7. What is the Welsh Government doing to improve school standards in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire? OQ56441

Thank you, Angela. Welsh Government has so far provided Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire local authorities with £1,649,000 to recruit, recover and raise standards, supporting learners at crucial stages in their education. I recently announced an additional £72 million to support learners, taking our total support for learning—I was going to use the word 'recovery', but after what I've just said, that would be remiss of me—for our learning plan for 2021 to £112 million.

Well, thank you for that, but the reality in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire is, over the last decade and a bit, only one out of the five secondary schools in that constituency have not been in some form of special measures or targeted intervention or needing to improve significantly. Now, with education being hit by COVID over the last 12 months, it's inevitable that the schools that were already struggling will struggle to move forward. I'm thinking of schools such as Greenhill, where Estyn report after Estyn report after Estyn report has said there has to be improvement, and improvement we do not really see. So, what action is the Welsh Government going to be able to provide specifically to schools in special measures or that require some kind of significant improvement, to help raise the standards of their educational offering to their pupils? Because this is a problem that seems to be incredibly intractable.

Thank you, Angela. Whilst inspection activities have been suspended during the pandemic, I want to reassure you, and indeed other Members, that Estyn continue to engage with schools that were previously identified as needing an additional level of support. Clearly, that has been done remotely and has been done in a sympathetic way, recognising the conditions under which those schools are working, but that work has not stopped as a result of the pandemic, nor has the work of the regional consortia in ensuring that those schools that have been previously identified as needing additional support continue to receive it.

With regard to schools that are causing concern, the Member may be aware that, prior to COVID, we had piloted a new multi-agency approach, with Estyn having an ongoing role in leading school improvement rather than the previous role, where Estyn came in, decided what they felt was wrong, disappeared and then came back to pass a judgment once again. The new pilot model, prior to COVID, trialled in a number of schools, was proving to be very successful, and in my recent letter to Estyn, I have also agreed to extend funding for that programme. So, that programme will become available to all of Wales, which, I believe, is a different approach to trying to make more rapid progress in those schools where we know extra support is needed.