Kirsty Williams: Firstly, can I thank the Member for facilitating that meeting yesterday, and for the efforts of the teachers that I did meet yesterday for the work that they do, day in, day out, in our schools, and the individual who actually looks to co-ordinate the approaches to ALN across the region? It was indeed useful to me to receive their feedback. They were very loud and clear that they do not need...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, David, for that question. There are two very important points here. Firstly, my expectation is that every single local education authority in Wales meets the needs of children under current legislation, and there should be no excuse for those needs not being met in anticipation of the introduction of the new ALN Bill. There are protections and rights for those children now, and...
Kirsty Williams: Well, as I said to the Member in answering her initial question, the vast majority of school costs are met out of the revenue support grant. The Member will be aware that the Government has been able to give a significant increase to local authorities this year. The addition to the local government settlement and other new funding for schools and social care totals £220 million for 2020-21,...
Kirsty Williams: Local authorities are responsible for providing suitable provision for all learners, including those with special educational needs, and funding is allocated to local authorities via the revenue support grant. I have also made available £20 million to support the wider ALN transformation programme.
Kirsty Williams: One of the statements of 'what matters' in the health and well-being area of learning and experience, which will be mandatory, focuses on developing healthy relationships and understanding how these are fundamental to well-being. It is also proposed that relationships and sexuality education will be a mandatory part of a school’s curriculum.
Kirsty Williams: The local authority is awaiting the outcome of further, more detailed investigations by geological experts that will refine the risks of landslide associated with the school. This work is ongoing and will inform any decision regarding re-opening.
Kirsty Williams: I will be considering detailed proposals on the expenditure of this funding in the next few weeks, and we will provide further information to colleges in February.
Kirsty Williams: School attendance remains a priority for this Government and all absence from school is taken seriously. Work is already underway to review policy to ensure that it continues to provide effective support to schools. Draft guidance will be published for consultation later this year.
Kirsty Williams: Now, Suzy is right, there are parts of Global Futures that have delivered and there are parts of Global Futures where we have not seen the progress that we would want to. That's why I will be publishing a refreshed approach to the Global Futures programme in April of this year. And we will continue to work with our partners to support our schools as we transition to our new curriculum. We...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'd like to begin by thanking Suzy Davies for bringing this debate to the Chamber today and begin by stating that I believe in Wales becoming not just a trilingual but a multilingual nation. Irrespective of the current political changes that we face, I recognise the importance of teaching international languages within our education system. I'm...
Kirsty Williams: We've also extended our pupil development grant to education other than at school provision and those children who are not in a regular school setting. Of course, as David Melding rightly pointed out, we have much, much more to do for this particularly vulnerable group of learners, whose educational achievements, whether within PISA or outside of PISA, continue to be not where they should be....
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm grateful for the opportunity to respond to the points that have been made in the debate today. I think it was Oscar that used the phrase 'frustration and dismay'. Well, I can tell him that I am frustrated and I'm dismayed that he and some of his colleagues continue to quote incorrect data and seem scarily unaware of what is going on in terms...
Kirsty Williams: I'm not responsible for the coverage.
Kirsty Williams: I move.
Kirsty Williams: Well, I'm not sure if the Member availed himself of the opportunity to attend the briefing this morning—I'm afraid I was at the Seren conference—if he was there, he would have received a very deep analysis of the figures, and it's simply not true, what he has characterised. Statistically, we are performing at the OECD average. Is average good enough? Well, as the old cricketing saying...
Kirsty Williams: I want to thank David for his commendation of our teachers and students and for his question. The aim of the new curriculum is to be a much broader-based curriculum that will address both the knowledge that our children will need but also to give them the skills and experiences. And that does mean that, potentially, there is more scope within that curriculum for a more vocational focus. But...
Kirsty Williams: So, I've had less than—let's see, Thursday, Friday—. Well, Wednesday afternoon, I saw the initial results and then got the report on Thursday, so I've only had a few days myself to acquaint myself with it. But we have had OECD back in Wales earlier on in the autumn term to, again, give us an independent assessment on where we are with our reform journey, and they are looking to report...
Kirsty Williams: Can I, Presiding Officer, thank Mark Reckless for his acknowledgement of the efforts of staff and students in achieving these results today? If I could start with that last point first, I don't know which schools did PISA. Some people find that extraordinary, but that actually is part of the rules of engagement. I can't tell you which schools did and which schools didn't do PISA. So, we don't...
Kirsty Williams: Diolch yn fawr, Siân. And can I say thank you for recognising the efforts of teachers in achieving these results today? As you went on to say, we are in the midst of the largest reform of education anywhere in the United Kingdom, so we're already asking an awful lot of the profession to engage in those reforms, especially in the curriculum, and therefore to be able to achieve these results...
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, can I thank the Member for that series of questions? I will do my best to make sure that I've logged them all and answered them all. There is no sigh of relief from me today, Presiding Officer—just a determination to carry on with the reform programme and to do even better. The Member says that we have dropped the target of 500 and then she just says at the end of her...
