Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 1:36 pm on 30 September 2020.
Thank you very much, Jayne, for that. You're right—our sixth forms come in all shapes and sizes, with class sizes that can vary considerably, but it is correct to say that, sometimes, in popular subjects in large schools, sixth-form classes can indeed have a number of pupils. We have been very clear in our guidance to both schools and colleges that we should look to minimise contacts between groups of students at this particular time, and it is really important that practitioners are able to socially distance from their class.
Clearly, we are keeping under very careful review the operation of both schools and colleges, following the first month, really, of operations. I'm pleased to say that the vast majority of schools have not had a case and, where we have had cases of COVID in pupils or teachers, that's usually a single case in a single institution. We have had cases in our FE colleges, but I'm pleased to say that, working with local test, trace, protect teams, the disruption to learning has been minimised. But, clearly, we're keeping under constant review the guidance to both schools and colleges as a result of the experiences over the last four weeks, and we'll be looking to review guidance in light of what we have learned so far. What's really important to remember is that the advice to date from Public Health Wales is that there is no evidence that schools or colleges are vectors for the virus spreading, and cases that we have seen in schools are a reflection of what we're seeing in our communities.