Kirsty Williams: The issue of the employment of supply teachers is for individual schools. Schools do not necessarily have to go through those individual procedures. Local authorities are encouraged to use the consortia arrangements, because that gives us some level of confidence around, for instance, checks for the individual practitioners who may be working in our schools. One of the issues that we did find...
Kirsty Williams: Llyr, the issue around supply teaching is a complex and sensitive one. You will be aware that the task and finish group that was set up by the previous Minister have acknowledged in their own report, which was delivered to me, that there is no single answer to addressing the issue around supply teaching. It’s not fair to say that no action has been taken. A group has been set up by myself...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Huw. Flying Start doesn’t sit within my portfolio, but you’re absolutely right to draw attention to its crucial role. I agree with you that the earlier we can intervene in children’s lives with positive benefit, the better chances that learners from more deprived backgrounds have later on in life. That’s why we introduced the early years pupil deprivation grant—sorry,...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, David. I continue to look at new and innovative ways in which we can build relationships between schools and parents, given the crucial role that they can play in raising attainment. The FaCE toolkit, as I said, is being widely welcomed by practitioners in schools. Consortia are working with schools to ensure that it is taken up. You raise a very important point about the issue of...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, David. Evidence suggests that family engagement can have over six times more influence on a child’s educational attainment than differences in the quality of the school. Our FaCE toolkit and Education Begins at Home campaign continue to ensure that family engagement in children’s learning remains a priority for practitioners.
Kirsty Williams: The Member makes a very valid point, and, from the time that I was on the health committee, which I enjoyed greatly, issues around medical diagnostics are, of course, crucial if we’re to tackle issues around waiting times for those tests. I and the Cabinet Secretary for health continue to work closely across Government to ensure that we are supporting both medical education and professions...
Kirsty Williams: I thank Mark for his question, but postgraduate medical education is not a matter for my portfolio, but for my Cabinet colleague the Cabinet Secretary for health. But I’m always very keen that Welsh universities and institutions look to collaborate wherever they can, whether that be within Wales or outside of Wales.
Kirsty Williams: Like you, Rhun, I am pleased that we’ve been able to agree funding of £7 million in next year’s budget to support our plans for the development of undergraduate medical education in north Wales. The health Secretary gave a commitment to update Assembly Members in the autumn, and that remains the position, but I can tell you that officials are working with the three institutions to...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Rhun. The Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport issued a statement in July about medical education and training in north Wales, which recognised the need for increased medical education in the area. Our ambition is to achieve this through a collaborative approach based upon Cardiff, Swansea and Bangor universities working more closely together.
Kirsty Williams: The summer data published by the Joint Council for Qualifications is by age rather than year group. Provisional data sets will be published later this week providing greater granularity. Current figures for full-course GCSEs show 47,821 entries by 15-year-olds or younger, from a total of 298,370 across all subjects.
Kirsty Williams: Every part of Wales will have a contribution to make in achieving the vision for a million Welsh speakers by 2050, whether they are areas where Welsh is traditionally strong or those with the potential for the language to grow.
Kirsty Williams: Life-saving skills are an important part of education in Wales and I am pleased that over 99 per cent of maintained schools are participating in the Welsh network of healthy school schemes. Safety is one of the scheme’s seven topics and requires curriculum schemes of work to cover first aid.
Kirsty Williams: Universities across the UK value the Welsh Baccalaureate—Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate. It is an internationally recognised and benchmarked qualification, and I expect universities to accept it as part of entry requirements or an alternative offer within universities.
Kirsty Williams: Food and Fun seeks to enrich the school holiday experience of children in schools reporting high rates of free school meal eligibility. 2017 saw 39 schools provide approximately 1,500 children with two free meals a day over 12 days. They benefited from food education, physical activity and other sessions.
Kirsty Williams: Education in Wales sets out how we intend to measure success. This will include new assessment and accountability arrangements and an annual report card. It is about holding the whole system to account, including the Welsh Government.
Kirsty Williams: Aberystwyth University is developing in the field of veterinary science, supporting their ambition of becoming a centre of veterinary expertise. They have secured European funding via the Welsh Government. It is for them, and other universities in Wales, to consider any future developments in veterinary education.
Kirsty Williams: I’m really sorry, Deputy Presiding Officer, I’m not sure whether I got all of that. But what I will say is: Huw, you’re absolutely right. If we’re to have an equitable education system we need to ensure that children have equal chances, whether they are in English-medium, Welsh-medium, or bilingual provision. And, that’s, again, one of the reasons to make a decision about slowing...
Kirsty Williams: Could I say I’m absolutely not complacent at all? Is the attainment gap closing fast enough? No, it’s not. I’m particularly concerned about the fact that our children on free school meals continue not to reach the same attainment levels as their richer counterparts. But I’m also equally concerned about how few children in some local authorities who are on school action plus reach the...
Kirsty Williams: Well, I’m sorry to hear that. In Wales, we’ve traditionally used teaching assistants to a great deal of effect. It’s really interesting, when I visit other countries, like Finland, and, most recently, southern Irish schools, that teaching assistants do not play a part in the education system at all, or to a very, very, very, very small degree. Usually, the only adult in the room is the...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Hefin. Can I assure you that the teaching standards were developed by the professionals for the professionals, and, indeed, they also trialled in schools before they were formally adopted? It is a source of concern to me that the professional learning passport has not been as well used as I would like it to. I think it has real potential, and we need to reflect on how we...
