Well, I think that's a very welcome development. We know that Estyn has been evaluating standards progress and well-being of learners living in poverty in all its inspections since 2010, but that obviously hasn't been sufficient to ensure that all of our learners are achieving to the best of their ability. We know that there are multiple reasons why pupils may be struggling, with issues at home or issues at school, including bullying or unidentified special needs. This can, and does, impact on their behaviour in the classroom and therefore sometimes I appreciate that exclusions are necessary to enforce the rules of the school and ensure that all pupils are safe and in a position to learn. 

Looking at the statistics, unlike in England, I think it's good to know that there doesn't appear to be any disproportionate exclusion of black pupils. However, we have to recognise that permanent exclusions have a devastating impact on the long-term prospects for any young person in that situation, as their employability is obviously going to be in doubt and the cost to public services, in terms of being on benefits and most of them ending up either in mental health services or in the criminal justice system, is obviously huge.

So, with this new working party and its focus in mind, how can you ensure that the most disadvantaged children are getting the well-being support they need so that all can achieve to the best of their ability? And, are you satisfied that the pupil deprivation grant is a sufficiently robust tool for tackling this?