4. What action is the Welsh Government taking to deliver first-class school education in Wales? OQ58197

Can I thank Altaf Hussain for that question? From September this year, this Senedd’s new curriculum will be a reality in 95 per cent of schools and nursery settings in Wales. The new curriculum represents a radical shift in delivering that first-class education that enables our learners to become informed citizens of Wales and the world.

Thank you, First Minister. First Minister, the pandemic has shone a harsh light on inequalities in Wales, and much of this was seen through the delivery of our education system while parents struggled to be both parent and teacher for their children, and also when the welfare of children became a concern during a prolonged absence from the classroom. The crisis now with the cost of living is forcing parents to meet another challenge, and one where we might see an increase in school absences as parents attempt to find cheaper holidays during school time. What discussions has he had with colleagues in Government and across our school system to assess the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on school attendance? Thank you.

I thank the Member for that question. I commend to him the recent lecture given by the Minister for education to the Bevan Foundation, in which he grappled with exactly the sorts of issues that Dr Hussain has raised with us this afternoon. These are complex matters. I have no wish whatsoever, Llywydd, to penalise any families who are struggling with the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and face additional difficulties in making sure their children are present—as those children need to be, as children have a right to an education in Wales—in the classroom. I don't think that my tolerance would extend all the way to families who choose to take their children out of school in order to go on holiday. There is a different and a better solution to that, and that is to reform the school year. That is another measure that my colleague Jeremy Miles is working on at the moment, with our partners in the school and educational fields. By reforming the school year, we would be able to take away that perverse incentive, or impact on it, that exists for parents to do exactly as Altaf Hussain has suggested. That's not the answer to making sure that children get the education that they need and deserve in Wales. 

First Minister, Rhigos Primary School in my constituency is celebrating after recently being awarded the title of best breakfast club in Wales. We've been providing free breakfasts for children in Wales for just under 20 years now, improving not just their health but also their concentration levels. And of course, the benefits of that universal access to good nutrition is set to be significantly expanded with the roll-out of free school meals to all primary-aged children in Wales. First Minister, will you send a message of congratulations to Mrs Mundy and her team at Rhigos primary for receiving this impressive accolade? And what best practice do you think might be taken from Rhigos and shared so that all breakfast clubs can offer our pupils a first-class addition to their school education?

I do thank Vikki Howells for that, and absolutely want to congratulate Rhigos Primary School and the team of people who have achieved that very significant award. I'm afraid, Llywydd, I have been around long enough vividly to remember a visit to a school in Rhondda Cynon Taf, the local authority represented here, with others, by Vikki Howells. It was a visit carried out by the then First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, and he met a formidable headteacher, who said to him that if there was one thing that she would like to see the Welsh Government do, it would be to take action to prevent children in her school turning up every morning too hungry to learn. That was a very sobering moment, Llywydd. From that one visit, the whole programme that we've had now right across Wales for, as Vikki Howells said, almost the whole of devolution to provide a free breakfast in primary schools, that's where that idea came from. And it does, as Vikki Howells has said, make sure that children who come to the classroom in Wales are ready to learn and not constantly preoccupied by the fact that they haven't eaten since they were last in school.

That will be enhanced even further by our programme of free dinners, free school meals—universal free school meals—a commitment embedded in our co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, and where a major step forward was taken yesterday with the announcement of the move forward in September of this year. I am hugely encouraged by the fact that so many schools and so many local authorities in Wales are able to join the roll-out of universal free school meals so early in the programme, and others with very active plans to extend that offer, not just to reception-age pupils, but to year 1 and year 2 students as well. It's an idea that's been widely welcomed, for all the reasons that Vikki Howells said, and we're off to a very good start with our programme here in Wales.