6. Statement by the Minister for Education: The Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:55 pm on 8 July 2020.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 3:55, 8 July 2020

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.