, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: Improving educational standards in Wales
Well, thank you very much, Tom, for that speech. I will try and pick up on as many of the points that I can. I wanted to start, though, by absolutely refuting your suggestion that I am being in any way ideological. That is simply not the way that I work. My…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: Improving educational standards in Wales
Today, I am outlining the key improvement priorities that will be my absolute focus and will underpin the improvements we want to see. I've said many times that education begins by attending school and engaging with learning. Our attendance figures show signs…
, Plenary
Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: Improving educational standards in Wales
Thank you, acting Dirprwy Lywydd. I took up this role because I am passionate about making a positive difference to children and young people. Their futures and the future of Wales requires all our children and young people to succeed. We need to work…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Teaching of reading skills in schools
Thank you. Can I just say, then, Llywydd, in closing, that we know that we have work to do to support schools to improve the literacy skills of our learners? I am 100 per cent committed to doing that work. I also appreciate what Cefin Campbell said about…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Teaching of reading skills in schools
Thank you, Janet. I'm not sure if you actually listened to what I just said about the misinformation your group is promoting about functional illiteracy, so maybe you want to go back and review the record on that. As I was saying, our PISA results have been…
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Teaching of reading skills in schools
Oh, go on, then.
, Plenary
Welsh Conservatives Debate: Teaching of reading skills in schools
Thank you, Llywydd. Can I begin by stating that the motion as tabled is simply inaccurate? 'Functionally illiterate' is not a term recognised or collected as a data item by the Welsh Government, nor has it been used by Estyn for over a decade. The report…
, Plenary
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…
, Plenary
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…
, Plenary
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.
, Plenary
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…
, Plenary
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…
, Plenary
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…
, Plenary
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…
, Plenary
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…
, Plenary
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…
, Plenary
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…
, Plenary
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.
, Plenary
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…
, Plenary
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…
, Plenary
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…
, Plenary
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…
