The next item is item 8. This is the statement from the Minister for education on Adnodd—supporting the Curriculum for Wales. I call on the Minister to make the statement—Jeremy Miles.

Thank you, Llywydd. Gaining access to high-quality bilingual educational resources and supporting materials is central to our vision and mission for education in Wales. High-quality educational resources made in Wales for Wales will enhance the quality of learning and promote learner progression.

That is why, in March last year, I announced my intention to set up a company specifically to oversee the provision of purposeful, high-quality and timely teaching and learning materials. I'm pleased to say today that Adnodd has been established and will become operational from 1 April.

Adnodd will provide a platform for collaboration and co-construction, which will bring a more strategic approach to the provision and commissioning of educational resources. It will ensure parity and equity in provision in Welsh and English. It will guarantee high-quality resources, and make the most of the expertise available nationally.

Working with stakeholders from the education, creative and public sectors has been, and will continue to be, fundamental to the provision of educational resources and supporting materials that are made in Wales.

A national network conversation was held in 2021, with a focus on practitioners. That resulted in teachers in Wales co-constructing the resources guide that was published by us last July. That guide forms the starting point for Adnodd’s work. It sets out key principles for resource development. The development and availability of resources should reflect the needs of schools and settings as part of their work in designing and developing the curriculum. Therefore, engaging with practitioners from across Wales is an essential component in developing resources that are made in Wales. That engagement also extends to external stakeholder organisations and expert input. The process should also involve learners, to ensure the resources are appropriate and engaging.

It is also essential that Adnodd provides a platform to engage learners and practitioners in how to make best use of resources. Adnodd will provide that space for promotion and engagement, to ensure that the experience of using the resources is positive and productive for all.

Adnodd will be that go-to service that is easily recognisable and that facilitates co-construction between practitioners and other stakeholders to create resources of quality, which are consistent with the principles of the Curriculum for Wales and that have a clear learning rationale. I am clear that we must continue to ensure that the resulting resources are available through the Hwb platform, so that schools and settings have that clear and unique space to go to for resources that are appropriate, high quality and made in Wales.

I'm pleased to announce the appointment of Owain Gethin Davies as the interim chair of Adnodd's board. As headteacher of Ysgol Uwchradd Dyffryn Conwy, he is an experienced leader in the field of education, with a background in curriculum development, Welsh language strategic planning, inspection and leadership development. I'm confident that his experience and expertise will enable him to establish a national body that will understand and meet the needs of practitioners.

I have also appointed five non-executive members to the board—Huw Lloyd Jones, Nicola Wood, Sioned Wyn Roberts, Dr Lucy Thomas and Lesley Bush. These individuals bring a range of skills and experience to the table, including governance, legal, audit and risk, commissioning content and publishing, as well as educational and additional educational needs experience and expertise. We will be looking for two more board members in the next six months, specifically to ensure that we have representation from black, Asian and ethnic minority communities. The board will consult with representatives from these communities in the meantime, to ensure that full consideration of black, Asian and ethnic minority voices are embedded in its work from the outset. 

Work will be ongoing in the coming months to build the connections, systems and foundations necessary for the company to be able to operate efficiently. In its first year, I want Adnodd to engage with stakeholders to seek their views and get feedback on what resources are needed, the best and most inclusive method of commissioning resources, how to work together to develop resources, and what a quality-assurance process should look like.

There is a vast variety of resources out there, and practitioners need to know that the resources that they're investing their time in, and what we are investing finite public resources in, are materials that are evidence based, that are proven to work and that reflect the principles and rationale of the Curriculum for Wales. That is why I'll be asking Adnodd to develop a quality assurance framework.

In future, Adnodd will also develop and invest in skills and capacity to create, share and publish educational resources in Wales. Working with the national network, for example, there will be opportunities to share expertise and experience and to develop the capacity of schools and practitioners in creating resources that support their local curriculum.

Over £4 million is set aside annually for Welsh and bilingual educational resources and supporting materials. A transition plan will ensure a seamless transfer to Adnodd, ensuring that there are no gaps in commissioning, and providing space for Adnodd to develop a model that is truly made in Wales for Wales.

I'm committed to Adnodd's vision and I'm proud to be a key partner as it embarks on this exciting journey. I am confident that this approach will make a difference and that Adnodd will be an important component of the success of the Curriculum for Wales as it's rolled out. I will of course keep Members updated on developments as part of my annual report on curriculum reform. 

I look forward to working with Owain Gethin and the board members to realise this ambition to support the education system in Wales.

Diolch yn fawr, Minister, for your statement today. Of course, we all want to see the Welsh language properly supported, especially after what can only be considered disastrous census results. Whilst we in the Welsh Conservatives are supportive of Adnodd being set up, don't you think it could be considered short sighted to have the company that is set to take the reigns of the crucial learning materials for the new curriculm to be delivered so long after the roll-out of the curriculum itself has begun? Surely, we now have another cohort of students who have missed this opportunity with this delay.

Now, whilst your focus has been on establishing a company to manage learning materials, do you not recognise that you have failed to ensure that there are sufficient Welsh-speaking teachers, particularly Welsh-speaking teachers in core subjects, to actually utilise these materials? We have a staffing crisis in Wales, yet you are producing materials without the teachers to actually teach them. So, Minister, how will these materials be properly used without the sufficient number of Welsh-language teachers in Wales?

It's not just the lack of teachers to utilise the materials that concerns me. It's crucial that, with cuts to the education budget now announced by your Government, you ensure this company delivers on its stated mission and proves itself to be a good use of Welsh Government funding and efforts. We always hear of new boards being set up for various portfolios across this Welsh Government and, quite often, when you look into them, there's not much transparency, you never know how often they meet, where the minutes of these meetings go. So, what assurances can you give that this will be a transparent board and that they will be accountable? Can we be sure this approach is cost-effective? If so, what mechanisms have you put in place to ensure the taxpayer isn't footing an ever-growing bill?

The fall in the number of children and young people able to speak Welsh was a critical component in the extremely poor latest census results, indicating that the present strategy of Welsh education provision is demonstrably failing, and has done since the start of devolution. A question I have for you also: you know we have GwE in north Wales—how will this board function and work with those kinds of organisations, this organisation? I suppose, for me—. There won't be any duplication, I hope. So, what mechanisms do you have in place to ensure that these materials are properly utilised in schools and that learners can get the most from them? And is there going to be sufficient training for current teachers to deliver these materials and to get the best out of them? Diolch.

I thank the Member for that range of questions. I think some are more germane to the statement than others. I think it is important to avoid duplication. I think we achieve that principally by this company having an entirely different function from, for example, the consortia, which she mentioned in her question. But it's obviously a legitimate point for her to raise. I can assure her that the activity that this body will be undertaking isn't duplicative. Indeed, it's intended to take on functions that are currently discharged, I would suggest, less than strategically across the network of providers. So, the whole point of this is to bring together the range of commissioning activities, including, by the way, from the Welsh Government, because it is important, as she says, to make sure this is streamlined and focused. I think the opportunity that establishing Adnodd represents is for it to be a focal point for creators, practitioners and other bodies in the education system to look to this body in order to give direction and obviously also to commission resources. What teachers have said is that they want to work with an organisation where their voice can be heard and their experience can help shape the resources that are available, so she's right to make the point that the voice of teachers is important in this, and I can assure her that both in my initial letter to the board and in my discussion with the chair I've emphasised how important it is for the new body to be seen as the go-to body for practitioners when they're looking for resources.

One of the key advantages in how we've structured the roles and responsibilities of Adnodd is to make sure, which is implicit in her question, that we have that wide range of materials that are consistent with the curriculum, so that we don't have publishers who are looking to take advantage of a new opportunity in Wales, but perhaps don't actually understand the principles of the curriculum. We want to move away from that, and to make sure that resources are available in Welsh as well as in English.

Mabon—. No, it's not Mabon ap Gwynfor. Apologies if I shocked you there, Mabon. Heledd Fychan. Oh, he's not even there. [Laughter.]

Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you for this afternoon's statement, Minister. Clearly, this is to be warmly welcomed, and I think that the benefits that you've outlined will certainly be welcomed by teachers. One of the things that you will have heard, as have I, in speaking to teachers, is that they welcome the new curriculum but that the issue of resources and that we don't have the necessary materials, particularly in Welsh, is a concern for them. Certainly, from some of the visits that I've undertaken to Welsh schools in my region recently, I've seen teachers who are delighted by the new curriculum, but also are spending a great deal of time translating materials in the evenings and during holiday times, to ensure that there is new and appropriate material available, and that, of course, adds to their workload. So, I think that this is to be very warmly welcomed indeed.

I also welcome the announcement through the co-operation agreement on the issue of Welsh history. There's certainly a deficiency there. I remember when I was in school, many years ago now, but there was a problem then, and seeing that it's the same materials that are still used today in schools, and that's the reason why schools haven't been choosing to teach Welsh history, because of a lack of resources. That has had an impact on a number of subjects, including the sciences and so on, because of the unavailability of resources. As you've emphasised, having bilingual and high-quality resources is the issue that we're trying to solve.

Some practical questions from me—two specifically: first, on the timetable in ensuring when the resources will be available. I know that you're announcing the establishment today, and that there will be some consultation, but for those teachers who are implementing the new curriculum and are perhaps having to use other materials at the moment and having to translate for themselves, what kind of support will be available in the interim? Because it will take time to get the necessary resources in place, and I fully understand that.

Also, in terms of the availability of resources for those home teaching. Of course, Hwb does provide some materials, but is it intended that these materials will be available through Hwb for them too? Hopefully, there will be a positive response. I look forward to seeing how things develop. But just to understand between now and when the resources become available how we will ensure that that support is available.

I thank the Member for welcoming this development. What's important to remember is that this is not the start of the commissioning process; commissioning is already happening, but I would say, to be honest, that it's happening in a way that's non-strategic across the system. But we have a plan to ensure that we move over time from the commissioning that's happening, for example, within the Welsh Government, to the new body in a smooth way.

The first priority of the body will be to establish a staffing structure and so forth. So, the main priority is to ensure that a chief executive is employed. The hope is that that will happen by, perhaps, September, and then a staffing structure around that, including interim secondments, so that we have a body of experienced people available who can work on the strategy. It's right to say that one of the main concerns among stakeholders is the lack of Welsh materials for the new curriculum, and the experience of adequate resources during COVID-19 in digital terms has been a consideration in establishing this new body.

As I mentioned in the statement, we heard the voices of practitioners in the national network, but we've also had discussions with a stakeholder group to look at different options in order to understand how best to structure the new body, and I think this is the best way of doing that. It's an arm's-length body from the Government, but then it meets the needs of stakeholders in a more flexible way, I would say, than any Government can do. So, I hope that I will be able to make a statement on progress in this area, but just to give the Member some assurance that a plan already exists to continue to commission, but when the body is more operational, there will be more of an opportunity to do that in a strategic way and a more engaging way for publishers and designers and those who create the content across the sector.

Thank you, Minister.