2. What is the Welsh Government doing to help schools drive up attendance rates amongst the most disadvantaged pupils following the publication of the latest Estyn report? OQ57323

It is important that we have a comprehensive understanding of what is happening on the ground across all cohorts of learners. A review of attendance patterns is under way and I expect interim findings shortly, with the report in February of next year, and the findings of that review will help us inform the development of targeted policy interventions.

Thank you, Minister. I found one of the most significant statements in Estyn’s annual report was that nearly all school leaders have prioritised the well-being of their staff and pupils over their own. And I fully understand that headteachers and staff with safeguarding responsibilities are carrying a very heavy burden about the well-being of pupils, particularly those who have yet to return to school following the lockdown. And in some respects, schools feel they’re like the fourth emergency service, because while they have vulnerable children in front of them or at the front of their minds, most of the other support services that schools can normally draw on are actually still operating online and from home. So, they really are challenging situations that teachers are having to deal with. I think this is particularly true of those students who have yet to return to school. These are not children who are self-isolating, quite rightly; these are children who simply have not turned up in school and despite the best endeavours of schools, they are still absent. And we know—

Can you ask a question now, please?

—from the police that there's been a huge rise in domestic violence, a huge rise in the number of children being pulled into county lines or other forms of exploitation, which were exacerbated by lockdown. So, do you agree with me that, whilst numerically small, every unexplained absence from school, particularly if they've not been in school since lockdown, constitutes a major cause for concern for every pupil's well-being, and getting them back into school has to be a priority for all the agencies involved?

Well, I couldn't agree more with the Member on the first point that she made, which is that teaching and school staff have put the well-being of their learners very often ahead of their own. And I think I just want to put on the record again today my gratitude to the entire education workforce for the incredible efforts they’ve made over the last 18 months, but with, I think, particular recognition of how challenging the last term has been in our schools.

And the other point that she made that I want to underscore is that these are individuals and not just, as you acknowledged in your question, a question of numbers—each individual case is important. That’s why, actually, as well as looking at the patterns of attendance and non-attendance, I wanted to commission a piece of work to understand what's actually happening on the ground in terms of school leaders' views about why this is happening in particular.

And so, I’m hoping to be able to announce some particular support, before the end of this term, for pupils who have had a pattern of non-attendance and to support schools to engage more with those families. There is a particular issue in terms of those who are eligible for free school meals. There’s been a tendency for there to be lower attendance rates amongst those pupils. And there’s also an issue in relation to year 11 pupils, who have tended to be less likely to attend as well. So, those are two of the cohorts, but also the ones that she mentioned in her question. It is very important for us to understand individual circumstances and work with those families and learners.

Minister, my constituency is home to one of the most deprived communities in Wales and maybe even in the whole of the UK. Sadly, poverty is so often linked to poor educational achievement, and it can be a really vicious cycle, with children of poorly educated parents less likely to achieve a good education. As the Estyn report highlights, this will have been exacerbated by the pandemic, as home schooling will have been very challenging for those households. While Rhyl, thankfully, has good broadband coverage, poorer households may be unable to afford broadband or the devices needed to access online learning. Minister, will you join me in welcoming the Vodafone Great British Tech Appeal, which is asking us to donate our old devices, such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, which they can refurbish and supply to needy families, along with free data, calls and texts? Minister, will you commit to working with the likes of Vodafone to ensure that the scheme benefits families in the Vale of Clwyd and across Wales?

I certainly agree with him that we need to ensure that those families who are least able to afford access to broadband and the kind of computer equipment that many of us will take for granted are able to access that in order for those opportunities to be available to learners, regardless of their circumstances. In the last year, the Welsh Government has funded around £150 million-worth of both equipment and also connectivity to support exactly that kind of learner, to take full advantage of the blended learning and remote learning opportunities, which, unfortunately, we've had to be able to provide over the course of the last 18 months. I think that provides a very good platform for us, actually, in the future to enable that technology to become perhaps more mainstream in how we take forward learning in our schools, including in the new curriculum, to the advantage of all our learners, regardless of their circumstances.