. And we have come to an agreement with the Welsh Local Government Association to once again communicate with their schools and make it very clear to the schools in their local authorities that schools should only be using those agencies that appear on the framework. I will give a...
Kirsty Williams: Caerphilly received over £56 million during first wave of twenty-first century schools and colleges programme funding, and, of this, £28 million was spent in the Islwyn constituency. A further £110 million is planned for the second funding wave, and we are working with Caerphilly to make their plans a reality.
Kirsty Williams: Welsh Government is working with our stakeholders and employers to ensure that support is available for teachers in Pembrokeshire and, indeed, across Wales during the pandemic. This support includes a tailored package of well-being and mental health support, and additional funding to create capacity within the school workforce.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, David, and thank you for your kind words. Coming from you, who I have appreciated working alongside, as a member of the class of 1999, they are worth that much more. Can I assure the Member that there is flexibility? Where learners have a specific barrier to wearing a face mask, then that should be recognised by schools. That might be in the case of neurodiverse learners or where...
Kirsty Williams: I'm not aware that we're asking children to wear masks in an unsupervised situation at all. Children are supervised on school transport and when they're in classrooms they are supervised. The advise that we're giving is that when social distancing cannot be maintained, then masks should be worn because that offers a level of protection, as I said, to both staff and learners. There are times...
Kirsty Williams: Our operational guidance states that face coverings should be worn by secondary school learners in all parts of the school building if social distancing cannot be maintained, and on dedicated school transport. This is one of a range of measures to keep schools as safe as possible for both staff and learners.
Kirsty Williams: The greatest challenge facing any education Minister is the realisation that education reform and transformation cannot be driven by the will of a single Minister. It has to be done in collaboration and co-operation with the sector. The co-construction of our national mission and our new curriculum has focused on building those strong relationships. I think it will be really important for any...
Kirsty Williams: The Member is correct: sometimes, we are able to release additional resources to the education system later on in the year. The challenges of operating a budget of the size that we do are not without difficulties, but I will never turn down an opportunity from the finance Minister to spend more money on schools. With regard to the bureaucracy and the reporting, I would say to Siân Gwenllian...
Kirsty Williams: I recognise that we ask an awful lot of our teaching professionals. And now, more than ever, we need to attach even greater weight and greater pace to the managing workload and reducing bureaucracy group. That group is still working, despite the challenges of the pandemic, to identify the pressures facing teachers and implement new solutions. The workload charter has now been published, with...
Kirsty Williams: Well, Suzy, can I just say thank you very much for your kind words, and thank you for forgiving me? I do remember a certain public meeting in the Strand Hall in Builth Wells—although the subject that day was health—when I suspect that I was particularly mean, not that anybody in the Chamber would ever remember me being mean or sharp or difficult with people, but—. So, I thank you for...
Kirsty Williams: Well, Suzy, I'm grateful for your acknowledgement that the Welsh Government has introduced new secondary legislation that allows teachers from across the world to enter into a process, with our Education Workforce Council, to be accredited to teach in this country. I believe those first applicants are already in process, including a new would-be maths teacher who qualified in the United...
Kirsty Williams: Well, Deputy Presiding Officer, the Member tried to lull me into a false sense of security, I think, before asking that question. If I had any hopes that she would spare me in this last session, they've been cruelly dashed by that question. Can I just say that the success of the RRRS programme is something to be celebrated? I think it is fair to say that we had initially anticipated that we...
Kirsty Williams: Well, thank you for that, Suzy. Can I assure you that that training is already being delivered? For instance, even in the midst of the pandemic, GwE, our regional support service in north Wales, is already delivering a comprehensive programme of governor training in anticipation not only of curriculum reform but also ALN reform, and that is a programme of work that is being replicated across...
Kirsty Williams: Well, firstly, Llyr, can I thank you for serving as a governor? They are important roles and I would encourage everybody that is interested in education to think about how they can help our children and young people by doing what you do and serving in the role of governor. Clearly, the situation that you have just described is not acceptable. I'm grateful to you for bringing it to my...
Kirsty Williams: Governing bodies have an essential role in improving school performance. Local authorities provide direct support to governors through their governor support services. Under Welsh language standards, all information, advice and guidance provided by the Welsh Government to local authorities is provided bilingually. Local authorities are under the same standard duties.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Nick, for that question. My officials have weekly conversations with the trade unions, discussing a wide range of issues and, clearly, the well-being of school and support staff features strongly. The Welsh Government has had very positive feedback from the services that the Education Support charity has been able to put in place this year, and we will continue to reflect on what...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Jayne, for recognising the tremendous effort of the education workforce throughout the pandemic. They have shown real innovation and resilience in the most difficult of times, and it is important that we recognise that we need to support them in their mental health and well-being. That's why we have engaged with Education Support, a charity organisation with expertise in supporting...
Kirsty Williams: Welsh Government continues to work with stakeholders to ensure support is available for teachers around Wales during this pandemic. This includes funding a tailored package of mental health and well-being support services for teachers and support staff, and providing additional funding to increase capacity in schools across Wales.
Kirsty Williams: The twenty-first century schools programme has seen an investment of nearly £33 millon in Bridgend schools within the Senedd term, of which over £19 million was funded by Welsh Government. Of this, over £11 million will have been spent in the Ogmore constituency, primarily in Pencoed Primary School and Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Ogwr.
