The next item is a statement by the Minister for Education on the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill. I call on the Minister for Education to make the statement—Kirsty Williams. 

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I am very pleased to introduce the curriculum and assessment Bill for the Senedd’s consideration. I do so on behalf of this Government and for the teachers, academics, practitioners, businesses, unions and many others who are building this future for our learners, our schools and our nation. 

Now, we could not have anticipated that we would be turning this page of history in Welsh education under these circumstances. The national effort against the coronavirus has involved a team of 3.2 million and the education family has met the challenge together, stepping up to ensure that our children and young people are supported with their well-being, their ability to learn and to grow.

Now, our education reforms, with the new curriculum at the centre, is also a shared national endeavour: collective expertise, experience and energy, so that we raise standards for all, reduce the attainment gap and ensure that we have a system of education in Wales that is a source of pride and enjoys public confidence.

This Bill provides a new legislative framework to support the new curriculum and assessment arrangements, and helps us to meet those ambitions for every single learner, for every single teacher and every single education setting. 

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Ann Jones) took the Chair.

Colleagues, now is the time for the first-ever truly made-in-Wales curriculum, shaped by the best learning here and further afield. The essential features of the current curriculum devised in 1988 by the then Westminster Government is simply not fit for purpose in contemporary Wales—one that was designed before the fall of the Berlin wall, before it was smashed into rubble. Well, that's not the strong foundation that we need for a knowledge-rich, adaptable-skills and the entrepreneurial curriculum fit for twenty-first century citizens of Wales and the world.

However, the newly formed curriculum is not only about skills for the future of our economy and for future employment. It will support young people to develop higher standards of literacy and numeracy, to become more digitally and bilingually competent, and evolve into those enterprising, creative and critical thinkers I'm sure that we all want to see. And it will help to develop our young people as confident, capable and compassionate citizens—citizens of Wales; indeed, citizens of our world. Therefore, we will legislate for the four purposes, so that they are the shared vision and aspiration for every child, every young person. And in fulfilling these, we set high expectations for all, promote individual and national well-being, tackle ignorance and misinformation, and encourage critical and civic engagement. Every school will have the opportunity to design and implement their own curriculum within the national approach that secures consistency for learners across the country.

The six areas of learning and experience bring together familiar disciplines and encourage strong and meaningful links across them. While disciplines remain important, this new approach supports learners to build connections across their learning, helping them to understand not only what they're learning, but why they are learning it, and the Bill will require a curriculum to embed the mandatory cross-curricular skills of literacy, numeracy and digital competency. In addition, the Bill sets out four further mandatory curriculum elements, including Welsh and English. This reflects our bilingualism, whilst also recognising critical and very successful Welsh-medium immersion. I do, however, recognise the continuing debate on the position of English in the Bill. And just as I did last week during the Plaid Cymru debate, I want to say once again that I will continue to engage in those conversations and consider next steps. But I can assure Members that I am wholeheartedly committed to the progress of each and every learner in becoming, at the very least, a bilingual citizen, and their appreciation, their understanding and their questioning of the world builds from knowing their own history, their own democracy and their environment.

In fact, the current curriculum provisions are narrow, they're restrictive, and they do not do enough to support teachers to design and develop a curriculum that prioritises learners' progression. So, we will move into a new era where each learner benefits from a broad and balanced education. But we must never ever lower our expectations for any of our young people, no matter what their background. It is a fundamental matter of equity and excellence for all, and that's why thousands and thousands more learners in Wales now enter and gain a science GCSE. It's why we now outperform other nations of the United Kingdom in our A-level results and it's why thousands more are studying and succeeding at higher education levels.

Therefore, the Bill requires Ministers to issue a progression code setting out the way in which progression must be reflected within a school's curriculum. Issuing a progression code with mandatory elements will ensure that there is consistency in an approach to progression across the country.

The achievements that I've just mentioned also demonstrate that because we are indeed raising standards and delivering on a system that can enjoy public confidence, we are now fit and ready as a nation to move forward with our new curriculum. This means moving from narrow subjects to six broad areas of learning and experience; a curriculum that is purpose-based—four purposes that articulate the kind of citizens that we want, the citizens that we need; and a real focus on three core statutory skills: literacy, numeracy and digital competence. This will be our new curriculum for Wales, of Wales, by Wales, and we have moved forward together to get to this day. A system where everyone has a shared stake, where we set high standards for all and where we truly combine knowledge, skills and experience, where no-one, nowhere is written off, and where we can take the next steps in our national mission of education reform.

Deputy Presiding Officer, I hope you can tell that I am really excited about this opportunity, and I look forward to the contributions and the collective efforts of Members here in this Parliament to take this significant Bill on its parliamentary journey. Diolch yn fawr iawn.

[Inaudible.]—definitely can see how excited you are with this Bill. Thank you for bringing it forward. Leaving it perhaps a little bit close to the mark with Royal Assent by the end of this Senedd term, which, I'm afraid, leads me straight to my first observation. The Bill provides for a five-year review, which means that this will be happening—[Interruption.] Hello? Am I still audible? Okay, I'll carry on. I hope you'll extend my time a little.

Yes, okay.

Thank you. Yes, the point I was making is that the Bill as it stands introduces a five-year review, which means that it'll be happening at the same time as the next election. So, I just wanted to know what the thinking was behind excluding an entire Senedd from assessing the success of the new curriculum. I think perhaps the timing of that review might make a little bit more sense for a seventh Senedd to examine its findings, if the implementation of the Bill was put back just a short while in order to make up for the delays in curriculum development caused by COVID-19. The explanatory memorandum says that the full effects of COVID on curriculum development are unknown, but that the current timelines—quote—

'remain the best indication of how and when the curriculum reforms will be phased in.'

And I think that does overlook the fact that 76 per cent of schools have already told us that COVID has had a negative effect on curriculum development, and that 46 per cent of them have done nothing at all over lockdown. As this is teachers plus some academics who are suggesting a delayed implementation, I wonder if you would just commit to keeping an open mind on an implementation date as the Bill progresses and as further evidence is gathered on the continuing effects of COVID on that curriculum development work. Obviously, there's that catch-up on the curriculum—the current curriculum—which will squeeze time as well.

The principle of a local curriculum is a core philosophy of this Bill, and the mandatory elements of that local curriculum contain controversial elements in the case of relationships and sexuality education. I understand that the work is still not quite complete. And I know that all elements have been co-constructed with partners, but if it's to be genuinely co-produced, we need to know how the voice of the child, the parent and the wider community will be given due regard in creating a local curriculum. Just by way of illustration on how those voices can be inadvertently diminished, though not on quite the same point, there's a duty on the school to publish its curriculum, but nothing in the Bill about alerting families to the right to request an alternative religious curriculum, for example. So, what is the role of the wider community in curriculum design, and how will those be voices be weighted? And, in fact, what will a consultation on codes and guidance look like—is that just going to be with professionals or more widely? And to go to the other end of the scale, the final decision on the curriculum lies with the head and governors, as long as they respect guidelines and requirements arising from the Bill. So, local authorities, I understand, are not the final arbiter as they are in some decisions about schools. So, how will those higher level strategic plans, such as Welsh in education strategic plans, which will impact on curriculum, be enforced? 

And, finally—plenty to ask you later, I know. Even now, not all the impact assessments for the Bill are complete, but current cost estimates are running at £43 million direct costs to schools, and a further £394 million of absorbed costs, which already exceeds the lower estimate of cost, and is well over halfway to the higher estimate. So, will you commit to a regular update on costs, not just during the passage of this Bill, but beyond that, as I don't think it would really make for good scrutiny for us to be in a position where we try and winkle out this information from annual Senedd budgets, when much of this expenditure will actually be coming from local government?

So, thank you for your statement today. I look forward to further scrutiny on the powers the Bill contains, the place of modern foreign languages and life-saving skills and—I don't want this to be overlooked—the parallel work that Government will need to develop with school development services, Estyn and Qualifications Wales, on the standards, accountability and exams that go alongside this curriculum. They have to go hand in hand to command confidence and, indeed, to secure the Welsh Conservatives' support for the Bill in due course. But, for now, I wish you well in your aims for this legislation. 

Can I thank Suzy Davies for that series of questions? As she will have alluded to, the intention is that the curriculum will become statutory in all primary settings and year 7 of secondary settings for the start of the academic year 2022. So, undoubtedly, COVID has had an impact on planning—that is without a shadow of a doubt—but we still have a considerable period of time for schools to prepare.

She quotes figures that have responded to a survey that she has carried out, and I don't dispute that. I, too, have conversations with professionals who actually want to speed up the introduction of the curriculum. And because of the significant period of disruption that we have had, where we've had to suspend the national curriculum, they wonder why we would go back to the old when the new is here—the new dawn is almost upon us. So, I know many schools are already designing their curriculum, even though they're not required to at this date, to encompass the direction of travel that we're on. But, of course, absolutely, we have got to this point today in the spirit of co-construction—co-construction with our professionals, who will have the responsibility of bringing this alive for learners in Wales. We will continue to have those discussions going forward.

It's a 'yes' to providing regular updates around finance, and I just want to assure the Member that throughout this process, to the point that we've got to today—of course, what we're looking at today is the legislative underpinning. The real meat, of course, was published many, many, many months ago, in terms of the 'what matters' statements, the progression steps and the concepts of learning. So, schools have had an opportunity before now, of course, to engage in this.

But Estyn, Qualifications Wales and our school improvement services have been integral to the development to date; they have been part of that process of co-construction. Of course, Estyn will have a crucial role in checking the preparedness of settings to introduce the curriculum. Our school improvement services will have a crucial role in providing the professional learning and the support that schools will need. The Member is very well aware, because I know she keeps in close touch with Qualifications Wales, that they themselves are undertaking a piece of work in parallel with the new curriculum with regard to the impact that the new curriculum will have on our qualifications system. So, of course, that work will continue to move forward.

Suzy is quite right: the responsibility, the legal duty, to produce a curriculum lies with the headteacher of an individual school. It is the duty of the headteacher and the governing body to implement that curriculum within that particular setting. The curriculum guidance that I published in January sets out a very strong emphasis that in designing, developing and implementing the curriculum, the context of the school and the communities it serves should be at the forefront of the mind. The premise of the entire curriculum is that it's there to serve the needs of its local community by providing a curriculum that is appropriate to its learners.

Now, any of you who've spent any time in school know that, sometimes, teachers express their frustration when they are required to deliver a lesson because somebody in 1988 decided that it was their duty to do so to a class of children who are completely disinterested and have no understanding about why that is being required of them. That doesn't bring learning to life—that just brings everybody down. Now, we will have an opportunity to release the creative professionalism of our teaching workforce to be able to design a curriculum that truly meets the needs of the children in front of them.

Deputy Presiding Officer, let me give you an example. At my own daughter's school, Ysgol Calon Cymru, which serves the communities of Llandrindod Wells, Builth Wells and everywhere in between, they're beginning to think about how they do their new curriculum now. At the core of that curriculum is the concept of the clearance of Mynydd Epynt and of food miles and the sustainability of rural Wales. So, for year 9, all of their subjects are built around those concepts.

During this time, when they've been out of school, and in the work that's come home, again, they've engaged in the new curriculum. The theme has been artificial intelligence, and that has covered science, maths, Frankenstein—when I've had time to do any home schooling, we've been studying Frankenstein, Shelley's Frankenstein—that ability to bring individual disciplines together to make those connections. So, schools are already out there doing this work, but it's important that parents and communities have an opportunity to feed into that. The curriculum will have to be published, but we can certainly have conversations during the passage of the Bill about how we can ensure in guidance that the views of parents and young people themselves are taken into consideration when designing the curriculum. And if you go to our schools now, you know that pupil-centred learning, where pupils are driving and choosing the topics, is not a concept that is alien to our teachers; it's a concept that they understand and that they embrace. 

Certainly, the publication of the draft Bill is an important milestone and, as the children's commissioner said this week, we must look at the new curriculum as a pledge to every child in Wales, and, in making that pledge, each and every one of us in this Senedd is duty bound to scrutinise this new legislation very carefully indeed in order to avoid unintended consequences and to ensure that the aim encapsulated within the curriculum will be delivered.

Now, in terms of implementation and the timetable for implementation, I can see your case that there are certain elements of the curriculum, elements that are already taking root in our schools, that are particularly pertinent in the context of the COVID crisis.

I am pleased to see a prominent place for health and well-being as an area of learning and experience, but it won't be a mandatory or required element within the legislation. The children's commissioner has argued this week that this Bill does need to go further than it goes at present in terms of safeguarding the well-being of children by ensuring that the legislation does make a whole-school approach to well-being and mental health a requirement under the legislation.

You have already published another statement today on the consultation on the guidance framework on rooting the whole-school approach to mental health and well-being, and you say in that statement that the purpose of the framework is to promote consistency and equality. So, why won't you take that extra step that the children's commissioner and others have called for, namely making mental health and well-being a requirement within the legislation?

And there is this element of making certain things mandatory, and others that also deserve the same level of legislative requirement are excluded from the legislation. We started this debate last week during the Plaid Cymru debate, and I think this will be a recurring theme during the Bill's journey through the Senedd over the next weeks.

There are some topics that are mandatory, and there are other cross-curricular elements that are also mandatory. So, I would like to ask: what are the criteria that you have applied before making these decisions, before deciding? What criteria actually underpin these decisions to include some things on a statutory basis and to exclude others?

And, finally, I am sure that you would agree that we need to evidence the need for new legislation before bringing it forward. This is a theme of our work in the Senedd in terms of bringing forward any new legislation: we need to demonstrate why it's required and necessary. And I agree with you: this legislation is required in order to develop a new curriculum within our schools. But, if I could just turn to one aspect, what pedagogical evidence do you have that you need to make English a mandatory element of the curriculum—what evidence do you have—and has any body or any educational expert or any other expert recommended that you should include this on the face of the Bill?

Can I thank Siân Gwenllian? And can I say that I welcome very much the process we've now got to in terms of scrutiny? I have been in this Chamber long enough, both on that side of the house and on this side of the house, to know what a valuable process the scrutiny process of this Parliament is and how, often, legislation is stronger and better as a result of that. That's the whole point why many of us have dedicated significant decades of our adult lives campaigning for a Parliament. And, therefore, that scrutiny process is one that Ministers should welcome; it's not always comfortable, but certainly it's an important part of our democracy, is it not? And I'm sure that there will be some really valuable opportunities throughout the passage of the Bill to test and to challenge and, where necessary, to improve. I don't think that there is a Bill that's ever gone through the Parliament that hasn't been better as a result of that process, the parliamentary process.

With regard to health and well-being, well, this is one of the exciting developments within the curriculum, that health and well-being is one of the areas of learning and experience that we will legislate for in the Bill. And that covers a broad variety of subjects, both physical and mental health and well-being. And the importance of mental health is well catered for within the 'what matters' statements that lie beneath the individual AoLE. So, I believe that we have given a very, very clear steer of our expectation that in delivering—and you have a duty to deliver—the health and well-being AoLE, mental health and well-being will be an important part of that.

Can I thank Siân for drawing everybody's attention to the other written statement that's gone out today on the start of our consultation on our whole-school approach and the framework to support schools? That is a direct result, again, of scrutiny of this Parliament and the work of the Children, Young People and Education Committee on mental health and well-being for children. Because, whilst I would agree with her that there is a place for that as a subject within the curriculum, what the CYPE committee's report was very much about is that mental health and well-being cannot be achieved by our children simply by learning a lesson about it; we have to create the conditions within the school itself for it to be a healthy environment. So, everybody in the school, the environment of the school, everybody who works in that school, the whole ethos that underpins that school, should be there to support children's mental health and well-being. And that's not a 'nice to have' or something a bit out there, because we know that, without good mental health and well-being, children cannot learn; the learning simply will not sit. We have to address children's mental health and well-being and create an environment where they are happy and safe and feel secure, otherwise the learning will not be as successful as we would want it to be.

So, I hope that people will respond to the consultation and I hope that the framework gives justice to the work of the CYPE committee on 'Together for Mental Health'. The curriculum has plenty of opportunity to support children's mental health and well-being, but it has to be in our schools as more than simply an element of the curriculum. 

Now, of course, I understand—my goodness me, I don't think that there has been a day since I took this job when I haven't had an e-mail from somebody who is very enthusiastic, very passionate, about why their subject needs to be on the face of the Bill. And I don't doubt that all of those people can make a very genuine case, but, if we were to do that, we'd end up where we are now, Deputy Presiding Officer, with a curriculum that is over-stuffed, unmanageable and has robbed the profession of its creativity, because it has reduced teaching to doing a tick-box exercise of everything that somebody over the years has decided has to be taught. And every week, almost, we have a story that, 'This needs to be part of the curriculum', and that has happened over many years. Well-meaning Ministers who have wanted to do the right thing and have been motivated by very noble intentions have added it onto the curriculum—they've stuck it onto the curriculum. And we've given ourselves something that is completely unmanageable. And, simply by listing it, that alone does not mean that that will be a well-delivered, quality lesson in that particular area.

So, quite rightly, the challenge is why we have focused on the subjects that we have in terms of the face of the Bill. Well, I hope that nobody here could disagree that ensuring that we attend to our children's literacy and numeracy is not up for question. These are the basic skills that individual children will need when they leave school. And, increasingly—and, my goodness me, haven't we all had a steep learning lesson in recent weeks—digital competency is also now that third element alongside literacy and numeracy. And perhaps—. I hope it will never happen, that our children will have to manage their way through a pandemic, but perhaps they'll be a little bit better at managing than how some of us have, and the calls of, 'You're on mute' or 'Mute yourself' will never be heard again should we find ourselves in that position. So, literacy, numeracy and digital competency—these are the core things that our children need when they leave school.

With regard to what was called religious education in 'Successful Futures', in the new curriculum, the name change to religion, values and ethics is reflective of the commitment and the recommendation of Graham Donaldson in the original 'Successful Futures', as is Welsh, the addition—. There are two additions above and beyond that, and that is, firstly, RSE. And, Siân, quite rightly, you've talked about children's mental health and well-being. Our relationships are fundamental to our health and well-being as human beings, aren't they? They are absolutely fundamental, and ensuring that our children can learn about rights, responsibilities, respect, diversity, safety, as I said, personal responsibility, to have safe, healthy relationships, I think, is fundamental. And it was a clear recommendation from the specialist group, chaired by Emma Reynolds, Professor Emma Reynolds, that I set up when I came into office.

And with regard to English, first of all, English in itself is a really important subject, and that's what we're talking about, a subject. I think sometimes—understandably, I'm not criticising—there is a misapprehension between the language of tuition and the medium of tuition as opposed to the subject. And this reflects my belief that we want to create all of our citizens as bilingual citizens. But, as I said, I recognise that there is a strong debate and there is a fear of unintended consequences as a result of that, and I have given my commitment in opening today that we will have ongoing discussions.

Thank you, Minister, very much for your statement. I think, within my group, there is a degree of scepticism around the new curriculum, but I think the passion with which the Minister speaks—we wish to remain engaged in the debate and we haven't, at this stage, decided to oppose it. We'd like to see the Bill in more detail and benefit further from discussions with the Minister.

She says that she wants a system that's a source of pride and enjoys public confidence, and I'm sure we would all agree with that. I also think, in principle, the idea that, 30 years on from a 1988 UK curriculum, it might be revised or reconsidered, in principle, isn't one we should rule out. She refers to a truly made-in-Wales curriculum. In that context, could I just ask a little about the role of Professor Donaldson, and in particular the changes that have happened with the Scottish curriculum that haven't been uniformly well written up, and what his role was with that and how it's different, what he's been doing with you, for Wales?

You refer to every school having the opportunity to design and implement their own curriculum. Can I clarify: is that a requirement for every school as well as an opportunity, or is there a national curriculum that the school can take and use, and then teachers have more discretion on what they do within it? Or does each school have to do this process, potentially a very substantial process, of developing their own curriculum?

I also just wonder about the balance between the traditional disciplines and the connections you're trying to build across the areas of learning and experience—for instance, health and well-being. I certainly know some parents and certainly some of my group have concerns as to what may happen to the rigour with which those traditional disciplines are taught in the new approach. Could she give some reassurance on that?

Can I also clarify: is she saying that she is open, potentially, to an amendment during this Bill as to whether English should be a mandatory curriculum element? I may have misunderstood this, but are Plaid Cymru arguing from their previous debate that Welsh should stay as a mandatory requirement but English should be removed from the face of the Bill as a mandatory requirement? Is that really the proposal, and, if so, is that something that she would genuinely consider?

And she refers to children knowing their own history, democracy and environment, and I think we can all agree with that as a phrase, but it leaves open to what extent is that history, and democracy particularly, specifically, Welsh and to what extent is it a common British experience.

She refers to more people taking a science GCSE, which is great. What about modern foreign languages? Can this new curriculum address the decline in these?

And finally, she refers to issuing a progression code with mandatory elements. Could we consider as part of that independently set standard assessment tests at age 11?

Well, Deputy Presiding Officer, I think the Member has thrown down a challenge to me, one that I'm very happy to pick up, to convince him of why he needs to support the change in our curriculum.

The duty will lie on each individual school, each individual headteacher to design a curriculum, and then the legal duty then falls to the headteacher and the governing body to implement that curriculum. They need to do that with regard to, as outlined in the Bill, the four purposes and the individual areas of learning and experience, and then with reference to our 'what matters'. Of course, they were all published earlier on this year. So, there is scaffolding around our expectations of the broad areas that we would expect to be covered. So, in answer to Siân Gwenllian, lessons that would focus on helping to develop children's mental health and well-being, but the topics, for instance, in which you would choose to do that will vary from school to school that is reflective of the children in front.

Now, we recognise, because this curriculum is a curriculum for three to 16, that some of our nursery settings in the non-maintained settings—. So, as part of our foundation phase, Welsh Government funds that setting to deliver early years education. We recognise that some of those are run by charities, some of them are run by small groups, and, therefore, that would be a particularly onerous task for that part of the sector to design a curriculum for them. So, the Welsh Government will have a set curriculum for that age group, so that, as I said, those foundation phase nurseries can actually take that off the shelf, because that would be a very onerous task for that particular part of the sector. But, otherwise, it will be for individual headteachers, using the national scaffolding, to design a curriculum that meets the needs of their children.

The Member asked about the roles and responsibilities of Graham Donaldson, and any linkages and crossovers between our new curriculum and Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland. Well, sometimes people make comparisons, and there are certainly some broad philosophical approaches around devolution of curriculum down to schools, the move away from very strict disciplines and a more cross-curricular approach that both curriculums share. I think we've been at the advantage of understanding where implementation has struggled in Scotland. So, I don't think it's the concept of the curriculum, and I think if you look at the criticisms of what's happened in Scotland, it's not the actual curriculum itself; it is the implementation process that people have found particularly challenging. Because we've been able to learn from that, in fact, we've gone out of our way to try and understand what the difficulties have been in Scotland. Some of that was around, in the very beginning, not enough guidance, and then people got really panicky, because there wasn't enough scaffolding for schools, so then there was a whole industry providing advice and guidance to schools, which meant that teachers got completely overwhelmed with that. So, we've been able to learn from some of the challenges of implementation. So, I think there's a distinction to be made between the curriculum itself and then the implementation process that supports schools going forward.

We will also give a greater level of direction around the content of the RSE curriculum—the relationships and sexuality curriculum—based on the principles from the United Nations. So, we will give greater direction in that regard.

Siân Gwenllian can speak for herself, but I think, if I can—I'm in danger of putting words in Siân's mouth. The issue itself is not with English being on the face of the Bill; it is the unintended consequence of having English on the face of the Bill on the principle of immersion education. So, they're not out to get the English language; that's not what this is about. This is about whether there would be an unintended consequence of English's inclusion on the face of the Bill with regard, then, as I said, to immersion education. Now, the Bill allows for the statutory requirement for English to be suspended to allow for Welsh immersion education, and that's important because we know, in terms of successful language acquisition, immersion is a well-tried, well-tested, really, really important way in which children can acquire Welsh language skills. And I say that as someone whose children have been in that system. Without my children's ability to go to a meithrin, and to go to a Welsh-medium primary school where they did no English, no formal English, until the age of seven, my children would not be bilingual English and Welsh speakers. It is that process that we know makes the difference. There is a concern that the way in which the Bill is currently drafted may undermine that. Now, as I said, I don't believe that, and I think there is some confusion about the language of tuition and the medium of tuition in the school as opposed to the curriculum. But I don't want to in any way undermine the principle of immersion or to ensure that immersion cannot happen. The Bill allows for immersion to happen and for English to be suspended, but there is a concern that that still hasn't got enough safeguards to support immersion, and I'm open to a conversation about what more we can do not to do down the English language, but to ensure and safeguard Welsh immersion, because we know that that is really important and we know that it works. So, I hope I haven't put words in your mouth, but I think that's where some people at least are coming from when it comes to this debate.

With regard to history and democracy and the environment, this brings us back to the principle of cynefin within the new curriculum, and how children learn about the rest of the world first by learning about their own locale. It is by engaging with your own locality and your own history that you can begin to expand your thinking into the wider world. So, Siân last week in the debate talked about her local history and its connection with a slave-trading family, and she didn't know about that. The issue is, you can learn about that in your primary school and you can understand that and you know it because you can see it, but from that then you can go on to have a conversation about British history, world history and the principle of slavery. So, it's about taking the connections from your locale for our very youngest children and then learning out about the world from that principle.

Sorry. I've waited four and a bit years for this.

We have four more speakers and we have very little time, but at least we'll see where we go. I'm sure now that's out of your system perhaps we'll move on to some shorter answers. [Laughter.]

Okay. I've been told. And I'm glad to be back as well. I've missed everybody. [Laughter.]

I'll let you off. Lynne Neagle. No, we can't hear. Sorry, Lynne, we can't hear you. 

Can you hear me now?

That's better, yes. Fine, thank you. 

Thank you, and thank you, Minister, for your statement. As you're aware, the committee has done a great deal of work in this Senedd scrutinising the progress on the development of the curriculum to date, and I'm certainly looking forward to the committee undertaking the Stage 1 scrutiny of this Bill.

I do want to give a very, very warm welcome to the publication of the guidance on a whole-school approach to mental health, which was published today. As the Minister knows, I've been very involved in the development of that guidance through the ministerial task and finish group and the stakeholder group, and I'd like to thank everybody that's been involved in it and encourage all Members to read it. I've read lots of Welsh Government documents over the years, but I've never read one that has filled me with such hope on this issue. I'd also like to thank the Minister for listening to representations from myself and from third sector organisations like Samaritans Cymru and Mind, and placing this on a statutory footing, because our children's mental health is too precious to be left to chance.

So, with that in mind, I'm sure that the Minister knows me well enough by now to know that I will still want to scrutinise very carefully the arrangements within the Bill to deliver the mental health aspects of the health and well-being area of learning experience, and I would just like to ask the Minister to say a little bit more about how she believes the whole-school approach guidance will fit in with the attempts in the curriculum to deliver that very important area for our children and young people's mental health. 

Deputy Presiding Officer, can I thank Lynne Neagle for her contribution this afternoon and thank her for the support for the consultation that has gone out today? Everybody in this Chamber knows how passionately Lynne feels about this specific subject. Everybody here will also know that she is a hard taskmaster, and if she's happy with it, it must mean that it's a good document. So I'm really pleased that we've been able to meet your expectation, and that is down, as you said, to the hard work of many, many people who have not let the Government move an inch away from the principles that were set out in 'Mind over matter'.

As I said to Siân Gwenllian, I don't think we can leave mental health and well-being simply as a subject within the curriculum. A whole-school approach is more than just the curriculum, it is about that entire environment. Clearly, how this mixes in together is that, when designing—. If we're to have a whole-school approach and we're going to put that guidance on a statutory footing, in designing a curriculum then the headteacher and the governing body will have to be mindful of that whole-school approach and will have to think about children's mental health and well-being in designing that curriculum, not just as a subject, but the overall approach to how that curriculum is designed and, crucially, how that curriculum is then implemented within a school. So that's how the two link up together.

As I said to Siân Gwenllian, it's very clear in the 'what matters' statements; the emphasis on mental health and well-being is part of the health and well-being AoLE and, actually, mental health could be one of the topics that actually can be talked about not just in health and well-being, but can be talked about in language, it can be taught in science, it can be taught in humanities. So that's how I envisage the curriculum being taken forward. But I'm very grateful for Lynne's dedication to this agenda, and as I said, if she's pleased, then I'm pleased. 

It's correct to say that the current curriculum devised in 1988 by a Westminster Government is not fit, as has been said, for contemporary Wales and the pedagogical need, as consensually agreed across this Chamber, to continue to develop higher standards of literacy, numeracy and critical digital thinking, and for our students to become confident, capable and compassionate citizens of Wales runs throughout the new curriculum. Will the Minister outline how the new proposed progression code seeks to ensure the continuation of rising standards and how moving to the six broader areas of learning experience will better prepare our Welsh pupils to become international citizens of the world?

Thank you very much, Rhianon. The progression code, Welsh Ministers will have to produce as a result of this. Our progression steps are already out there in the public domain and this is to give an assurance of a national approach for where we would expect children to be, because whilst of course we want to respect individual institutions in designing their curriculum, we have to have assurance that children will be moving forward and the expectations of what children can do are the same across a national basis.

With regard to global citizenship, again, this is one of the four purposes that are laid out within the Bill. Forgive me, I did not answer Mr Reckless's question about modern foreign languages. In answering Siân Gwenllian—. In opening the statement today, I said that I hope children will become at least bilingual citizens. The curriculum actually is very clear about our expectations of bringing foreign languages into primary schools on a consistent basis. Some of our primary schools already do that, and they do it very well, but actually this tries to address some of the challenges that we undoubtedly have in MFL take-up—and there's no point my pretending we haven't got a challenge in MFL take-up, certainly at 14, 16 and 18. This ability to bring that learning earlier on into a child's life is one way in which we hope to address that deficit. Learning a foreign language is one of the ways in which we can develop our understanding of the world around us and to become that global citizen.

Thank you, Minister. I particularly was very pleased to hear you say that the relationship and sexuality education is going to have much more direction to it than some other parts of the curriculum. So, I won't ask you about that. I wanted to explore some of the complexities of your ambition, and I fully support it, to ensure that it's a duty on the headteacher to design the curriculum that's fit for that school, and the governing body to implement it. I want to just relate this to the demands of the Black Curriculum, which is a voluntary organisation set up at the beginning of 2019, obviously wanting to ensure that all UK schools incorporate black histories into the curriculum so that pupils have a full and accurate version of British history, which I think is an entirely laudable aspiration and one that we absolutely need to have if we're going to have a cohesive society. 

So, Mount Stuart Primary School, I am absolutely confident that they already have a really vibrant multicultural offer to their pupils. Under the leadership of Betty Campbell, it was already a template for that. Similarly, in many of the schools in my constituency, which will have a wonderful range of multicultural intake, this idea of people coming from different parts of the world with different cultures will already be well embedded into their thinking. But I just wondered how you think we're going to ensure that all schools with less rich intake will be enabled to address some of the more uncomfortable aspects of our culture and, frankly, racist aspects of our culture just as effectively as those schools that have that multiculturalism already built into them. Because we obviously need to ensure that all our pupils are ethically informed citizens.

Thank you for that. Just to confirm to Jenny, the Bill requires Welsh Ministers to publish a code setting out the core learning to be undertaken in the relationships and sex education curriculum, and that falls under the headings of rights and equity, relationships, sex, gender and sexuality, bodies and body image, sexual health and well-being, violence, safety and support. Those are the United Nations principles that make up what they regard as adequate RSE education. 

With regard to history, or, as I like to call it, Wales's 'histories'—and I've got into trouble for saying that—that just tells you that we have to have a pluralistic approach to teaching our history, don't we? And only last week we talked about women's history, black history, working class history. Wales is made up of a multitude of stories, and we have to start that from the very beginning within our cynefin. But you're right—we have to explore that, and it isn't just in our most diverse communities. So, absolutely, we do have to talk about the race riots here in Cardiff; we do have to talk about some of the unpleasantness that we saw in some of our other cities, and the lived experience of those people who are black, Asian and minority ethnic who came and contributed to Wales. We need to talk about the Irish experience in Merthyr Tydfil and the contribution the Irish community made to our Valleys communities, our Asian community made to our NHS and our ability to deliver an NHS.

Some of that is uncomfortable—for the weavers of mid Wales, the weavers of mid Wales who made their money on the basis of weaving cloth that clothed the slaves on the slave ships. It's not something that is comfortable to talk about. The reason why so many black Americans have Welsh surnames—. I am currently reading the biography of Frederick Douglass, and his first owners—the family to which he was enslaved from the moment of his birth—were of Welsh descent; they were Lloyds. There was Hugh Lloyd—they were Welsh, and we have to confront that, even it it makes us uncomfortable. And there is provision in here to say that our expectation in our 'what matters' is that we expect our histories to be taught in a pluralistic way that challenges both the amazing contributions of Welsh people within our nation and across the world, and sometimes things that should make us feel a bit uncomfortable. 

I usually contribute in English because I am more confident in English, because when I was a school pupil, I wasn't able to learn Welsh—there wasn't a word of Welsh taught until I did an Wlpan course. Now, that was an immersion course. And then, last week, I was very concerned when the Labour Party, and the Minister, and Plaid Cymru, voted against immersion teaching.

So, I'm looking for an assurance, really, and it's an equality issue—and I say this as an English-language-first Welshman, because I didn't know a word of Welsh until I was 32, and I remember a Danish person speaking to me in Spain in Welsh, and I thought he was speaking to me in Danish. That's how embarrassing my education was. So, I believe passionately that immersion classes should be freely available for teachers and for pupils. So, my question really is: why was that voted against last week?

Since it's come up, I want to touch on what I'm hearing in this Chamber about the BAME community. I find it quite insulting, really. We have people of many communities in Wales—many of us are not white, many of us are from all parts of this planet, and we make up a wonderful nation called Wales. And I remember Betty Campbell, the first black headteacher in Wales, when she was labelled as a 'BME'; we say 'BAME' nowadays—and she said, 'I ain't no BME. I am Welsh'. And I just want to echo support there for the Minister, actually, in saying that we have many histories here in Wales. I want to get away from this divisiveness, where we have the so-called BAME community. There are many of us who are not white—many of us—and we're not just one community. We never say the 'white community', and we've got to stop this divisive language, and we need to appreciate what we have in Wales, and we should talk about what unites us and all of our histories. Diolch.

I think I have tried today, both in my opening statement and in responding to questions from Siân Gwenllian and Mark Reckless, to absolutely reiterate my support of and the importance of Welsh immersion here in Wales as a tried and tested way in which we can ensure language acquisition. And in fact, the Welsh Government tries to support and has ambitious targets for Welsh-medium education. In questions earlier, we talked about the £1.68 million that we're spending in Merthyr Tydfil to increase the availability of Welsh-medium education. The challenges are numerous, in terms of, for instance, making sure that the quality of our Welsh-medium education within our English-medium settings needs to be better than it is. Because even with the targets of the Welsh in education strategic plans, many children will continue to go to an English school, where English is the medium of tuition, and we want those children to make progression in the Welsh language. I want all of our children to leave our schools being able to use both languages in their daily lives, regardless of whether they went to a Welsh-medium school, whether they go to a bilingual school, or whether they go to an English-medium school. That's the ambition that this curriculum and the progression steps lay out in front of us. And I don't think there is anybody in this Chamber, in any political party, that disagrees with that. The question is: is the way in which the legislation is currently framed the right way to deliver it?

And I can just say, I was very careful—I deliberately talk about Welsh histories because our nation is made up of contributions from people of all races, who have had a unique story to tell about their relationship with Wales, whether they came here, whether they were born here. And all of that needs to be encompassed, and we should never make the—. I don't think we should make the distinction between, 'It's your history, and our history'. There is a multitude of stories to be told about the nation.

Thank you very much, Minister. I'm pleased that you're pleased to be back. Even though there were some long answers, we'll let you off; you won't get that next week, if you're responding to anything next week. [Laughter.]