, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
Well, I definitely agree with that last part of your question. I suppose, if I'm being candid, I'm not entirely sure whether that is the right solution to it. I think it's really important, from the point of view of making sure that we develop the right kind…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
I think so, yes. But, you know, this is something we will keep under review, and, obviously, the NSPCC has worked very closely with us in co-designing the RSE aspects of the curriculum, so we'll continue speaking with them and others about this.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
Well, just to come back, if I may. You described it as controversial; it's not controversial in the vast majority of schools. So, there are schools in which, obviously, it has been very challenging, but that has not been the experience of schools generally…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
I see it as separate from the curriculum. Collective worship is separate from the curriculum, and we have religion, values and ethics as part of the curriculum, and that is taught in a way that is pluralistic, in the way that I think you were describing in…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
I’m not confident. We don’t. But that’s the task we set ourselves. We publish figures about the shortfall. We need to increase those figures and we have a plan for doing that, which we’ll be rolling out over the next 10 years, and I’ll be reporting every two…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
Well, because it will require each school to teach the Welsh language, which I think is a very positive thing. I don’t underestimate the challenge that you just outlined. Elsewhere, of course, we have more numbers than ever in Welsh-medium education and the…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
Well, I am confident. At the end of the day, qualifications need to reflect the curriculum rather than the other way around. So, curriculum is the core purpose of teaching, to make sure that our young people have the breadth of knowledge, skills and…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
Well, progression is one of the two main priorities in terms of content, training and provision of resources; assessment is the second priority. We published resources last year; more will be made available this year. The Camau project is also providing…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
If you have an opportunity to see the curriculum at work in those early years settings, it's fantastic. It's consistent with the approach that we've adopted for years in that sector. There are some 500 settings using the early years curriculum now, and I…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
I agree with you, as it happens. Hwb is a superb resource in terms of everything being available for staff, and it's not available in most nations internationally. But the flip side of that, of course, is that there is a great deal of content. So, that's the…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
We know that the recruitment challenge, particularly in the Welsh-medium sector, is well known. We've discussed in other contexts the work that is happening to tackle that, and I'd like to thank all of the stakeholders across Wales who've been part of that…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
Thank you, Chair.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
I don't know how many individuals have responded to that, so it's difficult to know how much weight to place on that result. You may have those figures, but I don't know how many individuals were involved in that survey. That's important in terms of how much…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
Well, it doesn't strike me as being an obvious problem. I think you said 11 hours, did you?
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
Exactly.
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
Well, there is an element of variation, but that is inherent in any education system, and it's good thing that you have that variation. Having variation of standards is not a good thing, but having a variation of experience certainly is. I don't want to…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
Well, there are budget pressures in schools as a consequence of inflation and the cost-of-living pressures. We have discussed this in other contexts, and I've made it clear that we have a commitment as a Government to prioritise education spending and school…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
So, the design of the reforms has, at its heart, identifying the needs and meeting the needs of each individual learner, and that will encompass learners with particular protected characteristics. But also, I passionately believe that the Curriculum for Wales…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
I do, for the following reason: I think they're both premised on the idea of an inclusive education system where the individual needs of every learner are reflected in teaching and learning. I think that is a common, underlying principle for both strands of…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
I suppose the common set of challenges that both strands of reform have faced, clearly, is the impact of the pandemic, which obviously has affected preparation for reform, and to the extent that we're still living with the consequences of aspects of it, that…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
I think it's great that the committee's having such a wide range of evidence from a range of different perspectives, which is really important when we're looking at such significant reforms as curriculum reform and additional learning needs reform. It's, in…
, Children, Young People, and Education Committee
Implementation of education reforms—Ministerial scrutiny session
Good morning. Thank you for the welcome and the opportunity to provide evidence this morning. May I congratulate the committee on the sources of evidence that it can draw on in conducting this inquiry?
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Well, we have a £1.5 billion school building programme in Wales under the Welsh Labour Government. Obviously, the Conservatives scrapped the school building programme in England. But his constituents will be able to take advantage of the funding that we are…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
Certainly. Through the Sustainable Communities for Learning programme, £90 million has been invested in the education estate in Denbighshire in band A, and a further £51 million is planned for band B. Education facilities in Denbighshire have also benefited…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Education and the Welsh Language
I’m very happy to do that. Perhaps if there was less emphasis on complaining about renaming Bannau Brycheiniog, and more emphasis on accuracy, we might all be happier.
