Kirsty Williams: I am aware that it is the policy of NAHT to have a national funding formula. At this stage, I don't believe that that's appropriate. We have a diverse education system in Wales, whether that is delivering education in a very small rural school where the costs, obviously, are higher, or delivering education to a highly deprived community, where we know we need to put additional resources in...
Kirsty Williams: Llyr, what I accept, because of continuing austerity, is that education is having to work in an atmosphere of restricted budgets. I acknowledge that and that's why I'm taking every opportunity that I can to get as much money to the front line as I can.
Kirsty Williams: I would expect all local authorities to be designing consultation documents on school closures or mergers that contain accurate information. If they do not, then that simply is not good enough, and if the Member has any evidence that the consultation documents that are currently being issued with regard to the closures that he refers to do not contain accurate information, then I would be...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Mark. The responsibility, as I said earlier, for the planning of school places rests with each local authority. Local authorities do have to keep under review, as I said earlier, the extent to which their current provision meets the number of children they are statutorily required to educate now and in the future, and the needs of a modern curriculum.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, David. You're absolutely right to say that it is my intention to revise the school organisation code to include a presumption against rural school closures, and to designate a list of rural schools. Work is continuing on those proposals, but the direction of travel of policy in this area is very clear to all 22 local authorities, and I would hope that they would bear that in mind...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Jane. As you said, I understand that the Vale of Glamorgan Council has decided to restart and re-issue its consultation because of concerns that were raised about the adequacy of the initial consultation proposal, especially a lack of an adequate community impact statement. I would urge all those that have an interest to make their views known to the council before the close of the...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Jane. The responsibility for the planning of school places rests with local authorities. Local authorities have to keep under review the extent to which their existing pattern of school provision meets current and forecast demand for places and the requirements of a modern curriculum.
Kirsty Williams: The Welsh Government contributes to sharing best practice through initiatives such as the national networks of excellence and the National Academy for Education Leadership. We work with partners such as local authorities, regional consortia, Estyn and schools to build a self-improving education system as described in ‘Our national mission’.
Kirsty Williams: Aled Roberts was appointed in February 2018 to take forward the recommendations of the rapid review of Welsh in education strategic plans. An advisory board has been established to support this work and met for the first time on 17 May 2018.
Kirsty Williams: The foundation phase is the bedrock of our education system. We intend to build on the strengths of the foundation phase in developing the new curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales.
Kirsty Williams: In line with my ambitions set out in the national mission and the four core purposes of the new curriculum, school international links are important to develop our young people into global citizens. There is a raft of activity under way, including the Connecting Classrooms programme.
Kirsty Williams: I want all young people to have the opportunity to participate in sport and physical activity. The Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 provide the minimum requirements for 'team game playing fields' that must be provided for schools for pupils who are eight years old and above.
Kirsty Williams: The school admissions code imposes requirements on local authorities and admission authorities regarding the discharge of their duties in respect of school admissions. We plan to review the code in the autumn term.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Joyce. I don't expect any further delays in releasing the resources that I've identified today. I think you're right—the concept of respect is one that will underpin much of the delivery of this curriculum. You also made a very important point: if any of us take time to listen to children and young people, they will tell you what we're providing for them at the moment is not good...
Kirsty Williams: Can I thank Siân Gwenllian for her comments? I do want to make it clear that we're not in a situation where nothing is happening in our schools. There is some very good practice in our schools, as recognised by the report. The challenge, as always, in Welsh education—as I've discovered over the last two years—is how you make that consistent in all of our schools. So, I don't want people...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Julie. I think there are a number of people in this Chamber who had involvement in some way or another with section 28—some people desperately trying to oppose it, and, unfortunately, I understand there is one Member here—well, not here in the Chamber at the moment—who actually voted for it, and I'm glad that we've been able to move such a long way. Julie, I...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Mark. I hope you'd agree today that, if, in a previous administration, we pushed up against the wire, today we've gone through the wire by this announcement, and I would pay tribute to those in the previous Assemblies who pushed on this issue. It's crucial to me that, in discussing relationships and sexuality, what a healthy relationship looks like is a key fundamental part of...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Lynne. The concern about the status of this subject in the curriculum is one of the reasons why I have decided to make it statutory in the new curriculum going forward—to be able to give it that prominence and to be able to secure this learning in the curriculum. It is a mental health issue. It's absolutely crucial that we equip our children with the scaffolding and the...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you so much, Jenny. The example you gave of a nursery child becoming a sibling is a perfect example of developmental-appropriate education. From the very earliest stage, we're beginning to make relationships, aren't we, with our parents, with our siblings, with our community, and that's exactly what we need to be teaching our very youngest children about. It's about how you cope with...
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, the Member has just said that sex education isn't just about biology, it's about values and ethics, and I don't think it's ever too young to start to talk to a child about values and ethics.
