, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
Definitely.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
Thank you. But there will be a further opportunity in Plenary.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
We can send it to the committee when it's finished.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
—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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
Okay. Well, there's a lot in that question—
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
And punctuality.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
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…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
Thank you very much, Buffy, for that. As Members will be aware, an agreement was reached that allowed the budget for 2026-27 to pass. That budget agreement included an extra £112.8 million for local government. That will mean an average increase of 4.5 per…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
General scrutiny session with the Welsh Government - Education
Thank you and good morning, everyone. I will ask officials to introduce themselves, if that's okay.
, Plenary
Debate on the Children, Young People and Education Committee Report, 'Routes into post-16 education and training'
The Welsh Government has responded to each of the recommendations addressed to us in this report in writing. Today, I will set out our broad response to the various sections of the report. First, the committee recommends that an overarching strategy for…
, Plenary
Debate on the Children, Young People and Education Committee Report, 'Routes into post-16 education and training'
Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm grateful to the Children, Young People and Education Committee for their report on their inquiry into routes into post-16 education and training. They have produced a significant piece of work with a wide-ranging scope, covering…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: The First Minister's first 100 days
Gareth, I'm wondering if you really need, with some of your colleagues, to start listening a bit more. I've addressed these issues, repeatedly, in the Chamber, made repeated statements about priorities. You know, please, keep up.
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: The First Minister's first 100 days
Will you give way?
