Kirsty Williams: The draft budget for 2020-21 outlines my priorities for education funding as set out in 'Our national mission', which includes funding for education providers in north-east Wales. This budget continues to be committed to the success and well-being of every learner, regardless of their background or personal circumstances, or whichever part of Wales they are studying and learning in.
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, I absolutely agree with Angela Burns about the importance of educating our children on the potential harms and the safe use of the internet and social media channels. Just yesterday was Safer Internet Day, as I'm sure the Member was aware, and I was delighted to join finalists in the Welsh Government's Safer Internet Day competition, where both primary and secondary schools...
Kirsty Williams: Lynne, back in September, the existence of the guidance was publicised in our weekly newsletter, Dysg, to all schools. We have used a variety of Welsh Government platforms to draw attention, not just to schools, but to the wider community, of the availability of the guidance. I'm very pleased to say that we've had significant traffic, with regard to clicks, on that particular guidance on our...
Kirsty Williams: Lynne, since you and I launched that guidance in September, hard copies have been distributed to schools, and it's also available online on the Hwb platform and on the Welsh Government website. We are working with partners to raise awareness of this issue as part of our whole-school approach to emotional well-being.
Kirsty Williams: I very much welcome Estyn's thematic report and draw the Member's attention to the good practice in schools already delivering very positive actions, whilst also accepting the recommendations in areas requiring further improvement. For instance, we are funding the Welsh Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit, working in partnership with the all-Wales school liaison core programme, to produce...
Kirsty Williams: First of all, Presiding Officer, I don't want the Member's thanks for answering his question, what would be more useful to me is if he did something about it and had a conversation with his Westminster colleagues. With regard to the class sizes reduction fund that we have made available to schools, I'm glad that the Member recognises that, first of all, small class sizes can be really...
Kirsty Williams: In all my dealings with headteachers' unions and with teachers' unions, Oscar, I have to say their first concern is the inability of your Government in Westminster to give this Government an appropriate level of public expenditure. One very real example, Presiding Officer: we received no consequential this year to pay for the teachers' pay rise. We were short-changed again this year to pay...
Kirsty Williams: Well, Presiding Officer, I'm not in charge of health and care, but I think what's important for me is that if we are to respond, as I said, proactively to the demand that there is out there for Welsh-medium education, if we're to meet that target, then the first important element is our teaching workforce. The Member joined me and other Members recently at the event organised by our coleg...
Kirsty Williams: Well, Siân, you're absolutely right: recruiting more Welsh-medium teachers is a vital component of our aim to reach 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050. The requirement for teacher training providers to work towards training 30 per cent of teachers to teach through the medium of Welsh is an important instruction to them, and the Education Workforce Council, of our intention to be able to ensure...
Kirsty Williams: Well, Siân, you're absolutely right. This is an issue that is common to education systems, actually, across the globe and was the subject of much debate when we hosted the Atlantic Rim Collaboratory conference here in Cardiff back in the autumn. There is no one single thing that we can do to address these issues, but to outline some of the actions this Government is currently taking, we have...
Kirsty Williams: The organisation of post-16 education is a matter for local areas. I believe in a mixed economy. I believe that both our sixth forms and our FE colleges provide really important opportunities for our young people. Of course, greater co-ordination across the post-16 sector and the ability for that sector to meet all the education and training needs of our local population form the bedrock of...
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, if the Member had missed it the first time around, I am incredibly pleased that Merthyr college finds itself subject to such nominations. And, as I said in my previous answer, I wish them—as well as Gower College, Bridgend College, Cardiff and Vale College, and Dolgellau construction and engineering team from the Llandrillo Menai Group—all the very best in those awards.
Kirsty Williams: Well, Presiding Officer, I'm immensely proud of the success and the achievements of the FE sector in Wales. The fact that nominations have been made for six colleges, in total, from Wales in the TES 2020 awards is a testament to the good work that is going on across the sector. And I'd like to wish Merthyr College, and indeed other colleges that are nominated, all the very best when those...
Kirsty Williams: Post-16 delivery in Wales supports access to a range of programmes that support lifelong learning. Whether it's upskilling to access employment, a first step into post-16, or a return to learning, delivery serves to improve economic prosperity and to ensure that people in all areas are equipped for their futures.
Kirsty Williams: You're right, Mick: we need to ensure that any Government investment and policy response to promoting children's good mental health and well-being needs to be on the basis of evidence. And there are a variety of ways in which we do that. We have the formal statistics that are collated as a part of the formal counselling service. Most recently, in reporting back to the 'Mind over matter'...
Kirsty Williams: Well, Suzy, as I have just answered to Joyce Watson, we are making over £600,000 extra available in this financial year to support counselling services, and, in the new financial year, additional resources will also be made available to look to extend support services for children—traditional counselling, but perhaps group-based approaches for younger children, to extend the help available...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Joyce. Well, since the publication of that report, a great deal of work has been undertaken and continues to be driven forward. For example, by making all aware of the availability of both counselling provided in schools, in community-based settings, and, indeed, online, in a virtual world, our revised counselling toolkit, which will be published next month, will, I believe, help...
Kirsty Williams: Our most recent statistical release, for the period of 2017-18, shows almost 11,500 children received counselling, comparable to numbers in previous years. In the current year, we also made an additional £626,000—no; yes, £626,000—available to local authorities to support improvements to the service as part of our work on developing a whole-school approach to mental health and...
Kirsty Williams: As elsewhere, schools in Islwyn have access to curriculum guidance, agreed programmes of professional learning, additional INSET days and funding, as well as practitioner networks. Support will be ongoing, but schools need to first reflect on the guidance framework, the four purposes, and begin developing their vision for learners.
Kirsty Williams: Capital investment of £35 million has already been earmarked to authorities in the region to expand their Welsh-medium education provision. The investment is 100 per cent and jointly allocated with childcare capital in order to make best use of all the funding available.
