 Prif Weinidog, gwybod eich llwyddoedd, ymgyrch yn dweud, mae'n unig i'n ddoch i chi gweithio'r gweithio'r Gwyrddol yn y Dyn nhw'n agorch. Rydym ni'n gwneud yn y gweithio'r gwrthwyngau a'r gwahanol a'r cyfnodol yn dweud i'n gweithio'r llwyddoedd, ac rydyn ni'n rhoi'n gwneud i gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio'r gweithio a'r bwysig yn fath o'r ffordd o'r Caerdydd Covid-19. cysylltu'r fforddio'r pcyllewyd iddynt o'r fforddio'r ddweud, yr eich eu ei pethau yn olyg痴 ddweud, enw yn meddwl yn gofa'r gwahod hynny, a'r hamle'r casol i gynnig yn y gweithio'r family a'r dda i'r wneud, yna feddwl y g навsfyrdd y maedd ddweud i gweithio'r ddweud ddim. A'r hoffa i'r amlirau a'n mynd oddi'n clywedau yma i'r sylwsiau gyda'r Hopell yma ar derbyn yn cyfaint ar y llifledd, iawn i ddechrau'r pwysig ac ymmgyrch. Felly yn ddefnyddio gynnwys, mae'n meddwl o'r gwybod gennympwysgol'r gysybeth gan angen i gael gyda gwybod o bethau sydd gennymau yn gyfrifiadau ac gan gwaith ac yn gweithio'r byw. ROeddo rydych chi'n urothiadau i gyd, i gyd, o'r pwysig o'r cyllid yr ystyried a'u 12 a fyfyddo'r yn gyfryddo ni i gyd adeiladu trafnoddau i gael yr calls. Ieithaf, mae'n dweud y gweithio'r hynny oeddiad ar gyflog y gwirioneddol i'r ysgol yn y 7, 8 a 9, ac na'r cyfnod o'r cyffredinol i'r bwysig, ac yn golygu o'r gyflog yn y gweithio'r gyffredinol sy'n cyfnodol ar gyfer y ddechrau hefyd yn ei ddaeth gennym. Efallai, mae'r uwch wedi cyfnodol, ar gyfer y mae'r bydau, mae'n cael bod gyfraithio'r gweithio ar gyflog yn awd y gweithio ar gyfer y gweithi'r ysgol. Now we all know that there has been a tough 12 months for our young people, being away from their friends and adjusting to studying at home. I have seen terrific work that schools and colleges have done to ensure that learning has continued, while putting in place preparations so that the return of learners is safe and the return to the classroom is as smooth as possible. I'm so very grateful for school, college and local authority staff for also embracing the new standards that are needed to ensure that learning has continued, while putting in place preparations so that the return of learners is safe and the return to the classroom is as smooth as possible. a gweithio'r ddafodol o'r cymdeithasol yn y maen nhw'n cael ei bod yn rhoi'r bwysig i'r nesaf yn swydd. Felly o'r gweithio'r fwyllt, yn lle fydd o'r 1,5 miliwn gwaith yn eu gwiriau ymblodau llwyll, mae'n bwysig i'r bwysig, mae'n bwysig i'r gweithiau i'r wael, nad yw'n mynd i'r gwahau cymunedol i'r pwyllt o'r ysgrifennu yn ddiolch. Ond rwy'n dweud hynny'n mynd i ddweud ddweud ffyrddol ym lyddiol, especially for learners at key stages in their academic careers, and indeed, their lives. Last summer, I announced an extra £29 million to recruit, recover and raise standards. I set a target to recruit an additional 900 teachers or teaching assistants to provide more support for learners during the pandemic. I'm pleased to report that, so far, the equivalent of 1,800 full-time staff members have been recruited, double to our original target. Rwy'n dאלodwch am wych i'n cael ei amgylchedd honor yma rhai. Byddwn i'n ddull winteronien iawn eu hurjeton ystwynt y gofio 532 miliwns o'i bod phobl gael eu can울u sy'n ddweud yma i swyああ. Rwy'n darllen eu cyhoedd during the pandemic and our qualification years are due to receive bespoke support in the coming months to provide them with confidence to move forward in their next steps. Funding will also be used so that trainee teachers can complete their practical experience this autumn, therefore qualifying and moving into full-time teaching. Strengthening our workforce even further during the pandemic is vital as work continues with the introduction of our groundbreaking new curriculum. Tomorrow is another significant milestone in our national mission as curriculum and assessment bill reaches its final stages before being passed into law. I call it a national mission because it does involve everyone working together, teachers, parents, academics, businesses, national organisations and of course my department here in the Welsh Government, all committed to raising standards, tackling the attainment gap to ensure that we have an education system that is a source of pride to us all. So it's a massive deal come out to everyone who has played their part in this historic journey for education in Wales. Thank you. We'll now take questions from our colleagues in the media and we're going to begin this afternoon with Bethan Lewis over at the BBC. Good afternoon Bethan. Good afternoon Minister. In England school pupils of all ages are going back full time this week. Do you regret that that won't be the case for Welsh pupils for at least another month? Also if you could give a few more details please about how the catch-up funding will expense? Of course well Bethan I'm delighted to see children returning to education in any jurisdiction and as I said in my opening statements it's been wonderful over the last two weeks to see Wales's youngest learners back in school working with their teachers and being with their friends and we'll see more children back next week. What's really important to remember is that back in February Sage were very clear in their advice to governments that a phased return to school was critically important in being able to monitor the impact on the pandemic as we move forward and that's what we've been doing here in Wales. Thanks to the hard work of the Welsh public we were able to announce last week that we could go further than we'd initially hoped for, therefore allowing check-ins for our younger secondary school pupils and I'm very grateful for those continued efforts that the Welsh public is making and as I said in following the advice of Sage and experts here in Wales we can make that return as successful and safe as possible. With regards to the additional funding Bethan this will allow us to be able to continue to support additional staff in our in our schools which is vitally important at this time for a further academic year. We also recognise the real challenges that there have been for those undertaking initial teacher education this year which of course requires those students to undertake a number of practical hours in a school placement which through no fault of their own hasn't been possible and we don't want to lose those valuable inspirational individuals to our education system so this funding will be used to ensure that during the autumn term they can be working with our children in our schools and completing their qualifications but we'll also be using the resources to design and to further support those children in critical transition years so that they move from high school perhaps into college or from college or schools to university is as successful as we would all want it to be. Thank you. Could you say a bit about how the COVID testing for all the pupils will work when they hopefully go back from next week? Are you guaranteeing that all pupils in years 10 to 13 will be offered these two home testing kits a week and how much take-up are you expecting? Well Bethan, we are confident that the testing kits that will be required will be distributed to our settings. We would encourage parents and students to undertake these tests at home giving them greater levels of assurance. It's not mandatory and students will be able to access education without taking the test but throughout this pandemic the Welsh public has shown an absolute determination to do everything that they can to keep themselves, their loved ones and their community safe and I'm really hopeful that parents and students themselves will see this as another way and another expression of their commitment to tackling this disease by undertaking these tests keeping themselves, their colleagues and their community safe. Can we now go to Adrian Masters at ITV Wales? Good afternoon Adrian. Good afternoon Minister. Thank you very much. You've said several times that you're considering catch-up plans for students. There seems to have been a bit more detail emerge about plans in England which is looking at shorter holidays and longer days. Is that the sort of thing that parents and students here in Wales can expect? Well Adrian, our catch-up plans are centered on the ability to resource our schools with the additional staff and expertise to allow them to do what they do best. All children have suffered an interruption to their learning but our teachers are well-versed and understand exactly what they need to do to ensure that learners can progress and what's really important is that the money we're announcing today will allow head teachers to put that support into place. Prior to the pandemic Welsh Government did undertake a piece of work entitled Reimagining the School Day. COVID-19 I think have brought to the fore again questions about whether our academic year and our school days are designed to fit a modern society and I think there is a debate to be had but Adrian what's really important is that we if I can misquote the eighths is that we remember that education isn't about filling a pail it's about lighting a fire underneath it and we need to resource our schools to do that simply piling more pressure onto our children and young people and onto our teaching profession I don't think we'll get it all to be but having said that I'm delighted for instance that our very successful food and fund programme that runs in the summer holiday for primary school pupils we've been able to double the amount of funding going into that programme this summer so that even more children can benefit from those really wonderful activities based around the arts and physical fitness and cooking so that more children can benefit this summer than we have previously we are developing alongside our teaching professionals a comprehensive support programme to ensure that our children move forward with confidence a constant discussion about a deficit model that somehow all is lost is not one that will help our children our professionals and the Welsh Government stand ready to instigate a plan that will ensure that we can move forward with confidence thank you um and talking of food and students do you think the Welsh Government should go further on free school meals according to people's assembly more than half of children in poverty aren't eligible for free school meals will you commit to making sure they are Adrian Wales is the first of the devolved nations to commit to ensuring that those children in receipt of free school meals during term time got that help during the holidays and I just want to say thank you to our partners in local government that have been able to seamlessly deliver that support for our families that are most in need and indeed we are committed to funding that support right the way through to Easter of next of next year with regards to making additional families eligible for free school meals the Welsh Government is and has publicly said on a number of occasions that we are committed to reviewing eligibility especially with regards to the impact of universal credit but let's be absolutely clear we are we as I said we are funding free school meals for those that are entitled for the following year and of course uniquely in Wales when our schools are available for face-to-face learning we uniquely have comprehensive breakfast provision also and I'm also delighted that this year we have been able to double our investment into our PDG access fund again these are funds available to our poorest families to help with the costs of the school day whether that be items of uniform or kit equipment or even this year IT and I would ask families who think that they may be eligible to check on the Welsh Government or their with or with their local authority about eligibility criteria for gaining support under this particular grant scheme thank you Hannah Thomas at LBC hello Hannah and thank you Education Minister and Welsh Government have said they are prioritising children getting back to face to face learning for their education but we've been speaking to a baby group leader who says they haven't yet been given a date they're concerned babies are missing out on vital socialisation skills in their early years not to mention mums and dads particularly first time mums and dads so they're feeling very isolated without being able to develop these social network groups will baby groups be given a date when they can reopen soon well I absolutely take your point Hannah that for those families for whom their children haven't yet reached nursery age or statutory school age this is a period of concern and I know that those groups play a really important role in supporting new parents and the early development of babies and Welsh Government will continue as we look at our next review period at what steps we can take to safely unlock the restrictions that we're under but I can assure you that in all of those discussions the needs of children and young people are paramount thank you and also schools in Wales like you mentioned in your opening statement have reopened and we hope that many older students will be heading back to the classroom soon also but you've also mentioned about the lateral flow testing for years 11 to 13 are there any plans to open this up to younger years as we know they may have the virus that remain asymptomatic and this may contribute to the spread of the virus so is that something that Welsh Government is considering at this time we have not been recommended by our scientific advisors that asymptomatic testing of younger children is appropriate we do know that the the epidemiology around the disease in older teenagers is much more similar to that of adults and that's why we have taken the decision we have around access to lateral flow testing for older students being more appropriate and we will continue to review the evidence in that regard it's also important to remember that lateral flow testing twice a week is also available to those working in those school environments thank you Hannah I will now go to Will Hayward at Wales online good afternoon well good afternoon Mark Drakeford was on the radio at the weekend saying that the Welsh Government are looking at imposing a state local restriction after this week the hospital the hospital admissions data shows that admissions are nearly as low now as they were as they ever reached last summer cases per per hundred thousand are now below 50 which according to the Welsh Government's own tiering would put Wales alert level one the very lowest there is given all of this why are you proposing to continue with such severe restrictions on people's liberties after Friday by telling them to stay local how can you justify this well well can I say you're absolutely right there is data that we can all be massively encouraged by but those figures that we'll just referred to have been hard one by the Welsh public and we need to follow the advice that in unlocking restrictions we do not undo the tremendous hard work of the Welsh public we want to ensure that when we unlock we can do that on a permanent basis and not find ourselves in a situation where we will see cases rise quickly again and potentially hospital admissions rise quickly again and therefore the need to reimpose restrictions all advice to the Welsh Government is clear any unlocking must be done carefully and it must be done cautiously that will allow us to monitor the impact of community as spread because even with the vaccination program well I'm sure that you understand the science that if we let the virus spread rapidly within the community even if that leads to less pressure on hs that potentially leads to the situation where we can see the development of new variants we are at the critical juncture in the management of this pandemic where there is much to be hopeful and optimistic about but could so easily be thrown away by an in by an a an in cautious approach to unlocking where we still have great progress in the vaccination program and I think we're going to miss are we going to meet a very significant milestone today in Wales with regards to that vaccination program but still significant amounts of our population that haven't been vaccinated and that provides the perfect opportunity for the emergence of new variants thank you my question wasn't really about a widespread unlocking it wasn't suggesting about pubs or restaurants or anything like that it was simply suggesting that as admissions hospital are now lower than they've ever been since the start of the crisis that people might be able to go further from their house and five miles and just moving on from this does this suggest that the tiering system at the Welsh Government announced back in January is now completely redundant with regards to lifting restrictions and can you just explain the science behind someone traveling five miles to a park or 25 miles to go walking in the brecon beacons is part of your rationale to stop people traveling into Wales from across the border can you just explain the science behind the stay local rules that you're considering well I think we have to recognise that even within Wales we still see quite significant differences in the amount of community spread so if you look for instance at Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire which have very very low levels as compared to the figures in parts of north Wales even within Wales there is still some considerable difference in those figures although overall the news is good any decision to move from a stay at home message to a stay local message is part of that cautious approach to beginning to unlock measures and doing so in a way where we can monitor the impact of that before moving to the next stage and as I said all of the decisions that we are making will be guided by the best advice at this time but the consistent thread of all advices is that a big bang approach to unlocking measures and having people travel everywhere potentially needs to be factored in and considered and a cautious approach to unlocking the ability to travel is when I think that is in line with the overall government's approach especially in those communities well where actually there's a great deal of concern where we haven't had visitors in the beacons for very many many months suddenly having an influx of people into some of these areas could cause some concerns in those communities especially if those communities have been fortunate enough to bring their levels low so a cautious and gradual approach I think is one that throughout this pandemic has been valued by the Welsh public so is the tiering system now redundant no will the tiering system isn't redundant it is a it is a mechanism by which we can look at different tranches of levels of restrictions but if you don't mind well I'm going to move on to your colleague now at the national and it's over to gareth at axon dairy good afternoon gareth good afternoon minister you're announced in today's expected to increase the spend for people equivalent to 239 pounds in Wales on the ground can you just give us some examples of how that money will be spent to help the most disadvantaged peoples who've often been the hardest hit over the last 12 months thank you gareth and you're right the whilst all children's education has been interrupted at this time we do know that their cohorts of children for whom the effects of the pandemic have been greatest and those often are some of our most disadvantaged children or children for instance with additional learning needs the money will be made available to individual school settings for the head teacher to be able to employ additional staff that can help children so for instance last week I was able to visit a school here in splot in Cardiff and so far our our recruitment money has been able to employ new assistant teaching assistants in the foundation phase that are spending all of their time working on the literacy and the oracy skills of the children so really working on their speaking skills their language skills and their reading skills in a high school for instance I'm aware for instance of in one area they've employed a remote physics teacher and science teacher and that teacher has been able to provide additional online tutoring sessions to those in exam classes who are taking physics and other science A levels I'm aware of another secondary school where they've been able to cut the class sizes of their English language classes because they've been able to employ an additional member of staff but it really we do need to give the power to the head teachers to be able to make staffing decisions that really reflect the needs of their individual school but those are just some examples of the work that is going on in the ground to be able to support children at this time. Just about reform of Wales's education curriculum has been central to your role over the last five years in what way to you is the pandemic impacted that work and how do you hope that new curriculum can address the inequalities in education that have been laid bare over the last 12 months? Well you're absolutely right curriculum reform has been at the centre of the largest reform programme we've had in education in a generation and what our curriculum allows us to do is once again trust our teachers in their ability to design a curriculum that really engages the children in front of them rather than having to teach a curriculum that is set many many miles away with no thought about what those children in that class actually needs so we'll be able to unleash the creativity and the professionalism of our teaching workforce to really design a curriculum that meets the needs of the children sitting in front of them that engages them and that lights that fire underneath them that we talked about earlier that gives them a passion and a love of learning for the rest of their lifetime and it is particularly important that we do that now with the strong emphasis in our new curriculum around health and well-being of our learners you know we know that learning can't stick unless we address issues around well-being for children and young people and our new curriculum gives our professionals the space to do just that. Thank you well that brings us to the end of today's press conference thank you once again for your attention and for all your efforts in keeping Wales safe. Diolch yn fawr.