English: Can I thank Siân Gwenllian for her questions? She'll have to forgive me, I don't recall her discussing an August return with me in our weekly meetings, but she is right to suggest that we had explored the possibility of ending the summer term early and starting the new academic year in August. There were many attractions to that particular scheme. Firstly, making the most of the summer months, whereas I said earlier, we know that the sunlight and the better weather and the ability to have children outside and to better ventilate school buildings is easier to do during the summer months, and it would have allowed even more time for the TTP regime to bed in. This was discussed with all our union colleagues - headteacher unions, teacher unions and support staff unions. We would have broken up that autumn term into a set number of periods to create natural breaks. But actually, every single union rejected that opportunity. And given the fact that this, of course, would be a profound change to the terms and conditions of our teaching staff, we can only move forward with such a profound change if that is done with the consent of our professionals, and their consent was not there. So, it was a good offer, but I believe what we've come forward with today shares many of the similar opportunities: it allows for the bedding in of testing and tracing for an entire month; it allows us to make the most of learning opportunities in the summer; it provides us with a natural break to reflect on our practice during the six-week summer holidays; and allows us to put in a little extra break - a fire break - in the autumn term when, potentially, things could be becoming difficult once again. And that's how we have decided to proceed. I think it's important in recognising that it's very difficult to identify which children's education is more important than other people's education. For older children, it's not simply a question of identifying exam groups - different schools have different patterns of exams. There are some children who currently find themselves in year 8 who would begin their GCSE courses in the autumn. There are children who will be sitting unit 1 of their GCSE exams. So, there's a whole variety of exam classes - it's not simply the ones that Siân Gwenllian had outlined, and I think it's absolutely right, in terms of year 6, that they have an opportunity to say goodbye to their teachers and to their schools before they move on to high school. But in terms of curriculum, actually, they've come to the end of their curriculum before they move on to the next stage of their education. I received many overtures from teaching professionals that said that year 5 should take priority over year 6. What we are doing is ensuring that every child has an opportunity to check in with their teachers, to catch up with what has been going on in their lives, how things have been, how things have been at home, how learning has gone for them, what has been difficult, what's been easy, do they have the facilities that they need in terms of the kit and equipment to allow them to learn, and what are the next phases that they need to work on over the summer and in preparation for September. And when we think that we could have been asking some very young children to go back in September, when they haven't set foot in a classroom for over 23 weeks, that's a big ask of a small child, and also, that classroom is going to look very different to what it would look like the last time they were in it, and the operation of their school is going to look very different from the last time they were in it. This allows us to have a phased return to be able to slowly introduce our children to what education is going to look like, going forward, and that's why we need to take the opportunity of doing so before the end of the summer term.
Welsh: A gaf i ddiolch i Siân Gwenllian am ei chwestiynau? Bydd yn rhaid iddi faddau i mi, nid wyf yn cofio iddi drafod dychwelyd ym mis Awst gyda mi yn ein cyfarfodydd wythnosol, ond mae hi'n gywir yn awgrymu ein bod wedi ymchwilio i'r posibilrwydd o ddod â thymor yr haf i ben yn gynnar a dechrau'r flwyddyn academaidd newydd ym mis Awst. Roedd llawer o atyniadau i'r cynllun penodol hwnnw. Yn gyntaf, gwneud y gorau o fisoedd yr haf, fel y dywedais yn gynharach, rydym yn gwybod bod heulwen a'r tywydd gwell a'r gallu i gael plant y tu allan ac awyru adeiladau ysgolion yn haws yn ystod misoedd yr haf, a byddai wedi caniatáu hyd yn oed mwy o amser i'r gyfundrefn profi, olrhain a diogelu ymwreiddio. Trafodwyd hyn gyda phob un o'n cydweithwyr yn yr undebau - undebau penaethiaid, undebau athrawon ac undebau staff cymorth. Byddem wedi torri tymor yr hydref hwnnw yn nifer penodol o gyfnodau i greu toriadau naturiol. Ond mewn gwirionedd, gwrthododd pob un undeb y cyfle hwnnw. Ac o ystyried y ffaith y byddai hyn, wrth gwrs, yn newid sylweddol i delerau ac amodau ein staff addysgu, ni allwn ond symud ymlaen gyda newid mor ddirfawr os gwneir hynny gyda chydsyniad ein gweithwyr proffesiynol, ac ni chafwyd eu cydsyniad. Felly, roedd yn gynnig da, ond credaf fod yr hyn a gyflwynwyd gennym ni heddiw yn rhannu llawer o'r cyfleoedd tebyg: mae'n caniatáu i'r rhaglen profi ac olrhain ymwreiddio dros fis cyfan; mae'n ein galluogi i fanteisio i'r eithaf ar gyfleoedd dysgu yn yr haf; mae'n rhoi toriad naturiol i ni i fyfyrio ar ein hymarfer yn ystod y chwe wythnos o wyliau haf; ac yn caniatáu inni roi ychydig o doriad ychwanegol - saib - yn nhymor yr hydref pan allai pethau fod yn anodd unwaith eto, o bosib. A dyna sut yr ydym ni wedi penderfynu bwrw ymlaen. Rwy'n credu ei bod hi'n bwysig cydnabod ei bod hi'n anodd iawn nodi addysg pa blant sy'n bwysicach nag addysg pobl eraill. I blant hŷn, nid dim ond mater o nodi grwpiau arholiadau ydyw - mae gan ysgolion gwahanol batrymau arholiadau gwahanol. Byddai rhai plant sydd ym mlwyddyn 8 ar hyn o bryd yn dechrau eu cyrsiau TGAU yn yr hydref. Mae yna blant a fydd yn sefyll uned 1 eu harholiadau TGAU. Felly, mae amrywiaeth eang o ddosbarthiadau arholiadau - nid dim ond y rhai y mae Siân Gwenllian wedi'u hamlinellu, ac rwy'n credu ei bod hi'n gwbl briodol, o ran blwyddyn 6, eu bod yn cael cyfle i ffarwelio â'u hathrawon a'u hysgolion cyn iddyn nhw symud ymlaen i'r ysgol uwchradd. Ond o ran y cwricwlwm, mewn gwirionedd, maen nhw wedi dod i ddiwedd eu cwricwlwm cyn iddyn nhw symud ymlaen i gyfnod nesaf eu haddysg. Cefais nifer o sylwadau gan weithwyr addysgu proffesiynol a oedd yn dweud y dylai blwyddyn 5 gymryd blaenoriaeth dros flwyddyn 6. Yr hyn yr ydym yn ei wneud yw sicrhau bod pob un plentyn yn cael cyfle i drafod gyda'i athro, i gael y newyddion diweddaraf ynghylch yr hyn a fu'n digwydd yn eu bywydau, sut y bu pethau, sut y bu pethau gartref, sut y bu'r dysgu, beth sydd wedi bod yn anodd, beth sydd wedi bod yn hawdd, a oes ganddyn nhw y cyfleusterau sydd eu hangen arnyn nhw o ran y pecyn a'r offer i ganiatáu iddyn nhw ddysgu, a beth yw'r camau nesaf y mae angen iddyn nhw weithio arnyn nhw dros yr haf ac wrth baratoi ar gyfer mis Medi. A phan ystyriwn ni y gallem fod wedi bod yn gofyn i rai plant ifanc iawn fynd yn ôl ym mis Medi, heb iddyn nhw dywyllu'r ystafell ddosbarth ers dros 23 o wythnosau, mae hynny'n ofyn mawr i blentyn bach, a hefyd, mae'r ystafell ddosbarth honno'n mynd i edrych yn wahanol iawn o'i chymharu â'r tro diwethaf yr oedden nhw ynddi, a bydd eu hysgol yn gweithio mewn ffordd wahanol iawn i'r tro diwethaf yr oedden nhw ynddi. Mae hyn yn caniatáu i ni ddychwelyd fesul cam er mwyn gallu cyflwyno ein plant yn araf i'r hyn y bydd addysg yn y dyfodol, a dyna pam y mae angen i ni gymryd y cyfle i wneud hynny cyn diwedd tymor yr haf.