7. What assessment has the Minister made of the impact of the pandemic on the implementation of the new curriculum in Mid and West Wales? OQ55923

Thank you, Helen Mary. All our schools have faced, as I said, unprecedented challenges this year, and many in mid and west Wales, though, are making good use of the new curriculum guide and thinking about their future curriculum developments. I understand schools' access to support and professional learning is increasing in the region as we move towards 2022.

I'm grateful to you, Minister, for your answer. I've been contacted by a young teacher from Llanelli, in my region, who's actually really enthusiastic about the new curriculum. The phrase she used is, 'I can't wait.' But she is very concerned about not being properly prepared, and, at the same time, concerned about being—'distracted' is the wrong word, but having to work so much harder with pupils, especially when you're having to deal with blended learning, young people who are having to catch up. She's really worried that, if we proceed on the timetable as it stands, she won't be ready to deliver the new curriculum in the way that she wants to at the same time as preparing and providing support for her young people, many of whom—. There are emotional issues; she's a form teacher, so she's very involved in that support. She's asked me to raise this with you directly, Minister, not because she wants in any way to undermine the new curriculum process, but because she really, really wants to get it right, and she's not sure, as a relatively young professional, that she can do both at once. What would you like me to tell her?

Well, first of all, can I ask you to tell her 'thank you' for what she is doing at the moment? Our NHS and social care staff have done tremendous work for us during this pandemic, and people often forget that our teaching and educational professionals and our youth workers are also on the front line. So, please tell her 'thank you' for me and 'thank you' for her enthusiasm and the promise that the new curriculum brings. And her worry is, I think, characteristic of the professionalism we have within the education workforce in Wales. They want to get it right and they are frightened of the consequences if they don't, because they do not want to let their pupils down. As I said, there is financial support for professional development available. We have provided additional guidance just last month to schools to begin to think about how they can plan their programme going forward. There will be further advice and support available in the new year, and we will continue to keep the timescale of the curriculum implementation under review. Because the last thing any of us want, including myself, alongside this dedicated professional, is not to get it right. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance, the first time ever our nation will have its own curriculum, and we all, collectively, want to get it right.

Minister, in evidence to the Children, Young People and Education Committee on the Curriculum and Assessment (Wales) Bill, Mind Cymru rightly said that the new curriculum provides a unique opportunity to place the mental health of all our young people at the heart of their learning and school experience. Given that the pandemic has also had such an impact on children's mental health, can you tell us how the Welsh Government will now be prioritising mental health and well-being in the new curriculum?

Absolutely, Paul, and, indeed, this precise point that you made, that, now more than ever, attention to children's well-being, both their physical and their mental well-being, is at the forefront, and that's why many schools are anxious to continue to pursue the new curriculum, because, under our area of learning and experience entitled 'health and well-being', and the 'what matters' statements that lie beneath, that gives us a huge amount of scope to deliver a curriculum to support children's mental health and well-being, for an understanding of what impacts upon their mental health and well-being, and to develop a culture of help-seeking behaviour if people are struggling and to break down some of the stigma and barriers that in the past, perhaps, have stopped children and young people coming forward. But, of course, lessons themselves are not enough, and that's why we have a whole-school approach to mental health and well-being, where the mental health and well-being of everybody in that school environment, including the staff who work there, needs to be a key consideration. Getting well-being right is the crucial first building block to making learning stick and to having a really successful school. So, it's about the curriculum, but it's also about the environment that we surround our children and our workforce with that promotes well-being and supports people if they begin to struggle.

Thank you very much, Minister. Thank you.