Kirsty Williams: Michelle, I had hoped that I had made it very clear in my opening statement and in my subsequent answers to colleagues across the Chamber that these results are not good enough. There is no doubt about that. It should also be noted that, today, the OECD has issued a stark warning to countries not to move to greater forms of selection within education systems. With all due respect to your...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Lynne, for that. I do want to reflect on, and let the Chamber know, because the Chamber may not be aware, what Andreas Schleicher—I can’t even say his name properly—who is in charge of the education department of the OECD, the director of education, said about our results today. He says: ‘It is true that there is a big performance gap but there are signs of improvement, if...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Presiding Officer, and thank you to Llyr. Llyr, I’ve sat where you are and asked those questions, but I can assure you that no amount of hand-wringing and complaining about what has gone on in the past is going to take us forward. My job is to ensure that we move forward because that’s the only way we are going to see the improvements that we need. Now, you are right, there...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you very much, Darren. I don’t regard this as being dumped in a mess. I regard this as a fantastic opportunity to do what I have consistently said since 2011, and consistently argued in this Chamber, from that position over there, which is that we need to focus relentlessly on school standards, leadership, continuing professional development and ITET reform, and that’s what I intend...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Presiding Officer. Today sees the publication of the 2015 PISA results. Let me get straight to the point: we would all have liked to have seen greater progress. I think we will all agree in this Chamber that we are not where we want to be. These tests, taken last year, included half a million 15-year-olds in 72 countries. Here in Wales, our national report describes a stabilisation...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Andrew. I recently had the opportunity to address and meet with the National Association of Head Teachers at their conference in Newport. I think leadership is one area where we have not made as much progress as I would like to have seen across the country, and the consortia have a crucial role in identifying and supporting the continuous professional development needs of our...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you for that. You’re quite right, within the Central South Consortium, we have a wide range of schools that the local education authority is operating. I recently visited Fitzalan High School here in Cardiff where there are 40 different languages spoken amongst the children in that school. I am very keen that each consortium develops a comprehensive plan for the effective use of the...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Vikki. Educational attainment in the Cynon Valley broadly presents a gradually improving picture. Having reflected on the recent Estyn inspections of consortia, I am confident that, whilst there is definitely room for improvement, they continue to play an important role in delivering improved outcomes for learners.
Kirsty Williams: I’m absolutely confident that the quality of the qualifications that we are offering our students in Wales is comparable with anybody’s—comparable with anybody’s. They are tough, they are stretching, they are robust and they equip our children with the skills that they need to succeed in the world of work and in further education. Presiding Officer, the Member seems to suggest that...
Kirsty Williams: Presiding Officer, the Member has come across from a system that believed in competition. The Welsh education system is based on a system of collaboration and co-operation. It is by working together in a self-improving school system that we will deliver the education that our children need. The data that are available at the end of primary school are primarily there to inform teachers both in...
Kirsty Williams: What is important to me is the progress that Welsh schools are making. Members should note that, last year, Welsh GCSE results were exactly the same as those of their counterparts across the border in England. But I’m not content to just benchmark our education system with that across the border. I want to benchmark our system with that that is the best in the world. That’s why we...
Kirsty Williams: You’re absolutely right, Darren. We need to make sure, if we’re to achieve our ambitions for Welsh-medium education, and indeed for enhancing the learning of the Welsh language in English-medium schools—unless we have the workforce readily available to do it. You will be aware that, as I’ve said to Llyr Gruffydd, we are reforming our initial teacher training education offer. There are...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you for that, Darren. As you will be aware, I recently established a task and finish group to look at the future arrangements for the coleg. They have done tremendous work in expanding the opportunities for students to study through the medium of Welsh at a higher level. I believe that there is capacity, potentially, to do that at an FE level, and I don’t want to prejudge the work of...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Darren. As I said to Angela earlier, equity in the education system in Wales is crucial to me. While I acknowledge that the WJEC publishes specs and sample papers in a bilingual area, there is a concern about the availability of Welsh textbooks. I do not expect children who do their exams through the medium of Welsh to be disadvantaged in any way, and I am not satisfied that the...
Kirsty Williams: You will know, Llyr, that a school cannot be better than the teachers that are within it. Therefore, equipping our teachers—both those who are new to the profession and those teachers who are already in the profession—with the skills that they need to deliver the new curriculum is absolutely crucial. That’s why, you know, we are embarked on a radical reform of our initial teacher...
Kirsty Williams: I am absolutely confident in the profession to be able to develop the new curriculum in conjunction with the Welsh Government for teaching and learning in 2021. The Member, Presiding Officer, is absolutely right to say that this needs to be resourced. Therefore, there are resources in my education budget to ensure that those schools that are participating in this pioneering work are not...
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Llyr, for your question. I think it is true to say that, historically there has been some disconnect between the pioneer schools and different networks. That’s why we have brought them all together under a single network to try and ensure that there is greater collaborative working across the pioneer schools. We are also redoubling our efforts to ensure that those schools that...
Kirsty Williams: I am delighted that the Cabinet Secretary has signalled his early commitment to extend the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds. Many of those 16 and 17-year-olds who I meet on my visits to schools and colleges are very anxious to be able to have a formal say in the political process. As I outlined in my answer to Hannah Blythyn, we have an extensive range of opportunities for children to learn...
Kirsty Williams: The availability of school facilities for meetings of that nature are a matter for the individual headteacher and the governing body, and it would not be appropriate for me to comment.
Kirsty Williams: Thank you, Hannah. I did, indeed, have the opportunity to meet with some of the children from the school council. Indeed, I met my counterpart, the minister for education on the school council, and she had plenty of good ideas about how we can improve education not only in that school, but across Wales. As you say, currently, these issues are predominantly dealt with in the active citizenship...
