6. Statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language: Curriculum for Wales Roll-out

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:21 pm on 5 July 2022.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 5:21, 5 July 2022

I thank the Member for those questions. She will know from my earlier answers that there's a significant amount of work under way in order to encourage pupils back to school. Some of that is around the funding of family engagement officers, but we are also looking at the recommendations that were made to us as a Government in the recent report that we've published by Meilyr Rowlands, some of which encourages us to look again at the framework that we have used to guide schools in this area right across Wales, which we will be undertaking.

In parallel with that, we'll also be looking at our guidance in relation to exclusions and looking at a holistic approach to the guidance that we make available to schools. Every school in Wales recognises how important this issue is, and I'm confident that schools recognise that the best means of doing that is to rebuild those relationships with parents and carers who don't feel they're able to send their children to school at the moment, and to remind them of the value to those families and to the children of being in school. I actually think that the new curriculum provides a really great opportunity in order to do that even more successfully in the future, and the reason for that is that the whole idea at the heart of the curriculum is to start the learner's journey from somewhere that is familiar, and to take that learner on a journey of discovery that can be limitless. I think that is an exciting way of re-engaging learners with the world of the school and with their learning. 

On the question of technology, I agree with her—that is very important. She will know of the £150 million-worth of investment that we have made in order to ensure that every child in Wales has access to digital technology. The Hwb network, which is the backbone of the curriculum, now has 50 log-ons per second, which is a phenomenal example of success, and we want to do more in this space. Again, at the heart of the curriculum is making sure that all our learners are digitally literate, and that I think is a very exciting opportunity both for every learner in Wales, but also for us as a nation.