Questions now from the party spokespeople. The Plaid Cymru spokesperson, Llyr Gruffydd.

Thank you very much. The ministerial taskforce for supply models published a report last week on the possible options for supply teaching provision in the future. Of course, this is the second report to be published on the issue in some 18 months. So, can I ask you how much progress the Cabinet Secretary believes has been made in tackling the problems surrounding the provision of supply teachers since the original report of the Assembly’s Children, Young People and Education Committee back in 2015? Are we any nearer the shore, or, as some of the unions and other suggest, have the last few years been wasted, to all intents and purposes, and is this report another missed opportunity?

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 that they felt it was impossible to, at this stage, be able to recommend a single model going forward. I accept that some people will be disappointed. This is an important area of education policy. We need to ensure that those who are providing supply teaching have the qualifications, the support, the continuous professional development and the terms and conditions that they deserve, and I will be looking again at how we can make progress in this area.

I am pleased that you acknowledge, perhaps, that the report didn’t meet some of the expectations out there. There is certainly a feeling of frustration that another 18 months’ work is going to take place before we get to a point where we will see a very real difference. Of course, you are also right in recognising that there is increased pressure in terms of the provision, because we are aware, from the most recent workforce census, that the number of teachers in Wales has fallen annually for a period of some six years. We also know that, over the next few months and years, there will be significant change within the education system in Wales, with a number of reforms from the curriculum, as you mentioned, to CPD, and so on. Therefore, the demands on our teachers and the need to take them out of the classroom will increase, at the very same time as the number of teachers is reducing. In such a situation, it is inevitable that there will be an increasingly important role for supply teachers in supporting our schools. Can I ask, therefore, how you intend to ensure an adequate supply of supply teachers not in two years or three years, but in the crucial interim period?

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 professional colleague, but are actually people providing supply on a termly basis, for an entire term or more than two terms. So, this is new data that we have got, which demonstrates to us how complex the supply teaching model is, and we will need to come up with a model that does have the flexibility to allow for those one, two days to cover sickness, or to the longer term.

Can I just say that teacher-pupil ratios have moved very slightly in the years between 2010 and now, from 18 to 18.5? So, there isn’t a crisis, but we do know that there are some specific areas where we find it difficult to recruit and retain teachers, particularly in some science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects, and particularly in some Welsh-medium provision. Those particular pressure points will have to be factored into a solution for supply teaching.

Well, I don’t think I used the word ‘crisis’, but we know that some 68 per cent of the recruitment targets for primary schools have been achieved—sorry, 90 per cent in primary schools, and 68 per cent in secondary schools. So, it is a problem and it does store up problems for ensuing years, and I do understand that you have acknowledged that risk, of course. There are some 5,000 teachers registered as supply teachers with the Education Workforce Council. But, interestingly, there are also around 5,000 learning support workers who are also registered as supply staff. It appears to me that no consideration has been given to this group in looking at the future of supply staff in Wales—something that the taskforce, as far as I can see, didn’t consider. Is there a risk, therefore, that this important group of people is undervalued, and can you tell us how and where the Government sees the position of learning support workers in considering the future of supply provision?

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 level qualified learning support assistants because we value them. Only last week, we passed the regulations with regard to their registration with the Education Workforce Council. We regard them as important, that’s why we want them to be a registered profession, that’s why we are supporting them by lowering their fees for registration, and they will be an important part of how we plan the workforce for our schools and colleges going forward.

Welsh Conservatives Spokesperson, Darren Millar.

Diolch, Lywydd. Cabinet Secretary, Estyn’s annual report, which was published recently, identified the quality and variability of the quality of teaching as being a major issue here in Wales. In fact, the chief inspector said:

‘The most important factor in how well learners develop and learn is the quality of teaching. However, teaching is one of the weakest aspects of the provision in most sectors.’

Can you tell us what you’re doing to address this particular problem, and when we can expect to see change?

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 they are in within a school, to have access to first-quality teaching.

What are we doing? You are aware that we are radically reforming our initial teacher training programmes, so that the teachers coming out of our universities are the very best that they can be. Later on this spring, I will be publishing new teaching standards, new professional standards, by which we would expect teachers and their managers—headteachers—to manage their staff by. We continue to work with our schools and our partners to improve the continuing professional development opportunities for teachers who are already in the workforce.

Thank you for that answer, Cabinet Secretary. I’m pleased with some of those developments, but, of course, it’s not just the quality of teaching and the variability of it that the chief inspector found problems with. He also found problems in our pupil referral units. He said that the provision in pupil referral units remains particularly poor, and, of course, you and I both know that many of those individuals in pupil referral units are vulnerable learners. What specific action are you taking to raise those standards in pupil referral units?

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 are working very closely with Ann to implement changes that she feels are necessary.

I am currently considering looking at the use of pupil deprivation grants with regard to pupils in PRU or EOTAS, looking at options, whether we can target additional resources to the education of those children, as well as ensuring that there is quality provision and outcome and that children do not have their life chances and their educational chances narrowed by being outside of mainstream school, because there is evidence to suggest that pupils who could go on to achieve a wide range of qualifications are not having that opportunity because the curriculum is narrowed so much for them if they find themselves outside the mainstream classroom.

It’s not just those in pupil referral units outside mainstream schools; we’ve got problems in our mainstream schools as well. Again, the chief inspector’s findings correlated very well with the Programme for International Student Assessment findings, which demonstrated that those children who are more able and talented—those high-flying kids—are not achieving their potential in our mainstream schools, and are probably not getting sufficient access to the support that they need to develop that potential. What action are you taking to support those pupils who are not receiving the attention that they deserve at the moment, in particular those high-flying kids?

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 Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language, we are supporting the Seren network. Only this morning, on a visit to Merthyr College, I met a number of young people from Merthyr who were studying A-levels at the college who were part of that Seren programme, who have ambitions to go and study veterinary science and medicine later on in life and are receiving the additional support that they need to make those things happen for them.

We have also refined our accountability and our performance measures for schools. One of the unintended consequences of a heavy focus on level 2+ inclusive has been to concentrate on those pupils and, quite rightly, to move them from a D to a C grade, but that has had consequences for our A* and our A and our B performance. We have changed that. We now use capped point scores as well as level 2+, so that schools have to concentrate on ensuring that each individual pupil reaches their full potential.

UKIP spokesperson, Michelle Brown.

Thank you, Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary, you recently published the categorisation of schools in Wales. Classification of the schools will only be of use if that information is used promptly and effectively to help schools improve; otherwise, children will continue to languish in schools that are not performing to standard. Are you prepared to give a personal assurance to the Assembly and to parents of children in schools that are in need of support, in particular those in the red category, that you will take personal responsibility for supporting and assisting those schools to green status?

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 schools, as well as our regional improvement services. For each school that has had a red categorisation, I have asked the regional consortia to provide me with a written plan as to what they will do to support that school. The primary purpose of our schools categorisation process is to identify schools that need the most support, and I will be personally receiving a plan for each school that has a red categorisation.

Thank you for that. As far as the red, amber, and green classifications are concerned, can the Cabinet Secretary tell us how many children live in catchment areas where both primary and secondary schools are deemed as either amber or red? I’m sure the Cabinet Secretary agrees with me that subjecting a child to a school that requires improvement is unacceptable and it would be a national disgrace if we were to sentence a child to failing schools throughout their educational life, so it’s vital we know the scale of any situation where both levels of schools need improvement.

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 to more green schools than there have been since this system started, and I will not rest until we see progress in all of our schools. This system allows all schools to be green, should their performance be of that standard, and I’m sure that the headteachers in all of our schools would want to aspire to that for their children.

Okay. Thank you. Having asked about the scale of the problem, it’s, of course, wrong to treat anyone, especially children, as statistics. So, I’d like to hear some reassurance from the Cabinet Secretary that any school requiring help will be treated equally compared with other schools needing help, regardless of the size of the school.

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 will be immaterial to the level of support that that school will get.