Jeremy Miles: We continue to support neurodiverse pupils. Both the additional learning needs system and the Curriculum for Wales put children and young people's needs at the centre through person-centred planning and supporting individuals' progression.
Jeremy Miles: Well, as he knows, we make available funding to local authorities in relation to the decarbonisation of the school estate—I'll have some more to say about that in the coming weeks, as it happens—as well as making sure that all new schools built using Welsh Government funding are net-zero schools, both in terms of embedded carbon, but also in terms of operation. I think it's really...
Jeremy Miles: Well, the cost-of-living crisis is having, and will continue to have, significant financial impacts on all public services, including our schools. School budgets are, of course, for local authorities to determine. They are best placed to work with their schools, as many are, in proposing reasonable cost-saving measures where they are appropriate.
Jeremy Miles: Well, it's very important, isn't it, as well as being able to allocate significant funding, that we make sure it's being spent in a way that is both effective and also provides good evidence to others of how to best spend that money. Of course, the funding is being made available in this financial year, so the assessment of impact clearly will follow from here. But the kinds of things that...
Jeremy Miles: Certainly. Community-focused schools are at the heart of our agenda to tackle the impact of poverty on attainment. In 2022-23—this financial year—we provided £3.84 million for family engagement officers, £660,000 for community-focused school manager posts, and £20 million for capital improvements to schools. We have also in recent weeks published two sets of guidance for schools as well.
Jeremy Miles: Well, I thank Jane Dodds for that question. The accounts are something that I'm a great fan of personally, and I've increased the budget for them substantially. It is important that we continue to provide opportunities whereby people in work can renew and transform their skills. Two of the areas where we've focused funding on are digital skills, as Altaf Hussain mentioned, and also green...
Jeremy Miles: Altaf Hussain makes a very important point in relation to the changing nature of our economy and how difficult it can be sometimes to anticipate those changes. What that tells me is that we need to make sure our young people are equipped for any change in society, and that what we need to be imparting to them, as much as knowledge, are the skills and the experiences to be able to navigate a...
Jeremy Miles: I look forward to the debate that we're going to have in the forthcoming weeks in relation to education maintenance allowance, in particular. He will know from my previous appearances at these questions and in the discussions we've had that the real pressure on budgets has meant that we've not been able to increase education maintenance allowance, but we are very happy to have been able to...
Jeremy Miles: Discussions with the Minister for Economy have principally focused on how the education system supports the skills agenda and the young person's guarantee. Also just this week, Cabinet discussed the question of net-zero skills, including the role of education in achieving our ambitions in that important area.
Jeremy Miles: The report to which she refers in her question is an important contribution to the discussion and to the debate, and it certainly reflected, at least in broad terms, our own understanding of the challenges that we face in parts of the system. She will recall, perhaps, in the many reports that she's read, the speech that I gave to the Bevan Foundation last year and the statement that I made in...
Jeremy Miles: Yes, I'm very happy indeed to extend my congratulations to Mrs Pritchard and the staff and pupils of the school. I thought it was really telling, the phrase that the Member used, I think reflecting what Estyn said, which was the school had a focus on making children feel proud to be a part of it. And the reason that's so important is because it reflects how important the agency of young...
Jeremy Miles: The Curriculum for Wales remains key to raising education standards for all learners. Our school improvement guidance aligns with the principles and practice of the curriculum, setting out a framework for the education system to support schools to provide the best possible learning experiences and outcomes to their learners.
Jeremy Miles: Well, I think that's a really important point and, as you say, it reflects one of the points that Sam Kurtz was making in his question as well. There is a balance to be struck, isn't there, as you're changing an entire system between central direction and the kind of flexibility and devolution, if you like, to schools of the ability to design and implement a curriculum that works for their...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I would encourage the headteacher in his constituency to engage with the Camau project, which we are funding through the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, which provides resources to support schools in their development of new assessment approaches. It's fundamental, really, that at the heart of the new curriculum is that assessment is there to support the progression of...
Jeremy Miles: Yes. [Laughter.] In September, all schools and settings will be working with the Curriculum for Wales as it rolls out through to the 2026-27 academic year. Our ongoing support to the profession is key to successful implementation, and my annual report each July is how we communicate widely on progress and priorities.
Jeremy Miles: We encourage schools to look at all experiences available to our young people so that there is a diversity of experience, particularly through the medium of the Welsh language. As I mentioned earlier, we have a grant programme that supports, in terms of Welsh language policy, a number of organisations that provide a number of educational, interesting and attractive prospects for our young...
Jeremy Miles: Well, as the Member said, in 2022-23, we increased the core grant of the National Eisteddfod to ensure that it had the resources to stage future Eisteddfodau in a time of financial uncertainty. We are to allocate additional funding to the Eisteddfod in 2023-24 in the draft budget, in order to strengthen their community engagement structures, which are so important to their work as a...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I'm not sure if the Member listened to the two previous answers that I've given, but I've outlined in great detail what we are doing. The question of retention and recruitment is a challenge in all parts of the world. What we are doing in Wales is specific to our needs in Wales. I've outlined a list of issues to her that she clearly has disregarded in her third question. What we are...
Jeremy Miles: If the Member wants to know what a demoralised teaching profession that doesn't feel valued by its Government looks like, she just needs to look over the border at what's happening in England, which is cataclysmic in terms of retention and recruitment generally. So, that is what a Conservative education policy looks like. We can see it happening before our very eyes. What we have in...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I recognise that we need to do everything we can to support in the system support staff, who deliver a very, very important service to our young people and are indispensable in our schools. The Member's question does not recognise the work that I've done since becoming Minister in relation to this matter. She will recall, because I made a statement in this Chamber last year, that I've...
