Mark Drakeford: Music is an important part of our culture and heritage. We recognise the importance of music education to young people and have allocated £1.5 million in this financial year to support music services across Wales. Through our programme for government, we will establish a national music service.
Mark Drakeford: ...indigenous and lesser used languages, with specific reference to early years and childcare policy. In leading this item, we were able to draw on the pioneering work in Wales on early years language education. In keeping with this theme of the summit, and in line with the way we work in Wales as a bilingual nation, the plenary discussions were conducted on a multilingual basis. For the...
Mark Drakeford: Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. On 19 November, Friday last, Wales hosted the thirty-sixth summit of the British-Irish Council at St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff. The Minister for Education and the Welsh Language and I represented the Welsh Government. We were joined by representatives of all BIC member administrations either in person or via our videoconferencing systems. I welcomed...
Mark Drakeford: Our long-term programme of education reform remains ambitious but achievable as we move into a key implementation phase for the Curriculum for Wales and a new system of additional learning needs support to improve the lives of all children and young people in Wales.
Mark Drakeford: ..., and I agree with much of what he said. I too welcome the decision by the PCC of Dyfed-Powys to become an accredited employer, and Rhys ab Owen is right to point to the success of the higher education sector in Wales. In Swansea, in Mike Hedges's own city, it's a leading example of what can be done. The Welsh Government ourselves try to lead by example. We are an accredited real living...
Mark Drakeford: ...bleak than the Member suggested in opening his question. But the point he makes is a very important one. Huge efforts have been made in Wales to encourage young women to enter further and higher education in the STEM subjects. Our previous Chief Scientific Officer for Wales led that herself; she created a group of women in the STEM subjects in academic institutions, but in industry as...
Mark Drakeford: ...associating myself with what he said about the very sad events in his constituency? Members here will be thinking about Jack and his family, I know. I read what the headteacher of Cwm Ifor Primary School had to say about him, and you can just imagine the impact that this will have on those very young children who will have known him and would have, in some case, very sadly, witnessed those...
Mark Drakeford: ...make sure that they do so in a way that is respectful of what is required of them. I thank the CLA for the work that they have done in refreshing the countryside code. Teaching these things in our schools is very important, and, as we know, we have a very receptive audience indeed amongst our school population. Llywydd, alongside the net-zero plan that the Welsh Government published last...
Mark Drakeford: Social media provides both risks and rewards for young people. Through the 'keeping safe online' area of Hwb, we provide extensive resources and guidance to support online safety education, and equip this generation with skills to manage the risks of social media.
Mark Drakeford: ...also to take into account the impact that these experiences have had upon young people, their ability to learn and the way in which they bring those other aspects of their lives with them into the school and into the classroom. And, in the information that I have had about the changes that Estyn has made to its own ways of working, and the focus of the inspections and other work they do in...
Mark Drakeford: ...teaching assistants and higher level teaching assistants make in the classroom, and the burden that responding to the pandemic has placed on them, alongside all the other people who work in our education service. Now, the Welsh Government provides funding to a UK charity. It's called Education Support, and it is an organisation dedicated to supporting the mental health and well-being of...
Mark Drakeford: Thank you very much to Mabon ap Gwynfor for that additional question. I agree with everything that he said about the vital role that those who work in this field contribute to the education of children across Wales. At the end of the day, it's the governing body and local authorities that are responsible for employing those people who work as teaching assistants. But we do have a group,...
Mark Drakeford: ...much for the question, Llywydd. Reforms in 2019 codified a set of national professional standards for teaching assistants, and these made it mandatory for teaching assistants to register with the Education Workforce Council. School governing bodies and local education authorities are responsible for fulfilling the responsibilities of the employer with regard to this important and integral...
Mark Drakeford: ...gatekeeper in the first place, and to get help when they first feel the need to do so. We're particularly focused on that with young people, as the Member will know, in our increased investment in school counselling, in the work that we've done with the youth service to make sure workers there are as prepared as they can be to respond to the needs of young people, and in our commitment to...
Mark Drakeford: I certainly agree with what the Member said about the importance of sporting facilities, and the twenty-first century schools programme certainly does provide that, alongside the school buildings that it generates. In my own constituency, where Fitzalan High School is to be a beneficiary of the twenty-first century schools programme, it comes with a new swimming pool, it comes with 4G...
Mark Drakeford: I thank the Member for that very important question. I can't imagine that there is any Member, in the Chamber or online, Llywydd, who have not seen the impact that the twenty-first schools programme has made in the area that they represent. It is an outstanding programme and is making exactly the sort of difference that Buffy Williams referred to in all parts of Wales. RCT has been, as we...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I thank Buffy Williams for that question. Our twenty-first century schools and colleges programme is already halfway through its second wave. The £2.3 billion-worth of investment will create new schools and colleges, enhance and improve our existing college and school infrastructure, and support the needs of local communities.
Mark Drakeford: ...easy for members of staff to identify the difficulties that a young person is experiencing. I'm very pleased to confirm, again, Llywydd, that, as a result of the report into the in-reach pilot in schools—the CAMHS in-reach pilot—that the Government has found the funding to extend that pilot to all local authorities in Wales. Part of what the pilot does is to try and make sure that...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Jack Sargeant, Llywydd, for drawing attention to the fantastic work that is going on at the Saltney Ferry school, and I congratulate all those associated with the school for the work that they are doing. As it happens, I was able to read an account of the award that they have won. And when you see what the school says about how it has gone about safeguarding the mental health and...
Mark Drakeford: ...health support to young people in Alyn and Deeside is provided through a range of services, from preventative and early intervention through to specialist services for the acutely ill. Supporting schools to improve emotional and mental well-being has been a particular focus of policy and service development in recent years.
