3. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to ensure consistency in relation to remote learning in schools across Wales? OQ56116

Diolch yn fawr, Llyr. Clear guidance has been issued to schools and local authorities on distance learning as well as pre-recorded and live streaming of lessons. A dedicated area on Hwb is available that contains all the relevant information. Guidance has also been produced by both Estyn and the consortia, with a range of support being made available to schools and to parents.

Since I tabled this question, the future generations commissioner has also commented on this issue and she's described online learning as being patchy and inconsistent, and there are grave inconsistencies between not only different education authorities but individual schools within those authorities, and I'm not just talking here about access to equipment and connectivity; there is also inconsistency in terms of how many hours children are expected to learn every day, what kind of work they could expect, what digital platforms are used. Some receive face-to-face learning online, while some don't and only receive worksheets to complete. Now, I don't know if you would agree with the future generations commissioner that you should have done more to ensure consistency across Wales by providing greater guidance for schools and local authorities as a Government, because the upshot of the inconsistency is that we have a postcode lottery, where some children are gaining and others are losing out, and all that does, of course, is exacerbate the inequalities that are already too prominent within the education system in Wales.

Thank you, Llyr. I have to say, I do not know whether additional guidance is what we need. Often we hear from practitioners that Welsh Government is producing far too much guidance and it becomes a burden in itself in trying to keep up with it all. We published our distance learning plans in July. They have been kept updated. There is further guidance, as I said that, will be published today with a focus on our older learners. I think it's really important to recognise the huge strides the Welsh education system has taken at this time, and that's not just me saying that; Estyn, our school inspector, were involved in a number—. Well, actually, they visited all educational authorities during the autumn term. Again, sometimes that was not welcomed by our LEAs because they felt they had enough to do doing their day-to-day job without being answerable to Estyn, but Estyn have been able to provide individual support and recommendations to each of our LEAs, and say that there has been a step change.

While we're on the issue of commissioners, the Children's Commissioner for Wales carried out a listening day back in November, and the unanimous verdict of every young person who took part in the online service said that the online offering of schools had improved markedly from the first lockdown. Now, clearly, we need to continue to identify those schools that find this a challenge and to support those schools to understand the barriers that they have. There is advice and guidance available on Hwb, as well as an opportunity for peers to support one another and to learn from and another. And I have to commend GwE, the regional consortia in the north, who I understand, from speaking to headteachers in the north, have made tremendous efforts during the autumn term to provide professional learning opportunities for practitioners to improve their skills in this area, and we continue to work with LEAs to ensure that the offer is consistent and high quality.

As has been said many times this afternoon, parents and pupils do need fast and reliable online access. That does help to ensure consistency in remote learning, and I think it's important now, Deputy Presiding Officer, to put on record that broadband is a responsibility for the UK Conservative Government, but I must say, their failures over the years are not the fault of my constituents. In that spirit, Minister, parts of my constituency, like many others across Wales, do not have the right fast and reliable access that they deserve, and parents are rightly concerned, so I'm here today seeking assurances that that will not impact their children's education. So, what can you say to residents in Flintshire, in particular, and what can your department do to give those assurances that they'll get the education that those children deserve and are entitled to? Perhaps you could provide a further comment, Minister, on how they would go about accessing in the short term one of these Mi-Fi devices.

Thank you, Jack. It is correct to say that, as to ultimately whose responsibility the roll-out of broadband is. Indeed, Welsh Government has committed significant amounts of its own resource to try and address the shortfall that we find in our nation. But nonetheless, as you said, that is no comfort to those parents or students who are struggling at this time. As I said, we have asked for an early assessment from local authorities of their needs at this time, and I'm sure that Flintshire will come forward soon with its requirements, which the Welsh Government is committed to assisting them with.

My advice for families at this time is, if they are struggling with either a laptop or connectivity, in the first instance they should make that known to their school, as to whether there is kit sitting in a classroom that could be lent to them at this opportunity, or to speak to their local authority, who I'm sure would want to help.

I think it is fair to say that there have been some delays in some of the items of equipment that we've been able to supply to schools. That's because of a global demand for IT equipment at this time, but we hope to be able to distribute a further 35,000 pieces of kit in the coming weeks on top of the kit that has already been made available.

Unlike England, where it's mandatory for schools to deliver a minimum amount of remote learning a day, overseen by school inspectors, there's no legal duty on schools in Wales to deliver a minimum amount of online teaching, and school inspectors are not overseeing this here. As reported today, the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales not only described online education in Wales while schools are closed as patchy and inconsistent, and stated the Welsh Government should do more to ensure consistency of learning at schools across Wales, but also said that real leadership from the top was needed. How do you therefore respond to the Flintshire parent who e-mailed last week, stating that her primary school children had not been taught effectively and asking why their school was still not in a position to give live lessons online; and to the statement by the Federation of North Wales Secondary School Head Teachers that current years 11 and 13 have had significant reduction in their face-to-face provision, the level of this reduction is not equitable across all schools, and is not equally impacting on all pupils?

What I would say, Mark, is that the description of secondary learning that you've just described is not the fault of the schools, of the local education authority or even the Welsh Government. It's the fault of the fact that different schools have been hit to different levels by positive cases. There are some schools in Wales—indeed, not an insignificant number—that thankfully to date have not had a positive case, although we know that there are other schools in Wales that have been very, very severely affected by positive COVID cases, which has led to significant disruption. Those cases where we have seen the highest levels of the disease in the community are those schools that have seen the highest levels of disruption, and that's nobody's fault. It is a product of how this disease has ravaged our country.

With regard to guidance for distance learning, the Welsh Government has long-standing guidance that is very, very clear around our expectations, and I would rather be working alongside our inspectors who, as I said to Llyr Gruffydd and Mark seems to be unaware, have visited all local education authorities during the autumn term to look at the adequacy of their plans for distance learning and their support for individual schools, and headteachers were interviewed as part of that process so that they were able to give feedback. All local authorities have been given individual reports on their state of readiness and support for their school systems. I'm sure if there are gaps, those local authorities will want to address them. And overall, Estyn say that schools have made significant progress in improving their offer. There is more that we can do by working in partnership together; threatening schools will not help at this time.

Minister, can I just begin by commending the work that's been going on within schools, both with the teaching staff but also with the heads and deputy heads as well to get the progress that we have? I don't want to labour the point, but the Hwb guidance is very, very good but it does give total discretion to the headteacher and school staff based on the conditions in the school, based on the resources available to them as to how much face time, how much live streaming there is. Now, that's a fair recognition of those conditions in each particular school and particular environment, but I wonder, Minister, whether there's an 'in principle' approach that you have, recognising that on the principles of equity, it also states in the Hwb guidance that there should be those opportunities to maintain connections with teaching and support staff and peers during the period of potential social isolation. So, how do we get the balance right and should there be face-to-face contact and, if so, how much and how often?

There are two issues. There is the issue of the live streaming of lessons, which increasingly we see being utilised across Wales, recognising that that itself poses different challenges for individual learners and families, and that's why we do have to have discretion for headteachers who know their communities and their cohorts, their schoolchildren and parents the best to be able to create a blended learning offer that truly meets the needs. They will also, of course, change depending on the age of the cohort. As I said earlier, I don't think any of us would want our very youngest children being sat in front of screens for hours and hours and hours.

But it is important, quite rightly, as you say, not just from a pedagogy point of view, but from a child safeguarding, welfare and mental health point of view, that children should have regular contact. Therefore, our guidance is very clear that there should be regular check-ins, not just in lessons, but regular check-ins with students to provide an opportunity to understand how that learning experience is going, whether it's working, whether children are thriving and to be able to possibly consider additional support and additional approaches if that is necessary.