Kirsty Williams: Funding from Welsh Government to Literature Wales remains at the same level this year as last year, and is an increase on two years ago. In updating colleagues on changes to performance measures and education reforms, I have discussed issues of take-up and attainment across subjects, including literature and language.
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, I do recognise, even with the additional resources that we are making available, that schools' budgets are stretched. I understand that. It means tough choices to ensure that funding does indeed get to the front line, and I will continue to work closely with heads, teachers, the unions, the regional consortia and local authorities to ensure that we're focused on raising...
Kirsty Williams: Well, the Member, from a sedentary position, talks about promoting Welsh-medium education. I'm sure the Member is aware that we have a new fund directly for the expansion of Welsh-medium education places to support the Government's ambition for a million Welsh speakers by 2050. We have a specific fund exactly for that that local authorities are able to bid into, and I am pleased to say we...
Kirsty Williams: Of course, I'm not saying that it's not a problem. I am saying what we are doing about it, and, as I said, we will spend, in band A, £1.4 billion on schools and colleges across Wales. Band B of the programme will see an additional investment of £2.4 billion in schools and colleges across Wales, and that is the single largest investment, as I said, in our school estate since the 1960s. We...
Kirsty Williams: I will.
Kirsty Williams: Mark, I know that the Cabinet Secretary for local government is more than happy to discuss with the local government family any changes to the funding formula for overall spending or, indeed, the data that are used to calculate notional spends on education. What you're talking about—that disparity in funding between individual schools—shows the complexity of the Welsh education system and...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. On Monday, I had the great privilege of visiting Adamsdown Primary School, just up the road here, in the community of Splott. Thanks to the Welsh Government investment of £2.8 million, pupils and teachers there are benefiting from a new extension to the school and significantly improved outdoor facilities in response to a significant growth in demand...
Kirsty Williams: I formally move.
Kirsty Williams: Well, of course, those signing up to receive a Welsh NHS Government bursary do indeed sign up to a commitment to work in the Welsh NHS, and I am looking to expand that, for instance, with regard to training places for educational psychologists, which we fund. And I would point out, Darren, I'm not about to take any lectures from a Conservative politician about nurse bursaries when we have...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I was mildly surprised, but nevertheless delighted, to receive the text of the motion that has been tabled by UKIP for debate this afternoon because it provides me with an opportunity to promote the Welsh Government's innovative approach to higher education and student finance in Wales, and to highlight the shortcomings of the UK Government's approach...
Kirsty Williams: I formally move.
Kirsty Williams: Mike, I am always very pleased to see excellence wherever it is in our education system. I congratulate the school involved. It's a testament to the hard work and dedication of the staff within that school and their determination to provide the very best educational opportunities for their pupils, and I would be very happy to visit that school. I would also be very happy to see them at the...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Mike. Over the 2010-17 inspection cycle, 175 schools received an 'excellent' judgment for either their performance or prospects for improvement, and 21 per cent of schools have been rated as 'excellent' for at least one judgment. I am pleased to see that there is so much excellence in the Welsh education system.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Bethan. The Cabinet Secretary for health and I recognise that by working together, the impact of our actions will be so much greater. We also recognise that, unless we address a child's health and well-being, especially their mental health, they cannot make the most of their opportunities within the education system to achieve their very best. How can we expect a child who is in...
Kirsty Williams: I'm ever so sorry; it's disappeared.
Kirsty Williams: Nothing. Sorry. I'll borrow Lesley's—I hope your ears are clean. [Laughter.]
Kirsty Williams: Yes.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Darren. As you say, there is an array of interventions that can be successfully used in school to address pupils' well-being—mindfulness being one that I know is particularly successful in the school that we visited together. Through the pioneer school network and the individual areas of learning and experience, they are taking a range of evidence and advice from expert groups....
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Lee, for that important question. Having recognised the difficulty that some schools can have in obtaining specialist services, I and the Cabinet Secretary for health have been able to join forces and to combine a monetary resource from both of our budgets to joint-fund the £1.4 million CAMHS inreach project that is happening on a pilot basis in a number of areas across Wales. The...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Lee. 'Our national mission' makes clear that through a new curriculum with a distinct emphasis on the well-being of learners, developments in professional learning and the child and adolescent mental health services inreach pilots, we are taking action to help schools promote and support positive mental health and well-being.