5. Statement by the Minister for Education: The Estyn Annual Report 2019-2020

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:23 pm on 19 January 2021.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 5:23, 19 January 2021

Thank you, Caroline, for that, and I'm sure your good wishes will be much appreciated by the inspector.

With regard to digital competence, well, digital competence is the first part of our new curriculum that was published and is a platform for driving the development of skills in this area for our young people. They are, if not already—and this pandemic has proven it—as important as literacy and numeracy skills. With regard to how we will take it forward, we continue to review guidance and support with regard to what constitutes a good distance-learning model. There is emerging research all of the time, as a result of this pandemic, as to what makes a good learning mix, and schools are being disseminated with that information. And what's also really important is many schools are actually listening to learners and families about what is working for them and what they need to improve on, and that needs to be reflected in the offers that schools are bringing forward.

Can I say, in terms of what we're able to support schools and families with, we are unique in that we have an amazing opportunity, working with some of the biggest software companies in the world? And there's nobody bigger than Microsoft. Every single child in Wales and every single teacher in Wales is able to have free Microsoft software on up to five devices, because the Welsh Government has invested and has provided that for them. We are the first nation in the world, I believe, to have free access to Adobe software for staff and for children, and that is an amazing platform on which to build. But we will need to build on that, and, again, as I said earlier, we're looking for silver linings.

There are new pedagogical approaches that we have learnt through this pandemic. Teachers skills in this area have grown immensely. And potentially, remote learning has real opportunities to support children for whom being in a traditional school setting is challenging and difficult for them, and therefore helping them, keeping learning remotely, is something that we can learn from, as well as addressing, on a wider scale, the lessons we've already learnt from our school project. My daughter is able to undertake an A-level that would not be available to her in a school, because it is delivered remotely from a teacher in another school. She would have had to compromise on her choices if it wasn't for the skill of that individual teacher to teach not only the children that are in front of him in his classroom, but also a classroom in a school some 15 miles away. So, I think there are definitely opportunities there to be able to enhance educational opportunities. And at the moment, Welsh schoolchildren are having lectures and lessons delivered to them by Massachusetts Institute of Technology—the best university in the world. Their students and their staff are delivering lectures to Welsh students now from Massachusetts, and that just shows you how we can use this technology to break down barriers and give our children access to the very best, wherever that may be, to expand their opportunities, to expand their horizons and to support them to reach their full potential.