Most importantly of all, we also know that for some children and young people, this has been a really isolating experience. They've missed their friends, they've missed their families, and they've missed vital milestones like exams, school leavers' celebrations, proms, to name just a few.

We noted our disappointment that the Welsh Government's preferred option of taking an earlier school summer holiday and returning in August could not be agreed with trade unions. We are also very disappointed that, despite the hard work of the Minister, school leaders and staff, the fourth week proposed for schools to check in, catch up and prepare children for the autumn term has not happened in many parts of Wales.

Given the very real possibility of a second wave of coronavirus in the autumn, it is crucial that lessons are learned from the recent challenges agreeing arrangements for the return to school. When schools closed in March, it was an emergency, but it will not be an emergency in the autumn. Children's well-being must be at the centre of decisions relating to schools, and we urge the Welsh Government and the sector to work together to be adaptable, bold and innovative in the face of what remains a global pandemic. Children across Wales must have consistently high-quality contact with their teachers, and opportunities to progress their education must be maximised for all children in Wales. This will also enable schools to play their vital part in the whole-system approach to supporting the mental health and well-being of children and young people that I am so pleased is being rolled out now in Wales.

The visibility of, and support available for, our most vulnerable children has been a major cause of concern for us. Schools are a crucial safety net for many children, and we've been really concerned by the relatively low numbers of vulnerable children who've been attending school hubs, despite the Government's efforts. While we welcomed the range of steps taken and the cross-governmental approach adopted to support vulnerable children, we remain concerned that important and potentially grave issues may have been missed because of children being unseen during this period.

It is also crucial to recognise that many children may actually have become vulnerable during lockdown. For too many children, home is not a refuge. We've also spoken directly with children and young people in care and those in the BAME community to learn about their experiences of COVID, and we believe that, in the next phase of managing the pandemic, more attention is needed on how we support the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our society, many of whom have been shown to be disproportionately affected by the virus. The committee believes that vulnerable children and those at risk of becoming vulnerable due to the pandemic must be a priority. Children have been largely hidden and voiceless in this pandemic, and it is incumbent upon all of us in this Chamber to be their voice.

I mentioned, in my opening remarks, that children and young people have, mercifully, been less susceptible to the virus than adults. Nevertheless, the impact on their mental health has been a huge concern. It is clear from the evidence we've received that many of the feelings young people have been experiencing, such as anxiety, stress and loneliness, are a natural response to the pandemic. There is a very important balance to be struck between recognising and supporting mental health problems and not medicalising entirely natural responses to a pandemic that is frightening and traumatic for us all. But the importance of children and young people knowing where they can go for help is clear and even more vital when familiar places such as schools and doctors' surgeries are less accessible.

The committee believes this makes the implementation of our 'Mind over matter' recommendations more important and urgent than ever. Welsh Government must urgently address the gaps in services for those children and young people who need support but who don't meet the threshold for child and adolescent mental health services—the so-called missing middle. We call on Welsh Government to continue to prioritise implementation of all our 'Mind over matter' recommendations, and we will return to our follow-up work on that inquiry at the earliest available opportunity.

In many circumstances, particularly in relation to mental health, face-to-face interaction remains a vital component of support. Service design must have children and young people at the very centre and must recognise individual needs. One size does not fit all.

As a committee, we were deeply concerned that while the physical health needs of the population were necessarily a priority in the early stages of the pandemic, we were told services to support children's mental health and well-being were exposed to the risk of deprioritisation. Recognising the very real possibility of a second wave, Welsh Government must set out the clear steps it will take to ensure that children's mental health services are protected and funded sufficiently to avoid the long-term consequences that would follow from a lack of specialist support.

Turning now to further and higher education, evidence presented to us highlighted the deeply worrying financial impact of losses of student fees and other university income, the increased risk of university insolvency and the considerable likelihood of staff redundancies. We've heard concerns that the Welsh Government have not allocated additional funding to providers or the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales for the 2020-21 academic year, and there are currently no publicly stated plans to do so. We have also heard concerns that there are currently no plans for any additional Government financial allocations of support for students who may be experiencing hardship because of the pandemic, and uncertainty also remains about how courses will be delivered and what the blend of online and face-to-face teaching and assessment will be. For further education, blended learning and ensuring that staff get the professional learning they need to deliver this were raised with us as challenges.

In closing, acting Deputy Presiding Officer, closely monitoring developments over the summer will be a priority for the committee. We intend to continue timely and constructive scrutiny of the response to COVID to ensure that children and young people are at the heart of all decisions. We are conscious that the return to school in September will need to be managed carefully and safely, but the committee has been clear in its view that opportunities for children and young people to have face-to-face contact with staff must be maximised for their physical and mental well-being, as well as for their education. The First Minister has been clear throughout this pandemic that there is more than one harm from coronavirus. We agree and we call on the Welsh Government to ensure that mitigating the harm and collateral damage to children from this pandemic is a top priority. Thank you.