, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Sort of. [Laughter.]
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
And my final question, Cadeirydd, and this one's from me. We're halfway through the Senedd term now, education Minister. You've been education Minister consistently through that time. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on things that you're proud of in your…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Okay. And the second question they had was: what discussion have you had with local authorities about including an element in the curriculum about food education and educating young people about where their food comes from? Especially with what's going on…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
I've got two more questions from the school, and then one from myself. So, the other one from the school was about the rural schools code, and about protection for rural schools in rural areas. We are seeing, still, rural schools closing, contrary to the code…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Lovely. You said earlier you'd answer any question, so I'm going to take the opportunity to ask you a couple now. I was in a meeting with Crickhowell High School the other day with some learners who were talking about politics, and they had a question for me…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Lovely. I wonder if you can give us another exclusive then, Minister, because I'm wondering when the funding letter is also going to be published—the commission's funding letter ahead of when it's developing that strategic plan. Do you have any idea when…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
In January, you told us that the statement of priorities for CTER—I'm going to use the acronym, because it will save me getting tongue-tied—would be published by February. It’s yet to be published. I'm just interested in when you think that statement of…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Diolch, Gadeirydd. Minister, I want to talk about the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research to start. One thing I am interested in is why there's been a delay in transferring powers to the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research. Do you think…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny of the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Diolch, Cadeirydd. Minister, you know, we all can point blame at whoever, but I'm interested in how we improve standards for children here in Wales, and my key ask to you is the what and the how. What have Welsh Government learned about PISA, and how are we…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Sustainable Farming Scheme
Diolch, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move the motion tabled in the name of my colleague, Darren Millar. Today, I stand to open this debate with a very heavy heart, burdened by the potential devastation facing rural Wales. The Welsh Government's proposed…
, Plenary
Debate on the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee Report, 'Inquiry into UK-EU governance'
I'd like to thank the Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee for giving a very thorough overview of what our report says. It probably took a lot of what I had to say away, so I'm going to have to ad lib a little bit to get through it…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms - evidence session
Diolch.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms - evidence session
You'll all be back again. [Laughter.]
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms - evidence session
It's something I've picked up in my own constituency, actually. Some schools are very good at doing it. More complex needs, for example, moving from primary to secondary, or going early, going more regularly to schools to understand where the staff are, and…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms - evidence session
Okay. And my final question, Cadeirydd: another thing we hear in a lot of evidence is that post-16 pupils can't get the support. Up to 16—and then post 16 it tends to drop off, and then the whole system has got to start again. I'm just interested from your…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms - evidence session
Really quickly, Chair, it was remiss of me—I should declare an interest that one member of my family is in receipt of ALN support in a school, just to put that on the record now; I forgot to do it earlier. One quick question I have is about collaboration…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms - evidence session
I'd love to know where you said 'no', because it's not what we've been told. [Laughter.]
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms - evidence session
Diolch, Cadeirydd. On additional learning needs, what we hear from a lot of people, from teachers and from parents as well, is they feel short-changed when it comes to ALN, that actually a lot of the money that's been made available by Government isn't going…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Scrutiny of Estyn Annual Report 2022-2023
Yes, yes.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Scrutiny of Estyn Annual Report 2022-2023
That's fine.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Scrutiny of Estyn Annual Report 2022-2023
Oh, that's good. Lovely. I'll move on to my final question—to test your patience, Chair. I'm just interested in how much progress is being made on mitigating the impacts of poverty on educational attainment. And, from your point of view, what more needs to be…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Scrutiny of Estyn Annual Report 2022-2023
I agree with you on the two inspections. I know some of my schools will probably have a different view on that, since they'd be burdened. But I do agree, because I've seen far too many schools go into monitoring, come out of monitoring, and, six years later…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Scrutiny of Estyn Annual Report 2022-2023
Okay. I just want to move on, because recent developments suggest that Welsh Government wants to move away from the regional consortia and the regional model of working. Is this something that you as Estyn have also detected, that the Welsh Government are…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Scrutiny of Estyn Annual Report 2022-2023
I won't push too much on the school holidays. As you said, it's a matter for politicians to decide, so I'll leave that there. But, as Members, we get Estyn reports all the time from schools, and you are right, sometimes our higher learners, our higher…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Scrutiny of Estyn Annual Report 2022-2023
Yes, and on the point you made about policy changes at the minute, the Welsh Government—. I think the consultation's just finished on the review of the school year as well. From my perspective, I'd rather be looking at how we drive up standards in schools…
