Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Mike, first of all, for your questions, but for your continued advocacy on behalf of the BSL-speaking community. We are working with BSL teachers, and other stakeholders with experience and expertise in BSL, to develop curriculum guidance for BSL for children who use BSL as a medium of education, and/or as their first language, and guidance for those schools introducing BSL as a...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, David. Hundreds of teaching resources, specifically relating to Welsh history, are available for teachers to utilise on our online platform, Hwb. Cadw, National Museums Wales, the National Library for Wales and local history associations have all produced resources, which have been captured by the Learned Society of Wales's recent review of such resources.
Kirsty Williams: Well, you're absolutely right, Dai, in that we should never put any limitations on any of our children and young people because we have a misconception about what they can achieve. Obviously, that is at the heart of our additional learning needs reform programme, to ensure that all children with an additional learning need leave our education system with the qualifications, skills and...
Kirsty Williams: Our educational reforms are designed to ensure that all learners with additional learning needs receive the support that they need to access the curriculum, and I believe that this will help equip deaf young people with the skills that they need to reach their full potential.
Kirsty Williams: With the four purposes at its heart, our new curriculum will provide learners with the life skills necessary to be healthy, ethical and engaged citizens. The curriculum's integral skills will help equip them to meet life challenges, adapt to change and apply new learning and skills throughout their lives.
Kirsty Williams: On the first strand, in 2018, we invested £100,000 in Dennison Advanced Materials Centre, a state-of-the-art engineering training facility at the Blaenau Gwent learning zone. The centre is one of only a handful of FE colleges in the United Kingdom that can provide advanced composite training as part of its aeronautical and motorsport engineering courses. Since then, the first advanced...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Could I begin by thanking both Vikki and Mick for their contributions this afternoon? Many of the issues facing our Valleys communities are deep-seated and longstanding, as outlined by Vikki in her speech. They are the result of generational changes and will take time to reverse, and part of the challenge is to think about how we can futureproof...
Kirsty Williams: You're absolutely right, Dai, to point to a trend not just in Swansea but across Wales, that there is a great propensity to absenteeism in schools that work with our most disadvantaged and deprived communities. Understanding the needs of individual learners and providing the right support at the right time to ensure that they access school can make all the difference. As you quite rightly...
Kirsty Williams: Diolch, Dai. The latest statistics on school absenteeism by pupils of compulsory school age in all maintained primary and special schools in Wales, which were published in December, show that Swansea's overall attendance rate is 94.4 per cent, which is just above average compared to the rest of Wales, which is 94.3 per cent.
Kirsty Williams: Well, Andrew, as the mother of two dyslexic children who have received their education in the Welsh medium, this is an issue that is really personally important to me. You are correct to say that a dyslexia screening test for learners between six years and six months and 11 years and five months is available in Welsh from Dyslexia Wales, and that particular screening test provides a profile...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Andrew. I am committed to supporting learners with special educational needs, such as dyslexia, within Welsh-medium education. Our additional learning needs reforms aim to create a bilingual system of support for learners. The availability of Welsh-medium resources is being considered as part of our ALN transformation programme.
Kirsty Williams: I want to reassure the Member that it is more than just credence that we're giving to the age appropriateness of lessons in this part of the curriculum. It is absolutely fundamental that these lessons are delivered in an age and developmentally-appropriate way for children. I recognise that there may be some nervousness, concerns and sensitivities in this regard. That's why, as we move...
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, the Member is right: this is a rights issue. It is a children's rights issue, and all children have the right to receive education that will keep them safe from harm, that will protect them and will give them the skills and the knowledge that they need to become healthy, confident individuals. And that approach to children's rights lies at the heart of my decision. We've...
Kirsty Williams: I am committed to ensuring that all young people receive high-quality relationship and sexuality education. That's why relationship and sexuality education will be a mandatory part of our new curriculum.
Kirsty Williams: I am more than happy to look at that specific point, as to the relevance of domestic abuse legislation with regard to schools, but let me be absolutely clear and repeat once again: we already have very comprehensive 'Keeping learners safe' guidance. That is to be complied with by all schools, whether they are maintained or independent. The inability of an independent school to satisfy me of...
Kirsty Williams: Can I thank Llyr for raising these issues today and thank him also—? We have been keeping in close touch in recent months, and I know that you have been taking this very seriously in your own region, and I'm grateful for your interest and your diligence in continuing to pursue these issues, Llyr. You are right, the situation at Ruthin raises some fundamental points about the regulation of...
Kirsty Williams: Well, Mark, as you rightly identified, the funding of secondary schools in Flintshire is predominantly a matter for Flintshire County Council. Flintshire are in receipt of a percentage increase in their budget of over 3.5 per cent, and it is for them, now, to decide how best to use those resources.
Kirsty Williams: Number 5, I think.
Kirsty Williams: Diolch yn fawr, Llyr. Safeguarding children in all education settings is of paramount importance. Independent schools must exercise their functions in a way that safeguards and promotes the welfare of their pupils, and they must comply with the 'Keeping learners safe' guidance to meet regulatory standards.
Kirsty Williams: Well, Jack, I've recently announced my continued support for the skills development fund. That is £10 million, allocated on a regional basis, to specifically respond to priorities that are identified by the regional skills partnership to ensure that there is an alignment between curriculum and the skills needed in the labour market in a particular area. The SDF is aimed at those learners...
