English: Thank you, David. I would like to say that absence from secondary schools has dropped faster for free-school-meal pupils than for any other pupils over the last five years. Since 2009-10, it has dropped 3.6 percentage points, whereas for others it dropped by 2.6, so we're making better progress for children on free school meals than we are with the rest of the cohort. But there is still more to do, because we know that regular attendance at school is the best chance that children have to gain the positive experience and the qualifications that they need. I would expect schools to have carried out work to understand the reasons why some children are persistently missing from school, but I would indeed want to commend not only the good practice that you have highlighted in schools that you are familiar with, but also of other schools I've visited. This summer, I visited Cefn Hengoed Community School in Swansea. They've focused on improving attendance through employing an attendance officer, with a particular focus on free-school-meal learners. Since 2012, the school reports that the average attendance of free-school-meal learners has risen by 6.9 per cent, so there is good practice out there. I would expect individual schools to take this issue seriously, and I would expect regional consortia to be working in schools across their region to ensure that, where good practice is happening and good results are being delivered by schools on this agenda, that good practice is employed in other schools where progress is not as good as you or I would want it to be.
Welsh: Diolch i chi, David. Hoffwn ddweud bod absenoldeb mewn ysgolion uwchradd wedi gostwng yn gyflymach ymysg disgyblion sy'n cael prydau ysgol am ddim nag ymysg unrhyw ddisgyblion eraill dros y pum mlynedd diwethaf. Ers 2009-10, mae wedi gostwng 3.6 pwynt canran, ac ymysg disgyblion eraill mae wedi gostwng 2.6 pwynt canran, felly rydym yn gwneud gwell cynnydd gyda phlant sy'n cael prydau ysgol am ddim nag a wnawn gyda gweddill y cohort. Ond mae mwy i'w wneud eto, oherwydd gwyddom mai presenoldeb rheolaidd yn yr ysgol yw'r cyfle gorau y mae plant yn ei gael i sicrhau'r profiad cadarnhaol a'r cymwysterau sydd eu hangen arnynt. Byddwn yn disgwyl i ysgolion fod wedi cyflawni gwaith i ddeall y rhesymau pam fod rhai plant yn absennol o'r ysgol yn gyson, ond byddwn yn sicr yn awyddus i ganmol yr arferion da a nodwyd gennych yn yr ysgolion rydych yn gyfarwydd â hwy, yn ogystal ag ysgolion eraill rwyf wedi ymweld â hwy. Yr haf hwn, ymwelais ag Ysgol Gymunedol Cefn Hengoed yn Abertawe. Maent wedi canolbwyntio ar wella presenoldeb drwy gyflogi swyddog presenoldeb, gan ganolbwyntio'n benodol ar ddisgyblion sy'n cael prydau ysgol am ddim. Mae'r ysgol yn nodi bod cyfartaledd presenoldeb disgyblion sy'n cael prydau ysgol am ddim wedi codi 6.9 y cant ers 2012, felly mae arferion da i'w cael. Byddwn yn disgwyl i ysgolion unigol fod o ddifrif ynglŷn â'r mater hwn, a byddwn yn disgwyl i gonsortia rhanbarthol fod yn gweithio mewn ysgolion ar hyd a lled eu rhanbarth i sicrhau, lle mae arfer da yn digwydd a lle mae canlyniadau da yn cael eu cyflawni gan ysgolion ar yr agenda hon, fod yr arferion da hynny'n cael eu rhoi ar waith mewn ysgolion eraill lle nad yw'r cynnydd cystal ag y byddech chi a minnau am iddo fod.