English: Minister, I just want to start by thanking you for your statement today. We all want the new curriculum, of course, to work. I also want to place on record, if I may, Deputy Presiding Officer, our thanks to school staff for their resilience and hard work in all that they do, but particularly in their efforts to prepare for the new curriculum. Minister, only almost half of our secondary schools are implementing the new curriculum in September to the original timeline. And I'm still hearing that many schools do not feel that they have been given the adequate time and support necessary also to feel prepared enough to bring in the new curriculum, as some may have wanted to, in September. Regardless of some of the aims that you've outlined in your statement, there has clearly been inadequate professional support to date for teachers, whose job it is to turn the curriculum's vision into a reality. Minister, this is a seismic change for Welsh education, and, to be successful, it absolutely needs to be in conjunction with our teachers, and preparation needs to reflect their differing needs. All curriculum documentation and guidance must be easy to digest and easily accessible to the people it's designed to support. Too much of what I've read in relation to the curriculum has been confusing, convoluted and often contradictory. Also, it is clear that we have let too many teachers go it alone on curriculum reform, and, outside the pioneer model, left the profession to sink or swim on the basis of what they've managed to digest. Some of the things you've outlined in the statement go some way to addressing this, but is tapered support something that you have considered, Minister, for professional learning, available for teachers as they move forward to full delivery of the new curriculum, like a sort of phasing-in, with specific support for each stage that a teacher gets to as they grow in confidence and knowledge in doing things in a new way? I'm thinking particularly of teachers used to the old curriculum - or the current curriculum, sorry - having been taught using that curriculum and taught it for so many years, but, obviously, it would apply to all teachers going forward. Also, by devolving a large amount of responsibility for professional learning to regional consortia and local authorities, the Welsh Government has opened the door to a whole host of competing solutions for the same problems. And, although we welcome the flexibility, of course, in the new curriculum, for the roll-out to be successful we must ensure a level of consistency across Wales. The national network has been a good way to share best practice, as you said in your statement, but due to the level of flexibility, Minister, and the fact that you've devolved decision making to schools, LEAs and consortia, how will you ensure that a similar standard, a level of high-quality education is delivered in the same way across Wales? It is still not clear also how you're going to measure success right from the beginning, from the word go, in September. We will need to know what the barometer of how you'll be measuring the failure or success of the new curriculum will look like, please. Also, if only half of the secondary schools are implementing the curriculum in September, how can schools that do not implement it be compared and assessed alongside them? And what if a student moves from a school using the new curriculum to one that does not and vice versa? Have we looked into that? Also, we need to know how we're going to assess, measure and support students under the new curriculum who are going to either be more able or learners who are struggling that need extra support, as we don't want these students to get lost in the challenges of delivering the new curriculum. I see in your statement that you are to publish Assessing for the Future workshops, giving schools some guidance as to how they're going to assess progress. But, Minister, can you give parents, teachers, and us in the Senedd an answer today on how you will measure, monitor and compare the roll-out of implementation of the new curriculum as we go along, and could you promise this Senedd today that we'll have regular updates on the progress made? Thank you.
Welsh: Gweinidog, hoffwn ddechrau drwy ddiolch i chi am eich datganiad heddiw. Rydym ni i gyd eisiau i'r cwricwlwm newydd, wrth gwrs, weithio. Rwyf i hefyd eisiau nodi ar y cofnod, os caf fi, Dirprwy Lywydd, ein diolch i staff ysgolion am eu gwydnwch a'u gwaith caled ym mhopeth maen nhw'n ei wneud, ond yn enwedig yn eu hymdrechion i baratoi ar gyfer y cwricwlwm newydd. Gweinidog, dim ond bron i hanner ein hysgolion uwchradd sy'n rhoi'r cwricwlwm newydd ar waith ym mis Medi i'r llinell amser wreiddiol. Ac rwy'n dal i glywed nad yw llawer o ysgolion yn teimlo eu bod wedi cael yr amser a'r gefnogaeth ddigonol sydd eu hangen hefyd i deimlo'n ddigon parod i gyflwyno'r cwricwlwm newydd, fel y gallai rhai fod wedi dymuno, ym mis Medi. Waeth beth fo rhai o'r nodau yr ydych chi wedi'u hamlinellu yn eich datganiad, mae'n amlwg na chafwyd digon o gefnogaeth broffesiynol hyd yma i athrawon, ac yn ei dro eu gwaith nhw yw troi gweledigaeth y cwricwlwm yn realiti. Gweinidog, mae hwn yn newid seismig i addysg yng Nghymru, ac, er mwyn bod yn llwyddiannus, mae angen iddo fod ar y cyd â'n hathrawon, ac mae angen i'r gwaith paratoi adlewyrchu eu hanghenion gwahanol. Rhaid i holl ddogfennau a chanllawiau'r cwricwlwm fod yn hawdd eu deall a bod yn hygyrch i'r bobl maen nhw wedi'u cynllunio i'w cefnogi. Mae gormod o'r hyn yr wyf i wedi'i ddarllen mewn perthynas â'r cwricwlwm wedi bod yn ddryslyd, yn gymhleth ac yn aml yn anghyson. Hefyd, mae'n amlwg ein bod ni wedi gadael i ormod o athrawon fynd ar eu pennau eu hunain ar ddiwygio'r cwricwlwm, ac, y tu allan i'r model arloesi, gadael i'r proffesiwn suddo neu nofio ar sail yr hyn maen nhw wedi llwyddo i'w ddeall. Mae rhai o'r pethau yr ydych chi wedi'u hamlinellu yn y datganiad yn mynd beth o'r ffordd tuag at fynd i'r afael â hyn, ond a yw cefnogaeth ohiriedig yn rhywbeth yr ydych chi wedi'i ystyried, Gweinidog, ar gyfer dysgu proffesiynol, sydd ar gael i athrawon wrth iddyn nhw symud ymlaen at gyflwyno'r cwricwlwm newydd yn llawn, fel cyflwyno'n raddol, gyda chymorth penodol ar gyfer pob cam mae athro'n ei gyrraedd wrth iddyn nhw dyfu mewn hyder a gwybodaeth wrth wneud pethau mewn ffordd newydd? Rydw i'n meddwl yn benodol am athrawon oedd yn arfer bod yn rhan o'r hen gwricwlwm - neu'r cwricwlwm presennol, mae'n ddrwg gen i - ar ôl cael eu haddysgu gan ddefnyddio'r cwricwlwm hwnnw a'i addysgu am gynifer o flynyddoedd, ond, yn amlwg, byddai'n berthnasol i bob athro wrth symud ymlaen. Hefyd, drwy ddatganoli llawer iawn o gyfrifoldeb am ddysgu proffesiynol i gonsortia rhanbarthol ac awdurdodau lleol, mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi agor y drws i lu o atebion gwahanol i'r un problemau. Ac, er ein bod ni'n croesawu'r hyblygrwydd, wrth gwrs, yn y cwricwlwm newydd, er mwyn i'r broses o'i gyflwyno fod yn llwyddiannus, rhaid i ni sicrhau lefel o gysondeb ledled Cymru. Mae'r rhwydwaith cenedlaethol wedi bod yn ffordd dda o rannu arfer gorau, fel y gwnaethoch chi ei ddweud yn eich datganiad, ond oherwydd lefel yr hyblygrwydd, Gweinidog, a'r ffaith eich bod chi wedi datganoli penderfyniadau i ysgolion, awdurdodau addysg lleol a chonsortia, sut y byddwch chi'n sicrhau bod safon debyg, lefel o addysg o ansawdd uchel yn cael ei darparu yn yr un modd ledled Cymru? Nid yw'n glir o hyd chwaith sut rydych chi'n mynd i fesur llwyddiant o'r dechrau, o'r cychwyn cyntaf, ym mis Medi. Bydd angen i ni wybod sut fydd y baromedr ar gyfer mesur methiant neu lwyddiant y cwricwlwm newydd yn edrych, os gwelwch yn dda. Hefyd, os mai dim ond hanner yr ysgolion uwchradd sy'n rhoi'r cwricwlwm ar waith ym mis Medi, sut y gellir cymharu ac asesu ysgolion nad ydyn nhw'n ei weithredu ochr yn ochr â nhw? A beth os bydd myfyriwr yn symud o ysgol sy'n defnyddio'r cwricwlwm newydd i un nad yw'n gwneud hynny ac i'r gwrthwyneb? Ydym ni wedi ymchwilio i hynny? Hefyd, mae angen i ni wybod sut rydym ni'n mynd i asesu, mesur a chefnogi myfyrwyr o dan y cwricwlwm newydd sy'n mynd i fod naill ai'n fwy abl neu'n ddysgwyr sy'n cael trafferth sydd angen cymorth ychwanegol, gan nad ydym ni am i'r myfyrwyr hyn fynd ar goll yn yr heriau o gyflwyno'r cwricwlwm newydd. Rwy'n gweld yn eich datganiad eich bod am gyhoeddi gweithdai Asesu ar gyfer y Dyfodol, gan roi rhywfaint o arweiniad i ysgolion ynghylch sut maen nhw'n mynd i asesu cynnydd. Ond, Gweinidog, a allwch chi roi ateb i rieni, athrawon a ninnau yn y Senedd heddiw ynghylch sut y byddwch chi'n mesur, yn monitro ac yn cymharu'r broses o gyflwyno'r cwricwlwm newydd wrth i ni fynd ymlaen, ac a allech chi addo i'r Senedd hon heddiw y cawn ni ddiweddariadau rheolaidd ar y cynnydd a wnaed? Diolch.