Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Could I begin by thanking Lynne and fellow Members of the committee for conducting this inquiry? I welcome their focus and added scrutiny in this hugely important area. I recognise that it is all very well establishing a transformational new curriculum, but of course, above all else, it is the quality of the teaching of that curriculum that will really make a difference to the children. That is what actually transforms young people's lives, and it's therefore essential our teaching profession are fully prepared and equipped when they start to teach this new curriculum. 

I believe that we have made significant inroads in supporting practitioners to realise the new curriculum. However, like the Chair said, I also recognise that there is a long way to go. Consequently, I have been able to accept the majority of the recommendations arising out of the inquiry. I recognise, also, that we cannot expect any teacher to be currently fully prepared for implementation of the new curriculum. I have to say that the committee's opening conclusion in this regard is merely a statement of fact. We are, of course, right in the middle of a collaborative approach to establishing and developing that curriculum, so we can't be in a position yet to have everybody ready, because the curriculum itself is not fully ready at this point. Nonetheless, I recognise a number of the points that the committee has made, and I'd like to take this opportunity, Deputy Presiding Officer, to summarise some of the significant actions taken during the inquiry to address the core concerns regarding the readiness of the profession to implement the new curriculum.

I am confident that our emphasis on leadership, professional learning and excellence will enable us to successfully deliver on our national mission of education reform. A phased approach to professional learning will ensure that we are equipped to respond to emerging development needs, as pioneers begin to test that new curriculum this autumn. Wider testing will ensure practitioners at all levels are directly engaged in curriculum sensemaking, to increase professional confidence. And of course, one of the reasons I took the decision to change the way in which the curriculum was going to be rolled out has given us that crucial time to be able to build that confidence in the profession, especially in the secondary sector, where I think the challenge is greatest.

Our continuing work with the OECD to enhance system capacity will support all schools through the transition to the new curriculum, and our innovative approach merits international recognition. No other country has fully embraced schools as learning organisations to support their reform journey, and the move to a national 'schools as learning organisations' approach will ensure that all delivery tiers are using the same language and are modelling the same behaviours, accelerating the transition to a self-improving education system. We, and the committee, will be able to find out more about this when the OECD's study report on Wales in this area will be published in July of this year. That report will provide an indication of current improvement capacity in all of our schools to adapt to the new curriculum, and areas that will require further action, from myself as the Cabinet Secretary, from our middle tier, and individual schools. Early findings of the study have already revealed a direct correlation between those schools that are strong with regards schools as learning organisations and a high level of job satisfaction from the staff that work in those organisations. And when we talk about retention of teachers, developing this capacity within our system to be learning organisations as well bodes well for issues around some of the retention issues that Members have raised in the debate this afternoon.

Of course, our initial teacher education reforms are also crucial in this regard, and they will enable education professionals to take a much more central role in shaping, delivering and leading change in the profession. And I also believe that will help create a more stable and high-quality system, to enable institutions and individuals to flourish.

With regard to some of the points Members have made very briefly, Members will be aware that I have established a teacher recruitment and retention advisory board to look at issues around recruitment into ITE schemes, to look at the questions of diversity that have been raised in the report and, crucially, what we need to do to retain teachers within the system.

Recommendation 14: Lynne mentioned the issue around exposing undergraduates to the potential of teaching as a career. We've already seen some very positive feedback from our modern foreign languages scheme, and I'm pleased to say that we'll be rolling this out to physics in the new academic year. I hope to build on that, subject upon subject, so we can get those bright, sparky undergraduates enthusing young people about their subjects and potentially turning on some of those young undergraduates to the prospect of what a rewarding career it is to be a teacher. There are few jobs in this world where individuals that you have worked with will remember you after your time. With all due respect to anybody here, I suspect that won't be the case for us, but I'm sure all of us can still name a teacher that had a fundamental impact on their lives. For me, it was Mr Burree, but we've all got a Mr Burree in our lives. There are few other professions where you can have that long-lasting impact on an individual.

Darren, I've said before: it is not simply credible to make those direct comparisons. Because of the disintegration of the education system in England, you cannot make those direct comparisons between funding. But it is right to say that there is a role for local authorities, and that's why I was disappointed to find Conservative councillors in my own authority, just two weeks ago, voting down amendments that would have seen an additional £1 million put into delegated budgets.