We now move on to item 5 on our agenda, which is a statement by the Minister for Education and an update on the education provision. So, I call on the Minister for Education, Kirsty Williams. 

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and good afternoon, colleagues. The response to COVID-19 has been a profound challenge for the whole of the education community. Our schools and colleges have already stepped up in the defence against COVID, establishing provision for children of critical workers and for vulnerable children, and managing remote learning on an unprecedented scale with astonishing pace. Once again, I want to thank the education professionals as a whole, and especially those who've supported the operation of the hubs, for their dedication, professionalism and hard work over this period.

The Government has today published a paper from its COVID-19 technical advisory group, representing the latest understanding of the virus with respect to children and education. I am satisfied that there is now space and opportunity to increase operations. To this end, I have made the decision that schools and pupil referral units should plan to increase their operations from 29 June. This gives schools, and indeed parents, three and a half weeks to continue preparing for the next phase of education. And it also provides the time needed for governing bodies and councils to progress the necessary statutory actions.

Almost all learners will have the opportunity to attend their school. I am describing this as a chance to work together for pupils so that they can check in, catch up and prepare for the summer and September. I recognise that for some learners who are shielding this contact may need to be via digital means.

I am also proposing that schools open for an extra week, ending on the 27 July, and this week’s holiday will be redistributed to the autumn term. This allows schools more contact time before the summer and gives an extra break in what is likely to be a very long and challenging autumn term.

In practice, I would expect schools accommodating reduced numbers of learners each day according to their own individual capacity, whilst ensuring appropriate social distancing is in place. It is expected that this will mean no more than a third of pupils present at any one time, although I recognise that some schools may not be able to reach this level of operation.

During this time, I would expect schools to use this period to support the health and well-being of learners and their staff, and that should be their foremost priority; check in with learners and support them in their preparedness for learning and consider next steps for learning as appropriate; to test the operations ready for the autumn term; and to continue to build the confidence of families in the very careful approach that we are taking. This is an opportunity for both learners and staff to prepare and get used to the new normal as it will look in September.

For the foreseeable future, learners will experience a blend of face-to-face and online learning. In the autumn, I expect that schools will have to continue to accommodate all learners who can attend at a reduced time to allow for social distancing. And when they are in school, it will feel very different, with staggered arrivals, departures and breaks, with far more time being spent outdoors, weather permitting, and in much smaller classes. However, I expect them to enjoy secure, dedicated time with teachers and classmates that they know well.

Decision makers, whether you are a Minister, a parent or a headteacher, always have to balance risks. In this current period, all of us have to think about the possibilities of direct and indirect harm. I have made the decision to increase operations before the summer holidays for a number of key reasons. Waiting until September would mean that most children would not have stepped foot in a school for at least 23 weeks, and I believe that this would be to the detriment of their development, their learning and their well-being. I am convinced that it is only by returning to their own schools that we will see increased attendance from our most vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

It allows us to make the most of the warm weather and sunlight, which has an important impact in combating transmission of the virus. It ensures that test, trace and protect will have been in place for a month and will continue to expand. And I can confirm that school staff will be a priority group in our new antibody testing programme, starting with staff who have currently been working in our hubs. And, crucially, the evolving science tells us that an autumn spike in the virus is a very real possibility. We could be losing even more learning time, and it would be made even worse without this period that I’m planning for today.

It is, of course, critical that schools have the proper support to operate at this time, and we're working with councils and schools to get all the necessary hygiene stock, safety measures and cleaning regimes in place. Next week, I will publish guidance to support schools in operating under these new conditions, and to support learning. The guidance will be revised and updated over the summer to help schools prepare for the autumn, in light of these experiences.

For further education, from 15 June, colleges and work-based learning providers will begin to reopen for face-to-face learning for a limited group of students and learners. My officials have worked with colleges and training providers to agree priority groups of learners who will be included in this initial phase of reopening, focusing on those who need to return to their college or training centre in order to continue to progress in their learning. This includes learners who need to carry out practical assessments to complete their qualifications, and those students who need extra support and guidance to stay on track and to stay in education.

Guidance for childcare providers will also be published in the next week, supporting them to increase the numbers of children in attendance alongside schools.

For schools, we now have over three weeks to continue planning, and to continue to get ready, and to continue, crucially, to focus on safety and well-being. We will work with the profession to ensure that they are supported both now and into the autumn. Headteachers will have the opportunity to work with their staff in schools to prepare fully for pupils. It also provides the time needed for governing bodies and councils to progress the necessary statutory actions and risk assessments to support staff and pupils to return.

I acknowledge that this is and continues to be a very worrying period for us all. I know that many will feel apprehensive. But I want to say we have not rushed this work or this decision. The three-and-a-half-week period before the next phase also gives me time to keep watch on developments elsewhere, and provides further check-in points to review evidence, and to watch the successful roll-out of testing and tracing.

This is the best practical option that meets my five principles. Working together, I know that we will secure equity and excellence for pupils as they check in, catch up, and prepare for summer and September.

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer.

Thank you. Suzy Davies.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. And thank you to you, as well, Minister; I think there will be many—children, not least—across Wales who have been looking forward to an announcement of this kind. And can I just associate myself with the remarks that you made for all our teachers and families, and, of course, support staff who've helped work in the hubs as well as at home during this period?

I just wanted to ask you this: if we look at countries across western Europe where lockdown was imposed roughly the same time as in the UK, lifting lockdown is being done differently in different countries and, actually, within some of those countries. And on the face of it, the same actions don't always produce the same consequences, as between these regions, beyond the obvious that isolation limits the spread of the virus. Even so, their way forward, almost entirely, has been to open in a phased way in year groups. So, what has happened to allow you to be satisfied that there is space and opportunity to increase operations? And why have you proceeded to do this by application of a three-weekly cycle for a third of the school population, rather than that more popular year-group approach? And in so doing, how have you weighted factors such as emotional well-being and loss of learning against the primary concern of limiting the spread of the virus in the community?

The success of this approach, of course, is going to depend on community confidence, and I do welcome your remarks on protecting staff and children who remain vulnerable, so that no-one will be punished for not taking up the offer of school attendance. But will your guidance to schools include ascertaining which children don't want to go back to school? Can you tell us what a three-weekly cycle actually means? Is this going to be extended to the foundation phase, for three to five-year-olds—in which case, will non-school settings be affected? And will key workers' children be able to attend their own school five days a week along with vulnerable learners, or will they still have to go to hubs?

Thank you very much. I'll do my best to try and cover the multiple questions that Suzy Davies has asked. Key worker children will be able to attend their own schools, for the same hours that they are currently attending their hub schools. And that is the same for vulnerable children who already have an entitlement—they will do that now in their home school, when we move to the next phase at the end of June.

With regard to those families, I respect that each family will make a decision based on a number of factors, and what is right for them, and I respect families in their ability to do just that. If a family, for whatever reason, decides not to take up the opportunity of a check-in, then we will respect that and nobody will be fined, nor will attendance form part of any measurement of school performance either. I think that's important to say to teachers.

We do know that, at the moment, there are 4,000 children who themselves are in receipt of a shielding letter. Not all of those children will be of school age, and our advice to those children is that those children should not take up this opportunity of a check-in, and our expectation is that their needs will be met in a different way. And for those parents who are in receipt of a shielding letter, again, our advice would be that their children should not necessarily take up the offer, although it's a matter for them to weigh up. But again, they will not be disadvantaged—the check-in will happen in a different way for those children also.

What's been really important for me is the principle of equity and recognising that all children have an equal opportunity, and although it would be in some ways logistically simpler to have year groups, that means that, for some children, they would not have set foot in a school, as I said, for a considerable length of time and I believe that is detrimental to them.

We are moving very cautiously and, as I said, we will severely limit the number of children who can be on site at any one time. Our expectations are that classes will be very, very small, with a dedicated member of staff. And I need to make it very clear to Members, as I have hopefully to parents earlier today, that this in no way resembles school going back to normal. So, children will not be doing a full week in school, attending school every day— they will be allocated check-in slots for them to do that.

Now, in terms of ascertaining the level of demand, I would expect headteachers in this next three and a half weeks to be contacting parents to ascertain which parents will take up the offer of check-ins for their students and then be able to plan accordingly to ensure that numbers are kept to a manageable-to-safe level. I think it is important that all children have the opportunity to check in with their teachers, that all children's learning can be assessed at this point and that all families can be helped for the next phase of education.

Thank you for that. I think there's a serious point here about parental confidence, and I suppose one way that you could help improve that is by helping them understand, for example, how any adults in school hubs across Wales have been tested and with what returns, and whether there are any plans for testing asymptomatic adults in schools during the phased return, and also whether there's going to be some extra funding here for schools to implement the social distancing and hygiene measures, and for councils to provide sufficient school transport provision to comply with those same requirements.

I think there's also a question about consistency of application of the existing guidance across the whole of Wales. This is something I've raised with you before. If some children are still not going to be going to school and two thirds of those who do will still be getting their learning at home, I think we could do with some reassurance really on how you've been following councils and schools over this period to ascertain that the guidance that you've provided has been followed consistently across Wales.

Firstly, I think it's really important that we have a testing, tracing and protect regime that is robust to support the safe next stage of educational operations. You'll be aware that SAGE papers made it very clear that, in opening up schools to more pupils, testing and tracing had to be in place. We will have a month of the testing and tracing regime here in Wales before additional children will be going into school. That gives us the confidence that that system is up and running and is robust.

With regard to antibody testing, we will be including teaching and educational staff who've been working in our hubs to undergo antibody testing. That will be able to enhance our understanding of how—if there are any—the disease works in a school, childcare setting. The latest figures that I saw is that the vast majority of tests that have been carried out on those working in educational institutions have come back as negative. We have had some cases but, of course, it is impossible to know whether that person acquired the virus within their workplace or whether they acquired it when they were in their local supermarket or when they were having, potentially, other interactions. What we do know is that children are very, very, very rarely the index case in any provision of the disease—very, very rare indeed that they have passed that disease, the virus, on to anybody else. And, of course, all teachers are currently eligible—as is the Welsh general public now—for testing, and we will take further advice as to how routine testing should happen, but the TTP regime is absolutely crucial to us.

With regard to checking what is happening at the moment, we have a number of ways in which we are doing that. Parentkind recently did an independent survey of parents. Eighty-four per cent of Welsh parents said they were satisfied with the support that they had received from their children's schools. Obviously, there is a continued road here for local education authorities. Their job of supporting their schools hasn't gone away, neither has the role of regional school improvement services.

We have asked regional school improvement services to begin a methodical way of looking at practice at the moment. Their first report will be published on 19 June, and then we would expect that report to follow on a regular basis to ascertain the levels of engagement and the nature of the engagement of online learning, and that will report at regular intervals so that we can have assurance as to what schools are doing. Estyn have already begun work on good practice guides, looking at how the system has responded to the emergency and ensuring that best practice is understood and spread as we move forward.

Can I just say that I think schools have moved with tremendous speed to embrace new ways of learning? That will continue to develop, because what we are facing is a prolonged period of education where there will be a mixture of online learning and face-to-face contact. But all the evidence suggests that online learning is greatly enhanced when that can be supported by regular face-to-face sessions. 

I have grave doubts about the reopening of schools at the end of June. It's too soon. Many parents and teachers, as well as children and young people, will also be concerned. The test and trace system is not in place as of yet. We don't know quite how this virus works and how it transmits between children and from children to adults. And I think garnering the confidence of families that it's safe even for small groups of children to return before the summer will be a very difficult task indeed. 

We in Plaid Cymru had suggested an alternative plan, a plan which would have meant a change to the pattern of school terms: not reopening in June and July, and then, only if it was safe to do so, to gradually reopen for small groups of children from mid August onwards. By that time, hopefully, we would have a better picture of what is happening with this virus. I would like to know why you didn't take up that plan, because I do understand that it had been discussed.

In terms of opening for all pupils—and you've just been discussing that—the unions, as you know, are in favour of opening for years 6, 10 and 12 as a priority. We have discussed this, and I do have some sympathy with your stance in terms of offering an opportunity for all pupils to check in. How are you going to ask schools to provide that opportunity? And will you be encouraging schools to look specifically for those children and young people who haven't been engaging in online learning, and who haven't been maintaining a regular contact with schools? Will you be encouraging prioritisation for that particular group of children?

Can I thank Siân Gwenllian for her questions? She'll have to forgive me, I don't recall her discussing an August return with me in our weekly meetings, but she is right to suggest that we had explored the possibility of ending the summer term early and starting the new academic year in August. There were many attractions to that particular scheme. Firstly, making the most of the summer months, whereas I said earlier, we know that the sunlight and the better weather and the ability to have children outside and to better ventilate school buildings is easier to do during the summer months, and it would have allowed even more time for the TTP regime to bed in.

This was discussed with all our union colleagues—headteacher unions, teacher unions and support staff unions. We would have broken up that autumn term into a set number of periods to create natural breaks. But actually, every single union rejected that opportunity. And given the fact that this, of course, would be a profound change to the terms and conditions of our teaching staff, we can only move forward with such a profound change if that is done with the consent of our professionals, and their consent was not there. So, it was a good offer, but I believe what we've come forward with today shares many of the similar opportunities: it allows for the bedding in of testing and tracing for an entire month; it allows us to make the most of learning opportunities in the summer; it provides us with a natural break to reflect on our practice during the six-week summer holidays; and allows us to put in a little extra break—a fire break—in the autumn term when, potentially, things could be becoming difficult once again. And that's how we have decided to proceed.

I think it's important in recognising that it's very difficult to identify which children's education is more important than other people's education. For older children, it's not simply a question of identifying exam groups—different schools have different patterns of exams. There are some children who currently find themselves in year 8 who would begin their GCSE courses in the autumn. There are children who will be sitting unit 1 of their GCSE exams. So, there's a whole variety of exam classes—it's not simply the ones that Siân Gwenllian had outlined, and I think it's absolutely right, in terms of year 6, that they have an opportunity to say goodbye to their teachers and to their schools before they move on to high school. But in terms of curriculum, actually, they've come to the end of their curriculum before they move on to the next stage of their education. I received many overtures from teaching professionals that said that year 5 should take priority over year 6.

What we are doing is ensuring that every child has an opportunity to check in with their teachers, to catch up with what has been going on in their lives, how things have been, how things have been at home, how learning has gone for them, what has been difficult, what's been easy, do they have the facilities that they need in terms of the kit and equipment to allow them to learn, and what are the next phases that they need to work on over the summer and in preparation for September.

And when we think that we could have been asking some very young children to go back in September, when they haven't set foot in a classroom for over 23 weeks, that's a big ask of a small child, and also, that classroom is going to look very different to what it would look like the last time they were in it, and the operation of their school is going to look very different from the last time they were in it. This allows us to have a phased return to be able to slowly introduce our children to what education is going to look like, going forward, and that's why we need to take the opportunity of doing so before the end of the summer term.

It's crucial, of course, that no child is left behind and that every child gets the best possible education under the current circumstances. Our teachers have been very flexible indeed and have done excellent work, but are you confident that every child is engaging with his or her education? Does every child have a device, access to broadband, a space to work in and sufficient support in order to participate in learning? And how are you going to place robust expectations on all local authorities and all schools that remote learning does have to be a core part of our education system for the future, not just during this coronavirus period, but there will be expectations that education should change substantially in light of the new curriculum, for example, with a great deal of emphasis on using technology? So, do you believe at present that enough is being done to polish and refine remote learning, including streaming lessons live? Now, I'm not sure if that's happening consistently across Wales at the moment.

If I can just turn finally to the curriculum Bill, can you confirm to us when the draft will be published? I'm given to understand that this is about to happen, but I also understand that there's some threat to the practice of immersing young children in the Welsh language because of the wording on the face of the Bill, and that would be a very grave blow to the target of a million Welsh speakers. So, can you commit to changing this clause before the publication of the draft curriculum Bill? Thank you.

Well, Siân Gwenllian is right: this period has certainly led to a real boost to developing everybody's digital competence skills—children, teachers, indeed, Members of the Senedd. We're all, I'm sure, much more digitally competent today than we were 10 weeks ago even though some of us, from time to time, still struggle with our mute buttons.

It is a real concern to me that everybody has an opportunity to be able to learn online. That's why the Member will be aware of the financial support that we have put in place to address the digital exclusion of pupils. To date, as a result of direct support from the Welsh Government, some 10,849 Wi-Fi units have been distributed. That is support that has been made available across and utilised by all 22 local authorities, and requests for additional support keep coming in and we are meeting those requests. 

With regard to repurposed devices, I can say that we have issued licences for some 8,966 devices. Those are devices being distributed across 14 local authorities that have benefited from the Welsh Government's central arrangements, but the actual total number of devices that have been lent out is higher than that because some local authorities very proactively gave those devices out at the very beginning of the crisis, and so have not necessarily availed ourselves. So, we know that a significant amount of support has been made available with regard to digital exclusion. And that's why, Siân, we do need everybody to have a check in or at least give people the opportunity of a check in because, you're right, I cannot guarantee you that every child has been engaging in their learning, and that might be for a whole variety of reasons, whether that be digital exclusion, whether that be because mums and dads are working very hard from home and are struggling to be able to provide that support. For some, the motivation of not being amongst their classmates might be very difficult. And that's exactly why we do have to not pick year groups, but actually provide an opportunity for all students to be seen by their teachers so these discussions can be had so we can find out what's been going on in children's lives; we can find out why maybe they have not been engaging and what we all need to do to support them better.

Live lessons are a matter for individual practitioners and schools. Welsh Government has provided guidance on how practitioners can do that safely and appropriately, so they may be able to do that and I can assure the Member that there is nothing in the forthcoming curriculum Bill that prevents or undermines the practice of immersion; indeed, the very opposite: for the first time there will be a legal underpinning to the practice of immersion.

I was disappointed that this came after rather than before the press statement earlier, but nonetheless I would like to welcome this statement from the education Secretary, and that we are going to see at least some reopening of schools. Unlike Siân Gwenllian, I would have preferred it to be earlier rather than later but it's happening and I welcome that, and I'd like to thank the education Secretary for her work to bring that about. You were very frank, I felt, in your remarks earlier that it was the unions that prevented what sounded like your preferred sort of option of opening schools in early to mid August. Could I also clarify whether the unions were also influential in the decision of when to give back this additional week to be worked late in July? Wouldn't it have been better perhaps for parents and pupils if that week had been over the coming few weeks when only online opportunities were available, rather than being an additional week that will be missed now in the autumn term? I wouldn't like, though, for that question to be interpreted as anti-union or at all criticising the Minister for the engagement she has had with the unions. Clearly, if the unions are able to bring their members with them, it is pragmatic and sensible to work with them to try to get more teachers back to work and to come back in a more positive, participative and supportive way. That's to be welcomed. Can I, though, also ask: has she considered the interests of parents and pupils within that as well, because they're also clearly very important stakeholders within this?

Overall, I think what she says about bringing all the children back at least for some education strikes me as having merits. She mentioned the equality aspect of that, but the supporting online learning and meeting physically as well, clearly, that will have benefits: checking on children, knowing where children are, being able to signpost and intervene where appropriate, and to support that online learning with some physical contact for all does seem positive.

Can I just finally clarify the situation in terms of roughly a third of pupils returning was what the written statement said? I think you said just now that it was no more than a third of pupils. Similarly, the reference to their capacity, their own individual capacity for schools, and I think in a written statement: schools may need time to reach this level of operation. I think that was then changed to: schools may not be able to reach that level of operation. Clearly, it's for the Minister to update written statements and give the verbal version, which is, of course, the record and I appreciate it, but I just wonder, though, does that suggest that that area is one of some controversy? Did she have questions at her statement earlier that led to any change of mind or emphasis on that? And she mentioned more the schools that might find it difficult to get up that level operation, are there other schools where they may feel that they can operate safely with rather more pupils than a third, and will she give schools discretion on that side of the equation as well as the other? Thank you very much.

Thank you for that, Mr Reckless. With regard to his disappointment that I had not done this earlier, I do not feel that it would have been safe to do this earlier. As I said, the SAGE advice was very, very clear, we need to have a TTP regime up and running before we could see more children accessing education. That TTP system has only began this week and I was not prepared to see more children going back to school until that system had been up and running and had been tested. So, that's why we haven't gone back any earlier. It's also very interesting to read the SAGE advice—the independent SAGE group, actually—that said the difference between children returning on 1 June and the difference between children returning on 15 June sees a halving of the likelihood of a child contracting the virus. We're going back even later, which is in line with the very cautious and careful approach that Welsh Government is taking to all of the unlocking measures, and that's based on, as I said, SAGE advice, which subsequently, I think, is in the public domain.

With regard to the extra week, I'm proposing to extend the term by a week to grasp that opportunity of learning during the summer, because, as I said earlier, we know that that gives us the best opportunity to have face-to-face. We're coming to the end of the academic year; that additional week means that we can make the most of this opportunity and maximise the amount of face-to-face contact children can have with their teachers this side of the summer. With regard to an additional week in October, I have taken that decision to reallocate that week. I have done so, again, because as was discussed at length yesterday I think by the health Minister, we are increasingly concerned about the pattern of the disease in the autumn. I hope to goodness, my goodness me, there is nobody—and I'm sure we're all the same—nobody wants to see a resurgence of the virus in the autumn. It's too early to tell whether that will happen, but there is—. The advice that we're getting is that we could well see a return. Therefore, having a natural fire break and prioritising face-to-face contact now, when we know we can do it, as opposed to additional lost face-to-face contact time in the autumn, is an important part of my strategy. Also, it's a very long term anyway, and it just gives us the opportunity to create a natural fire break at a time when the disease may—and my goodness me, we all hope not—but may begin to show itself again. 

With regard to the size—sorry. There's no controversy. I just get picky and once it's all out in print and given out to people, sometimes I just change my words and I prefer a different word, Mr Reckless. That's my prerogative as a Minister. Sometimes I just want to change my words, but it's certainly not done out of any controversy. What we're trying to do is recognise that Welsh education is massively diverse. You know, we have some schools that have 40 pupils in, and we've got some schools that have got a lot of pupils in, and we have to trust in our headteachers and our local education authorities, to make sure that there is enough flexibility to reflect the very, very different nature of our schools. We also have to accept about the availability of workforce. We know, and our recommendation and our advice is, that a teacher that is in receipt of a shielding letter should not return to the physical workplace. There are things that they can do at home and online to support learning, but they should not be in the workplace. So, we have to have some flexibility in the system. The third is the maximum amount of children that we would want to see. But, again, we have to have some flexibility and we have to rely on the discretion of individual headteachers and governing bodies of how it will work in their environment, as long as that is working within the national context and the framework that we will have set out to them. But we have to recognise that Welsh education is diverse, and individual school buildings and settings may be more easy to manage than others, and we have to recognise that as a very practical response to the situation. One size is not going to fit all.

Thank you. I'll now call Lynne Neagle, as Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee. Lynne Neagle.

Thank you, Deputy Llywydd, and thank you, Minister, for your statement. Like many people, I want to take some time to digest it and the associated documents before giving a considered and measured response to it, but I did just want to say that one of the huge concerns for me in this pandemic is that most of our children are largely unseen and hidden. So, the opportunity for welfare checks for our children, and the opportunity to touch base with teachers, is, I think, something that I, personally, would welcome.

I've got some specific questions. I wonder if you could say a bit more about how social distancing is going to work in practice. You referred to guidance that is going to be issued next week. Can you say whether that is going to be—how prescriptive that guidance is going to be? I think that would be helpful to know.

You said in response to Suzy Davies that what tipped you towards having all children back rather than specific year groups, which is what had been discussed previously, was the fact that you wanted an equality-based approach and for all children and young people to be seen. Can you just confirm that that was the only thing that tipped the balance in favour of having all children back?

I'd also be interested to know to what extent children's rights have been a factor in this decision. I'd like to know whether there's been a children's rights impact assessment done on this, as I have asked throughout this process, really.

I'd like to ask what the key things or triggers are that might lead to a rethink on this or to prevent this happening on the timescale that you've set out. Would that be a change in the R value? What would be the factors you would consider? 

Just finally from me, I think this lockdown has been traumatic for all of us, but for no-one more so than our children, really. How will you ensure that schools are well prepared for managing and supporting what could be a lot of very traumatised children, when they do eventually come back? Of course, there is also the issue of the well-being of our schools' staff as well. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you, Lynne. Yes, we will publish operational guidance next week. That is being finalised—we are still consulting with our local education authorities, teaching unions and the groups that we have established to make sure that that guidance is as good as it needs to be, and that work is ongoing. It will cover all of the operational issues that are associated with the check-in sessions being made available for children.

I agree with her: one of the things that keeps me awake at night is vulnerable children. Despite the very best efforts of local authorities and individual teachers, and we have seen since the Easter holidays an increase in the number of vulnerable children attending school, it is not at a level that I feel comfortable with. Evidence would suggest that vulnerable children are more likely to go into school if it is their own school and it's in their own community. Therefore, an important consideration in the decision that I have taken is to get more vulnerable children back.

This can be a particular issue around some of our children with additional learning needs. Although children with additional learning needs have been able to access our hubs they've had an entitlement to, often that has not been—in reality, that has not been available, because for some children that's an alien environment, an environment they don't feel safe, secure and comfortable in. Often, those hubs, quite understandably, are staffed on a rota basis. The staff change, you know, all the time, and, again, that can be deeply unsettling for some children.

The ability for pupils to go back into their own school, in a building and an environment that is familiar to them, with individuals who are familiar to them, hopefully will be able to relieve some of the pressure that, undoubtedly, there has been on some families, for whom the hub situation—even though it's been an entitlement, they haven't felt able to utilise that entitlement because it hasn't met the needs of their children. I think, again, that's why this is an important step forward in making sure that more vulnerable children can access this support.

Children's rights are absolutely important and it was a difficult decision to be able to say that some children's education was more important than others', and some children's entitlement should be different to others'. This allows us to ensure that everybody is given the opportunity on an equal footing.

Lynne, you're right to say that all of the decisions that I have outlined today are caveated in ensuring that the virus allows us to make these changes. So, again, that's an important part of the next three and a half weeks in terms of making sure that the restrictions that have already been eased don't lead to not only an increase in R but the number of hospital admissions and levels of infection, and also the robustness of the TTP regime as well.

So, as I said in my statement, we will use these three and a half weeks to make sure that the decision that we have outlined today can actually go ahead. And if I am not satisfied, then I will say so.

Thank you. Darren Millar. No, sorry. We need to unmute. There you go, try again.

Can I thank you for your statement today, Minister? I think many people will be very pleased that schools are going to be reopening. Can I just ask for a little bit more clarification in terms of the under-fives, and particularly those children that are nursery-aged children in school-based nurseries? What provision is going to be in place for them under these arrangements?

And secondly, one area that you didn't provide an update on today was in terms of Welsh universities. Many students feel that they're getting a very rough deal from universities in return for their tuition fees at the moment. Obviously, for a significant time now, they've been doing their courses through distance learning. I took the opportunity to have a look on the Open University website today and for an equivalent of a full year's worth of education in the Open University, it would cost just over £2,000 for that, whereas Welsh universities are still charging the £9,000 rate. Is that something that you're hoping to be able to address in the future? I know that you've given financial support for universities, but you haven't for students as yet.

With regard to our very youngest children, I know that this is a particular area of concern to many people because of the ability for our very youngest learners to understand the concept of social distancing. You can have a conversation with older children and they can understand what they can and can't do; the natural instincts of our very youngest learners are to be together, and that can be really challenging. 

I think what's really important to say is that, over the last 10 weeks, we have amassed a lot of experience in how to minimise the risk in those scenarios. It's important to remember that a quarter of our schools have been open for the last 10 weeks to children of all ages, as have our childcare providers for even younger children. So, we've been able to learn from that experience about how you can manage risk effectively. But I recognise that it is incredibly difficult to explain to a four-year-old how to social distance. Therefore, there are practical ways in which you can minimise their interaction.

So, first of all, we'll be keeping children in very small groups, so not in their traditional classes but in very small groups with a dedicated member of staff. We will be giving advice and guidance, for instance, on resources and the sharing of resources. But without a shadow of a doubt, Darren, it's really challenging for those children. But we've looked at international examples of how that has managed, and I have to say that we know that those children are least at risk. So, the irony is the ones that can do the least social distancing, the evidence would suggest they're least at risk. But we have experience of how we can manage that process and minimise the risk as much as possible. And as I said, with regard to child minding and childcare, further guidance will be issued next week. 

With regard to universities, just like your colleague in the Westminster Government, I have no plans to reduce fee levels here at Welsh universities.

Thank you. Helen Mary Jones. 

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. If I can take you, Minister, to post-16 education—

No, sorry, Helen. We're still having problems with your mike. Let's try again.

How's that?

That's better, thank you.

Thank you. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. With regard to—I'll take you to post-16 education, if I may, Minister. With regard to the arrangements for colleges of further education, can you confirm that some of those students who will be able to return will be students taking vocational courses who will need to take practical examinations in order to be able to complete their qualifications?

If I can then take you to the university sector, what further discussions have you had with regard to the UK Government acting as the Government for England's decision to cap the number of students coming from English universities to Welsh universities? This will obviously have potential resource implications for universities that will already be stretched, and have you yet been able to consider how the Welsh Government might respond?

Okay. First of all, with regard to FE colleges, I'll repeat what I said in my statement: further education colleges will open for more face-to-face teaching on 15 June. That is slightly earlier, because, in discussions with the college principals, ColegauCymru and the unions, they think they can move more quickly to do that. And she is absolutely right, in agreeing some priorities, that group of students to whom Helen Mary Jones referred are a priority. So, these are the one set of learners—this is the one large set of learners for whom we have not been able to come to an alternative way of allowing them to complete their course with a grade. So, we've been able to do it for mostly everybody else, but this group of learners need to demonstrate their technical competence to gain their qualification—and rightly so. If you're thinking about gas fitters or builders, they need that technical certificate and we want to make sure they have an opportunity to complete, so they are indeed the priority for colleges to get that work done so that they can complete their qualification and move on to next steps.

With regard to higher education and student number controls, we agree that the situation that HE finds itself in means that we have to introduce student number controls. Indeed, it's been agreed by the sector that this is one important way in which we can inject an element of stability at a very, very challenging time for the sector.

What came as a surprise, having agreed that we would all introduce some student number controls, and I would do that in Wales with our institutions, was to find, then, that the approach that England was taking was not simply to introduce student number controls for their own institutions, but actually to apply that to other jurisdictions, which I think is highly regrettable and is not necessary, because we intend to act to introduce stability here in Wales. We do not want to see our universities behave in a way that destabilises either each other within Wales or destabilises other institutions; we need to work together on this. And it is highly, highly regrettable that this has happened. You will be aware that I wrote to the Minister last week, as did counterparts in Northern Ireland and in Scotland. I spoke to the Minister on Monday morning, and the Government was not prepared to change its mind, which is a source of regret to me.

HEFCW have been carrying out the consultation for us on how student number controls would work in the Welsh context. That consultation came to conclusion on 1 June. I think we're on 3 June now, so I'm awaiting a report from HEFCW as a result of their conversation, and then we will make announcements for Wales. But it is regrettable, because there was an agreement between both Governments that we would act to introduce student number controls. We could have provided the stability within our own nations. We did not need to encroach and extend student number controls to institutions outside our own nations, and it's a source of regret to me that we find ourselves in this situation. But I will reflect on HEFCW's consultation and make an announcement as soon as I am able.

Minister, I would like to welcome the pragmatism of your decision today. This is a virus that could be with us for a year or two or even more, and we simply can't deprive our young people of face-to-face education for that length of time. But this is a staggered return, which needs to be done safely, so I'd like to ask you for a little more detail on how you're working with teachers to ensure that they feel safe within the classroom environment, and also with the cleaning staff in schools as well, to ensure that they have sufficient time and sufficient resources to clean the school environment thoroughly.

Secondly, I'd like to ask for a little more detail around school transport, how you intend to ensure that pupils comply with social distancing measures when they are on school transport, and also, if there will be any additional costs to local authorities in terms of putting on extra buses, how those costs are intended to be met.

My final question is on free school meals, and, with this staggered return, there will obviously be some pupils who will be present in the school environment, while others are home at different times. How will you ensure that all families access the provision to free school meal entitlement, whether that is within the school setting or if they are at home?

Thank you, Vikki. One of the reasons why we are taking three and a half weeks—we've explored some of the public health reasons about why we need to give ourselves more time, but one of the other very important reasons is that we need to give time for our school staff to implement this system and to provide training to headteachers, teachers and those who have a responsibility for maintaining our schools on how to do this safely. We simply cannot expect to make an announcement today and have everything in place that is safe on Monday, so we do need to use this time to make sure that the appropriate training is in place. I want to assure Vikki that, when we talk about consultations with unions, that includes the GMB and Unison, who represent the staff, and they have been fully involved in the discussions. So, that's one of the practical reasons why we have to have a gap in between an announcement and that announcement actually being put into practice, so that we can exactly do what Vikki says: make sure the training and the resources are put in place. And we continue to work with local authorities around what practical and financial assistance we can offer as a Welsh Government in terms of those hygiene practices and the supplies that schools will need.

As I said, we will publish guidance next week on how that should work, and that includes guidance around transport to schools. Obviously, where at all able, parents should walk, scoot, cycle, but, you know, my own children have a 25-mile one-way journey to school. It's not possible to scoot or walk that distance. So, many families will be reliant on school transport, and, again, we're working with our local authorities. It is one of those really wicked, wicked problems that we have to overcome. But we can't have a counsel of despair. Vikki, you're absolutely right; this could be with us for a considerable period of time. Doing nothing and hoping that it might be better isn't really an option; we've got to grapple with these issues and we've got to find safe and sustainable solutions to transport, and we will continue to have those discussions.

With regard to FSM, local authorities continue to do an amazing job in supporting FSM families in a variety of ways—everything from direct food deliveries through to vouchers or to cash. We will need to make sure that that is managed appropriately over the four weeks without something that is too bureaucratic, because we don't want a situation where somebody is in for a day, but their payment stops and they're not in for the rest of the week. So, we have to be pragmatic around how we do this. Indeed, one of the considerations an individual school may look at is whether people attend on a half-day basis, and, therefore, allowing that gap in the middle of the day. But we are very aware that we do not want to have a bureaucratic process that means that individual families or children could lose out on their entitlement.

Local authorities continue to report to us that they are supporting more families than ever. If you can imagine, usually, you have to be in school to receive your free school meal, and sometimes children aren't attending, or perhaps, for whatever reason, they don't want to utilise that within the school setting—for whatever reason. We're actually supporting more children and more families than we would when schools are operating as normal, and that support, I would reiterate, will be available over the summer break. We're also extending some support for students that are in FE colleges and looking to provide some financial support around FSM entitlement for some FE learners as well. 

Thank you. I am going to call a few more. We have come to the allotted time, but I do want now just a question from Members, and, if your question's already been asked, then please don't re-ask it. Rhianon Passmore.

No, sorry—you need to unmute your mike. There you go.

Right, sorry. Thank you. Will the Minister provide an update on the impact of COVID-19 on the completion of statutory assessments for children and young people with additional learning needs? Many local education authority staff continue to be vired across the different departments to provide the professional capacity to work with our most vulnerable children, so will the Minister therefore indicate her willingness to provide further guidance and support in the statutory assessment area if and when needed, and will the Minister consider further the use of virtual assessment tools in order that provisions and critical milestones are not lost, so our most vulnerable ALN children are nurtured for the future?

Deputy Presiding Officer, it's a 'yes' to both of those things, and I will report back to Rhianon Passmore as we consider the points that she's made.

Minister, please forgive me if my question cuts across what has already been asked, but my video today has been very glitchy. I wondered if you—. First of all, I'd like to thank you for your statement, and I wondered if you could give me an outline of what will be taught in years 10 and 12. I understand that the WJEC and Qualifications Wales have said that parts of the curriculum might be dropped. Is this correct? If so, can you confirm that the integrity of the curriculum can be maintained, and that teachers in those years won't waste time teaching units that will be dropped during the phased return? And finally, could you confirm when you asked the regional consortia and local councils to undertake this monitoring work?

Certainly, Angela, I can confirm that Qualifications Wales and the WJEC are already beginning to try and ascertain what an ongoing period of disruption to education—the impact that that will have on the next exam series. You're right; they are actively considering what would be appropriate in terms of elements that would traditionally be carried out, and how that would impact the next year's exams—so, for instance, whether it is necessary to have all the usual levels of coursework associated with the qualification, and, rather than focusing on coursework, focusing on teaching time ready for the actual external exam at the end of it. So, those considerations are ongoing and will need to be clearly communicated to those staff and those students ahead of time, and that work is ongoing at the moment.

I'm sorry, I've lost my train of thought now. What was the second question, Angela, sorry?

I wanted to know if—

Oh, the regional consortia—yes.

—teachers will—. And the regional consortia and when they had to look at it, yes.

Yes. So, I can't remember the exact date that we gave those instructions to the regional consortia, but their first report is due to be published on 19 June.

In relation to the question raised by Siân Gwenllian earlier on the curriculum Bill, where's the evidence that supports the fact that making English statutory on the face of the Bill in the foundation phase strengthens Welsh-medium education? Where is the evidence for that? And given the concerns that your former colleague Aled Roberts, as Welsh Language Commissioner, has raised already, will you remove the proposed clause from the Bill before bringing it forward on Friday?

Well, Dai, the Bill is not structured in a way that—. English is on the face of the Bill for all stages of education, and the Bill treats English and Welsh in exactly the same way. The Bill also allows for English to be disapplied in those settings where immersion is well understood to be the appropriate way in which Welsh language skills can be acquired by our very youngest students. What I want out of our curriculum is for more of our students to leave their statutory period of education as bilingual citizens of Wales, and there is nothing in the Bill that prevents that from happening. As I said, conversely, it actually allows for a statutory underpinning of the immersion process by allowing English to be disapplied in those settings. 

I think there is an issue here about the content of a curriculum, the linguistic status of a school and the medium of tuition within the school. I would suggest to the Member that those are three different things, and what the curriculum Bill concentrates on is the curriculum. It does not focus on the medium of tuition, nor does it focus on the language category of an individual school. 

Thank you very much, Minister, for your excellent statement. I'm really, really pleased that we are going to be offering all students some opportunity to be in school some of the time for at least four weeks before the August break. I absolutely agree with you that vulnerable and disadvantaged students are very unlikely to turn up at anything other than their very own local school, and so this is really good news for them.

Given that we haven't got over the pandemic yet, it seems to me that this ought to be a golden era of outdoor education, because this is the best way of not spreading coronavirus amongst students and staff. So I just wondered what role the regional consortia will play in promoting excellence in outdoor education and assisting those schools that don't have particularly stimulating outdoor provision to make amendments to improve on that.

Well, the Member is absolutely correct, one of the reasons why we need to take advantage of the summer months is because we can have more of our teaching done outside, and that's one of the reasons why we've taken the decision that we have.

With regard to her points on promoting excellence in outdoor education, we're working with a range of stakeholders to ensure that resources and good practice are available to practitioners. Certainly, just prior to the pandemic, I had a meeting with Natural Resources Wales around the role that they could play as a statutory agency here in Wales to support this agenda, and we will work with a number of agencies to get best practice out there to schools. Your point is well made, and I will go back to ensure that that happens.

Thank you, and finally, Nick Ramsay. 

Sorry, I was using the mouse that doesn't work. [Laughter.] 

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Minister, I wonder if you could just give us a little bit more information about the education of the under-fives that you mentioned earlier in answer to Darren Millar. I think you said that it's impossible to really adhere to social distancing with that sort of age group, and I think you mentioned that it was probably easier to divide them into small groups. It strikes me that some nurseries in urban areas are much smaller, there is much less space and so they may find that much more difficult to do than nurseries in rural areas. I wonder if any of that has been looked at or considered.

Thank you, Nick. In publishing guidance next week, obviously that is the national context in which we expect operators, institutions and settings to operate, but as I said in answer to Mr Reckless earlier, I have to accept that one size does not fit all and we have to rely on the professional discretion and the professionalism of setting leaders and individual headteachers. If we're thinking about private childcare, that may need—and we all have to accept that it may lead to some variation in the numbers that are back and the ability of individual settings to respond. And I think that whilst often as politicians we like things to be very neat, uniform and tidy—it appeals to our natures—in this circumstance, we have to have some flexibility to recognise, as you've just said, individual buildings and settings can do things in different ways, and we have to recognise that. 

Thank you very much, Minister. Thank you.