Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 2:08 pm on 6 February 2019.
First of all, can I say how sorry I was that I was unable to attend the event yesterday? But I'm very pleased that Steve Davies, the director of education in Welsh Government, was able to attend on my behalf, because we greatly appreciate the work of all voluntary organisations, faith based or non-faith based, that are committed to assisting our children. When I talk about a national mission for education, I mean that truly, because there isn't an individual or voluntary group that cannot add to the national mission and help us ensure that we raise standards in our schools and close that attainment gap. So, I'm very grateful to all those, including the Catholic churches, for the work that they are doing. I enjoy a very positive relationship with our faith school bodies, who will continue to help us develop our curriculum and, of course, play an important part in the Welsh education system in actually delivering education, as well as support services.