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Welsh Conservatives Debate: Teaching of reading skills in schools
Formally.
, Plenary
Debate on the Children, Young People and Education Committee Report, 'Implementation of education reforms: Interim report'
Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I’m grateful to the Children, Young People and Education Committee for their diligent work in monitoring the implementation of our education reforms throughout this Senedd term. This report demonstrates the committee’s extensive…
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Plaid Cymru Debate: Education funding
Okay. Sorry. I will be providing a further update to Members this term to set out more detail on our plans for school improvement and raising attainment. Dirprwy Lywydd, I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge facing education in Wales, which is the…
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Plaid Cymru Debate: Education funding
Well, Rhun, I've set out very clearly the action I am taking as Cabinet Secretary for Education, and you've only just come into the debate and not heard the full discussion either. [Interruption.] Apologies, I thought he wasn't.
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Plaid Cymru Debate: Education funding
Our settlement this year is still up to £700 million lower in real terms than expected at the time of the 2021 spending review, and our budget this year is £3 billion lower than if it had grown in line with gross domestic product since 2010. The Welsh…
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Plaid Cymru Debate: Education funding
Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I wanted to start by recognising the financial pressures that are facing our schools. I know from my own discussions with school leaders how worried they are about school budgets, and it would be wrong not to acknowledge that. I…
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Plaid Cymru Debate: Education funding
Formally.
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: Welsh-medium education through late immersion
Thank you very much, and you make very important points about inclusion and being inclusive, and I think that's key, really, isn't it, to the language flourishing? I take on board what's been said about variability in the way the provision is made. I still…
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Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: Welsh-medium education through late immersion
Thank you, Heledd, and you are correct that the way that the services are run is different in different parts of Wales, and, as you've highlighted, in RCT it's a peripatetic service; in some authorities the children are in the unit for 12 weeks. I think it's…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: Welsh-medium education through late immersion
Thank you very much, Mike, and thank you for your very positive comments about the meithrin movement in Wales, which, obviously, we provide funding for in Welsh Government. I do agree with you that, ideally, it's that early exposure to language in an…
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Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: Welsh-medium education through late immersion
Can I thank Cefin Campbell for his positive response to the statement, which is very much appreciated, and also his welcome for the funding that's been made available for this work, which, as you've highlighted, has been really key to making sure it's…
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Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: Welsh-medium education through late immersion
Thank you very much, Tom, and thank you for your positive response to the statement. I absolutely agree with you that the Welsh language is for everyone. We don't want anybody to be left behind. That's why we're taking forward the policies that we are. You…
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Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: Welsh-medium education through late immersion
How we immerse children in the Welsh language is unique to us in Wales. Pupil level annual school census 2024 data shows an increase in the number and percentage of year 1 learners learning through the medium of Welsh, which is a clear signal to me that…
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Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: Welsh-medium education through late immersion
Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'd like to take this opportunity today to highlight and celebrate the work undertaken in our Welsh language late immersion centres across Wales, and the part that we as the Welsh Government are playing in supporting that work.
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Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education
Thank you very much, Delyth. As you're aware, the Learner Travel (Wales) Measure 2008, which my Cabinet colleague leads on, sets out the duties for the local authority to assess the travel needs of learners in their area and provide free learner transport if…
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Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education
The Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales and I have discussed a range of issues relating to learner travel on different occasions. We met again earlier this week to discuss this important issue, and we recognise how important it is for effective…
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Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education
Thank you very much, Peter. As I've said, officials have been having discussions with UK Government officials on this, to make sure that we get the maximum benefits for Wales from this policy. I myself met with one of the Treasury Ministers shortly after the…
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Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education
Policies around value added tax are non-devolved, and Welsh Ministers do not have any powers in this area. Details of the UK Government’s assessment of the expected impacts of these policy changes are expected to be published at the autumn budget on 30…
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Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education
Thank you, Natasha, and, just for transparency, I'm aware of the report that you refer to because I met Sparkle myself, in my MS capacity, to discuss their concerns about disabled swimming. I was very concerned to hear about the situation, and I will be…
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Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education
Thank you very much, Rhianon, and you've done a better job than I could there of highlighting the positive points from the inspection report. I'd just like to thank all the teachers, support staff, headteachers and local authority staff collectively in the…
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Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education
I was pleased to read Estyn's recent inspection of Caerphilly education service, which, according to the report, put the best interests of children and young people at the heart of the decisions they make. The report highlights positive findings regarding the…
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Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education
Thank you for those important points. My early experience of the local authority in Cardiff is that they are working very hard on their Welsh-medium provision. I was at an immersion unit last week and they were pulling out all the stops, and it was really…
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Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education
The Welsh-medium ALN steering group advises on matters relating to improving and increasing Welsh-medium provision for learners with ALN. The Welsh language ALN national implementation lead has been in post since the spring and will take over as chair of the…
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Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education
Thank you very much, Laura. Well, I'm sure you won't be surprised to learn that investment in our mainstream public education system and schools is my priority. As you've highlighted, there are plans to levy VAT on private schools. That is a UK Government…
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Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Education
Independent schools make up 5.3 per cent of the total number of schools in Wales and contribute to the education of 2.1 per cent of all pupils. Estyn inspect all independent schools to evaluate the quality of education and to ensure each school maintains…
