3. Will the First Minister provide and update on the implementation of 'A Curriculum for Wales—A Curriculum for Life'? OAQ(5)0286(FM)

Yes. As set out in ‘A Curriculum for Wales’, the digital competence framework was made available to schools and settings on 1 September, and development of the wider curriculum and assessment arrangements is on track to be available from September 2018, to support learning and teaching from September 2021.

With that in mind, would the First Minister, in preparation for the new curriculum, answer how the Welsh Government will ensure that all teachers and teaching assistants have an understanding of appropriate pedagogy associated with the inclusive classroom?

We are committed to creating an inclusive education system for all learners, and delivery of that reform can only happen if we have such a system and a workforce that embraces inclusive education and delivers for every learner in every classroom. So, we will work with the teaching profession, of course, to make sure that the right level of support and training is available to them to ensure that that becomes a reality.

First Minister, one of the features of your Government is that very good schools, which are delivering the national curriculum, have been closing across the country, particularly in rural parts of Wales. Now, I note that there is additional assistance, which is on the way, and some changes in terms of the way that local authorities will have to think about their schools in the future. But what will you say to people in my constituency who are supporters of Ysgol Llanbedr, which is threatened with closure for the second time, and will you intervene personally to secure the future of that school, which has growing numbers of pupils, as parents are putting their confidence in the ability of that school to deliver for their children?

The Member knows full well that it’s a local authority decision, and he should direct his anger at the local authority and not at Welsh Government. He knows full well that Welsh Government only intervenes under certain circumstances. I wonder if he has made those representations to the local authority; I’m sure his constituents would want to find out. But, generally, as the education Secretary has already announced, we are looking at ways to help and support rural schools, and looking at new models in order to enable them to deliver better and to stay open in the future—some of them—and I suggest that he goes to his local authority and makes such suggestions to them.

One of the central elements of curriculum reform, of course, is the role of the innovative schools, but concern is being increasingly expressed that schools that aren’t within that category feel excluded. The teachers’ unions have said that the situation where the new arrangements are being built by the profession for the profession is a pipe dream, and even the Education Workforce Council has said that we are now facing a two-tier situation, where some feel that they are inside the system and some feel that they are outside. What is your Government doing to ensure that everyone feels ownership of the new curriculum in order to ensure that it is delivered in a timely manner?

Well, of course, we know that it’s vital to ensure that we have an effective manner of working with the profession. We are dealing with training, for example, but we don’t deal with terms and conditions and pay, and that will change in the future. There is a kind of artificial distinction between teacher training and remunerating teachers, in my view. Of course, by doing that, it would be easier for us to work with the profession, ultimately, to get a comprehensive package for the profession.