4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
They do have distinct meanings in legal and policy terms. So, children missing education are children who are of compulsory school age, who are not registered at school, and the local authority have not been able to determine they are in receipt of a suitable…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
The general safeguarding review is being led by social care, because, obviously, that's where this issue sits. But officials have been working very closely with social care officials, and that work will continue. The decision about where the education…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Yes, okay. What we've done is take a two-stage approach to the reviews. The first is the general safeguarding review, which is being chaired by Jan Pickles and is looking at the national safeguarding landscape, how everybody works together. That will be…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Thanks, Cefin. I missed the start of that, but I think you were just asking for an update on the work arising from 'Our Bravery Brought Justice'.
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Thank you. I'd welcome any help with ensuring that the money reaches education. So, that would be really helpful. You mentioned teaching assistants and that's been a priority for me, really. So, we're actively working with trade union partners to tackle some…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Thank you. Just on the teachers' point, just to say that I made that commitment in the Chamber when I did the statement about making sure that our whole workforce is upskilled in supporting children with ALN. That has been communicated to Dysgu. That is a key…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Definitely.
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Thank you. Again, this is an area where I've got a lot of information that could take up a lot of time. Am I right in thinking that the committee is going to write to me about this as well? So, there'll be an opportunity there to unpick some of those issues…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Well, what I would say is that I had a presentation on the CAL:ON project very recently. They're very willing to come and present to the committee to provide a technical briefing, and I would encourage the committee to take up that offer. Obviously, I know…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Thanks, Natasha. I met with the literacy panel before Christmas and they provided some initial findings for me. They've carefully considered the evidence and have developed some clear principles on literacy. But what I didn't want to do is rush this, because…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
And funding is starting to come up in some inspection reports. But I can't overemphasise to the committee enough this point about what schools are dealing with. I know I've raised it quite a few times, but it is the issue that has had the biggest impact on me…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Well, I think one of the themes would be the quality of teaching and learning, wouldn't it? That comes up regularly. And self-evaluation. Those, I think, are the main issues that come up in inspections. Obviously, there are some inspections where things like…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Well, I think the buck stops with all of us, really. It's a system, isn't it? Local authorities have got the statutory responsibility for school improvement. That's the way things have been set up in Wales. We've got local management of schools in Wales…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
I know that the committee's written to me, haven't they, about the school improvement scrutiny session and, obviously, the committee will have a full response on that in due course. I am worried about the situation with secondary schools going into special…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Thanks, Natasha. Well, as you said, we published the new school improvement guidance in January. That sets out clear roles and responsibilities for improvement and accountability within the system. We've been clear that local authorities need to work in…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Thanks, Natasha. Well, I'm very worried about the rates of exclusions. As you've highlighted, they have gone up, and we're seeing now increased exclusions amongst younger children, and also rising levels of short-term exclusions. I don't think we can look at…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Thank you. But there will be a further opportunity in Plenary.
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Okay. Thank you. Well, I could talk for about two hours on behaviour, and I don't want to do that because I want the committee to have the opportunity to also put questions to Vikki. If I can let the committee know, as well, that on 24 February, I'm going to…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
We can send it to the committee when it's finished.
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
The twenty-fourth of this month? There we are. It's this month that the evaluation is coming out. We've also been doing some work with Professor Ann John, who will be known to the committee, and she has been looking at the academic evidence about what works…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
—and this is a complex area and there is no one silver bullet, I don't think, on attendance. And I think you're right to point to the importance of evaluating what we're doing, and we've got an evaluation that's due to report on our community-focused schools…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Okay. Well, there's a lot in that question—
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Well, thank you for the question, Vaughan. And, as you say, attendance has been one of my top priorities with the other areas that you highlighted, but also all of them underpinned by well-being, which is, of course, key to the attendance challenges. As…
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
And punctuality.
4 Chwefror 2026 , Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Craffu cyffredinol ar waith Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg
Thanks, Buffy. Education remains a top priority for the Government. I've been very clear that my priority is to raise attainment. We are starting to see improvements there through our personalised assessment national report. Our qualification results in the…
