Yes, and I think we have to be creative. We have to acknowledge that we are being outbid at present by the English system, so we have to be creative in what we can offer people. It’s not always about the money. People don’t go into teaching to make a huge amount of money, so we have to be creative in how we can use our bursary system to be able to attract people here.

More able and talented—it is a source of huge concern to me. We recognise Nesta’s report about our more able and talented children in the primary sector, who are not making as much progress as we would like to see, and then we see that as it goes on through the system. You’ll be aware that we have recently announced new initiatives around an excellence framework around maths and science, to try and drive up standards—it’s primarily focused on improving the teaching experience that people have in the classroom.

Llyr, you’re absolutely right; our most successful schools are schools that are outward looking. They look around themselves, they look and see what best practice is, they reflect on research, what works best for children, and they implement that and they do it in their own individual practice. Our commitment to professional learning is all about that. That’s why we’re changing the way in which we’re going to train our teachers, and the professional learning opportunities we will have for current teachers. You talked about the gaps that exist between different cohorts of students. What’s really pleasing is that Estyn’s inspection notes that in the primary sector, the gap between boys and girls, and the gap between those on free school meals and those who are better off, is closing. So, we are doing something right in the primary sector, we just have to make sure that that continues. But let’s be clear; we have seen a 4 per cent narrowing at level 2 plus for children doing their GCSEs, over 3 years. It’s down to the hard work of individual schools and institutions, supported by a generous pupil deprivation grant, which drives some of that change forward.

John, on your commitment to community-focused schools, I believe that schools have the potential to be drivers for real change for their entire community, and we already have some really fantastic examples of that in Wales, and we need to ensure that those principles can be adapted. I’m working very closely with my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Children on how we can use the programmes that we’re both in charge of and schools as a hub to drive that change. Family engagement is absolutely crucial. Recently, we received a presentation from Joe Cudd. He works in the Morfa, in Llanelli, my home town. Those of you who know it know that it’s a pretty tough place to grow up. There are some pretty unsavoury things going on not very far from his school door. But that man—that man is absolutely fantastic. He sees his school, and his commitment to his children, going beyond just those individual children. He works really hard with mums and dads to address the learning environment children have at home and to address barriers to the children learning at home. He’s getting mums in to schools and they are then are going on to take further qualifications themselves and going out to work themselves—and doing amazing work. That’s happening in the Morfa. It happens at Woodlands primary school in Cwmbran; again, amazing interaction with the family that is turning into real results for those children. So, we have to work much harder in getting a consistent message from Welsh Government on how schools can be the hub of real change, not just for individual children, but communities as a whole. Joe Cudd is going to a conference in America next year to talk about his work in Morfa. How amazing is that? They are so impressed by what he’s doing that they want to hear about a tiny bit of a school in Llanelli over there in the United States and we should applaud people like Joe and what we’re doing. But you know we’re going to have summer food and fun clubs utilising schools this summer to provide those opportunities.

Can I just say, Michelle—? You might not think that the drop in NEETs that we have seen is significant, but I tell you, for each and every one of those children, that is a massive, massive improvement. Dawn and I were recently at Merthyr college, which has seen a significant drop in the number of children that are not going on to study post 16. It’s fantastic and it makes a massive difference to those children. I don’t know about you—you may think that the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Sutton Trust and people like that are do-gooders, but I see them as crucial aids in driving change in our system, because what they do is not peddle the latest thing; what they do is peddle evidence—evidence about what works and about what makes a difference to children. I will be driven and I will follow that evidence and I just think you need to reflect on what you said about those well-respected organisations in this Chamber today.

To conclude, Llywydd, I am, of course, really pleased that Estyn considers that many of our schools are making good use of research and are taking advantage of professional learning opportunities to influence their work with the most disadvantaged learners. There is much to be done in the Welsh education system and I will not rest and I will strain every sinew to make sure that all of our children—all of our children—have the opportunities that they deserve.