Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I welcome this opportunity to discuss the legislative response that we've made to the COVID-19 pandemic, using powers afforded to us by the Coronavirus Act 2020. Throughout these extraordinary times, we've worked hard to give schools and local authorities the time and the space that they need to get on with the important job of supporting the needs of all learners, right the way across Wales whilst responding to the challenging situation we find ourselves in. I remain humbled by the response of our dedicated practitioners, leaders and support staff across all of our schools and settings. However, I do recognise the significant pressure that our schools and settings are under, and continue to be under, during this time. In June, I made the Curriculum Requirements (Amendment of paragraph 7(5) of Schedule 17 to the Coronavirus Act 2020) (Wales) Regulations 2020, which amended the lists of enactments that can be disapplied by the Welsh Ministers for a specified period by notice. I then agreed for a notice to be issued, disapplying the basic curriculum and associated assessment arrangements, ahead of schools and settings reopening to more learners during the summer term. This notice applied from 24 June until 23 July.

In order to continue to support schools when they returned in September, I made the decision to make the Curriculum Requirements (Amendment of paragraph 7(6) of Schedule 17 to the Coronavirus Act 2020) (Wales) Regulations 2020. These regulations added section 43 of the Education Act 1997, section 69 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 and sections 101, 109 and 110 and 116A to 116K of the Education Act 2002 to the table of enactments in paragraph 7(6) that can be modified in a particular way by the Welsh Ministers for a specified period by notice. This allowed us to issue a notice that temporarily modified the curriculum requirements for Wales and, using existing powers in the Coronavirus Act 2020, associated assessment arrangements for schools and funded non-maintained nursery settings to a 'reasonable endeavours' basis. This temporary modification enables schools to have some flexibility in how they comply with their duties, where that flexibility is needed. It does not remove the requirement for schools to seek to fulfil their curriculum and assessment duties. Instead, it requires them to make reasonable endeavours to meet those duties. This means that if a school has taken all reasonable steps to perform a statutory duty, but if they are still unable to do so, then that duty will be treated as satisfied. 

It is important to remember that these amendments have been made in the context of the Welsh Government's learning guidance, which sets out the learning priorities that remain key in all scenarios and at all stages of the pandemic. All of these actions have been completed with the help and the collaboration of our stakeholders and I commend them to the Senedd.