Thank you, acting Deputy Presiding Officer. 'Children have suffered collateral damage during the pandemic.' Those were the words of Dr David Tuthill of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health when he gave evidence to the Children, Young People and Education Committee recently.

As a committee, we recognise that children and young people currently appear to be less susceptible to the virus than adults, but there is no doubt that the wider effects of COVID-19 and the measures taken to manage it have impacted their live hugely: the closure of schools and youth clubs; restrictions on play and on young people socialising; the impact of the virus on family members; and frightening death figures.

When Wales entered lockdown, the committee announced our intention to look closely at the impact of COVID-19 and the measures adopted to manage it on children and young people in Wales. We in Wales place a particular emphasis on children's rights and for a very good reason. Children do not vote, children do not have trade unions to speak on their behalf, and children have been largely hidden in this pandemic. On this basis and in light of our belief that managing the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people needs to be a clear priority for the Welsh Government and public bodies, we wanted to make sure that all Members of the Senedd have an opportunity to discuss these issues before the summer recess.

Approaching the next phase of managing the pandemic with children's rights at the forefront of our minds is a key priority for us and one we are committed to pursuing. That's why we have scheduled today's debate. We want to make sure that children are not the hidden victims of this public health crisis.

Turning now to the committee's approach to scrutiny, we realise that things have necessarily moved quickly to manage this pandemic, and we wanted to make sure that our scrutiny was timely and meaningful, so we've engaged in regular correspondence with Welsh Ministers. I would like to place on record our thanks to all those who've taken the time, often in the most difficult of circumstances, to share their experiences with us. All your views will be published and will inform our work going forward. In particular, I would like to thank the children and young people who've given us their questions, which I've been able to put directly to witnesses in committee. It has enabled us, in a small way, to ensure that children and young people's voices are directly heard in our committee.

As Chair, I will focus my contribution on the main themes that we've focused on in recent weeks and I know that other Members will speak in more detail about each. Turning first to education, throughout the pandemic, we've heard regularly from the Minister about her plans for schools. We welcome last week's announcement that, based on scientific advice and subject to a continued decline in community rates of infection, all children will return to school in September.

We know that while some pupils have had excellent support for their learning at home from their school's staff and their parents and carers, for many children and families this has been a really difficult time. These difficulties have ranged from challenges with technology and broadband to parents and carers having to constantly juggle work and home lives. The support children have had in their home learning has been too variable, with some children having high-quality face-to-face remote contact with teachers and live lessons, and other children having none at all.