4. How is the Welsh Government ensuring that schools support pupils with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder? OQ55908

Thank you, Jack. The creation of strong and inclusive schools that are committed to excellence, equity and well-being is a key objective of the national mission. Our additional learning needs reforms will ensure all learners will be able to access a high standard of education to ensure that they reach their full potential.

Can I thank the Minister for that answer? Last week, I visited Ysgol Tŷ Ffynnon in my constituency to congratulate them on becoming the first school in Wales to be awarded the 'ADHD friendly school' award from the ADHD Foundation, a really fantastic achievement. Minister, will you take this opportunity to congratulate the school, and advise on how schools across Wales can follow Ysgol Tŷ Ffynnon's lead?

Thank you, Jack, for giving me the opportunity to put on record my sincere congratulations to all of those involved at Ysgol Tŷ Ffynnon in Flintshire, which is indeed the very first school in Wales to receive this accolade. It is a testament to the hard work and the dedication of the team of that school to become the living embodiment of that promise of the national mission of fully inclusive schools that look to meet the needs of all of their children. 

I was also hugely impressed when I visited that school myself. It's an exemplar that others need to follow, because attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, can be masked in an education environment. ADHD, or other related conditions, are not as a result of environmental issues or bad parenting. How do you therefore respond to the Flintshire constituents with children at other schools, whose e-mails in the last month alone include, 'My son was not afforded decision-making that afforded for his behaviours to be fully investigated and to be put on to our waiting list for an assessment. Instead, once again, it was determined to be a parenting issue, and not ADHD, autism or spectrum-related conditions'; and, 'I'm caring for a teenage boy with ASD and ADHD. The school have labelled us as parenting problems and reported us to social services, and CAMHS in my experience fail to provide an adequate assessment outlining the needs of the children, and openly admit they won't consider ADHD until at least seven years old. The issue I have with this is the strong genetic history of both ASD and ADHD in our family, and that the two combined present very differently to just one or the other condition on their own'?  

Well, Mark, as we've heard from Jack Sargeant, excellence in this area is achievable, and I'm very pleased to hear that you yourself have taken the opportunity to go and see that excellence for yourself. Training for professionals with regard to a range of additional learning needs is an important part of our £20 million transformation programme for ALN, and we have also commissioned an independent capacity review for neurodevelopmental services. It has already been commissioned and that will help us inform the development of further services, both inside and outside educational settings, and that review will commence early in 2021.