Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Education – in the Senedd at 2:59 pm on 17 March 2021.
Thank you, Delyth. I think you have hit upon one of the aspects of the interruption to education that has really impacted upon children and young people, and that is a sense of isolation and the inability to spend time with their friends. And that's why schools the length and breadth of Wales have been focusing on that when they have seen the foundation phase return. And, indeed, that interaction and that pedagogy is at the heart of our foundation phase approach, and in that playing together once again, being together, chatting together, children are learning and acquiring the skills that they need for a confident future. That's why we have ensured that there is time and space within the curriculum for that to happen, and that's why we have made additional funding available together to ensure that there are adults there to support children as they re-engage with face-to-face learning and re-establish those relationships with their peers and with their teachers and teaching assistants.