Kirsty Williams: I agree with you absolutely. We have a commitment to allow that time to be made available. Members will be aware that I recently visited Finland, which is a nation that is constantly held up as the bastion of great education. One of the things that they are trying to do in Finland to improve their education is to ensure that there is PPA time in school for their teachers. They recognise that...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Hefin. If I can be absolutely clear, because I believe the regulations governing who can teach in Wales are clear: only qualified teachers—those with QTS—can undertake specific work, i.e. teach. That is a very different situation that we have in Wales than you would see across the border, and a differentiation that I am very pleased about. Schools can employ a suitably...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Hefin. I expect teachers to exercise their professional judgement in ensuring planning, preparation and assessment time is used effectively to support their teaching. Arrangements should be designed to allow teachers to use their judgement based on their needs and the needs of the school and their learners.
Kirsty Williams: The Member will be aware that the planning of Welsh-medium provision falls to my colleague, the Minister with responsibility for the language, who is currently considering how best we can ensure that the Welsh in education plans that have come forward are adequate and are ambitious. We understand that if we’re to meet the Welsh Government’s target of an additional 1 million Welsh-speakers...
Kirsty Williams: Well, as I’ve said, Dai, officials continue to speak regularly with Swansea city council. We want to ensure that the proposals that are currently in band A of the programme are delivered upon, and we want to ensure best value for the Welsh Government’s money when band B comes into operation. We do this in a partnership approach, so, therefore, we need a clear understanding of the...
Kirsty Williams: Well, it’s disappointing that the local development plan will be delayed, because one of the core principles of the twenty-first century schools programme is to ensure that we have the right number of school places in the right place. Often, the proposals to develop a particular conurbation or town or village are instrumental in the process of approving a twenty-first century school’s...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Mike. Band A of the twenty-first century schools and education programme will see an investment of over £51 million in schools in Swansea over the five-year period ending 2019. Of this, over £34 million will have been spent in the Swansea East constituency.
Kirsty Williams: Well, Mike, I was very pleased to see the new Burlais school and the difference that that building is making to the education of children in the area. I am also very pleased to receive an invitation to visit Blaenymaes school. My late grandma, Mary Hall, was the senior cook at Blaenymaes school for very many years. She peeled a lot of spuds for those kids in her time. So, the opportunity to...
Kirsty Williams: The categorisation is an indication of how much level of support a school can expect to receive, and that will be regardless of the size of the school. My expectation is that the regional consortia, our school improvement service, work closely with the headteacher and the governing body of said school to ensure that there’s a package of support that is relevant. But the size of the school...
Kirsty Williams: I do not have the data to hand, but I'm happy to supply those data to the Member. As I have said in answer to a question to Darren Millar, I expect all our schools, wherever a child happens to be, to be excellent schools. The data from the schools categorisation process show that the number of schools entering into a yellow or green category is improving. There are more Welsh children going...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you for that question. The good news from the publication of the schools categorisation data last week shows that the number of schools moving out of red categorisation is improving. We have fewer schools in a red categorisation than we have ever had, and that is down to the hard work and commitment of headteachers, individual classroom teachers, and governing bodies who support those...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Darren. You’re quite right; PISA and Estyn raised concerns about what we’re doing for our more able and talented children. We need to ensure that our teachers are equipped with the ability to differentiate within the classroom so that they are able to provide lessons in a way that stretches our more able and talented. Working closely with my colleague, the Minister for...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Darren. It’s not just pupils who attend pupil referral units we have to be concerned about, it’s all children who receive their education other than at school. You will know that Ann Keane is chairing a group that is looking at EOTAS provision to ensure that we will see the improvements that we need in EOTAS, whether that’s in a PRU or in another particular setting, and we...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Darren. It is concerning to read the chief inspector’s comments regarding the consistency of excellent teaching across Wales. There are some excellent practitioners, but too often there is a level of variability that I do not think is acceptable. I want every child in Wales, regardless of where they are studying, regardless of which school they attend, regardless of which class...
Kirsty Williams: Well, I certainly don’t undervalue the contribution that learning support workers bring to the Welsh education system. Many classroom teachers and headteachers tell me that their schools would not function as well as they do without the ability of those individuals in their schools to help, especially in the foundation phase. This Government is committed to expanding the number of higher...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Llyr. What the report does not show is that we have a difficulty in providing supply teachers. Interestingly, the report shows us a picture of supply teaching that perhaps some people would find unusual, where a great number of teachers that are employed on a supply basis are not for one, two or three days to cover absence or to cover the continuous professional development of a...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you for that, Llyr. As you’ll be aware, this report has been done by people independent of Government but was commissioned by Government. If interested parties had been hoping that the task and finish group would produce a definitive answer to the issue of a single supply model, then I accept that the report does not do that. In meeting with the chair of that group, they have said...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Rhianon. As you say, I’m very pleased to acknowledge that the latest data shows that absenteeism from our primary schools remains at the lowest level since the Welsh Government started to collect these figures, and attendance at secondary school continues to improve all the time. And the biggest improvements have, indeed, been for those children who are on free school meals....
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Angela, for raising that point. As you said, both of us would agree that the best thing that we can do for our children’s education is ensure that they attend school on a regular basis. And there’s a direct correlation between regular attendance at schools and outcomes, although, sometimes, it is absolutely necessary for a child to stay at home if they are unwell. And we would...
Kirsty Williams: Good afternoon, Angela. The ‘All Wales Attendance Framework’ provides standards and guidance for practitioners in improving school attendance across Wales.
