English: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you very much for your statement, Minister. We welcome, of course, what you've outlined and what is being done so far on what is a very worrying rise in school attendance at the moment in Wales. Of course, it all comes down to, in my opinion, behaviour, choice and lack of support, and of course the mental health impact of, particularly, COVID. As you've mentioned, the COVID impact has had a hugely significant effect on all our lives and all aspects of education in Wales. As we know, prior to the pandemic, maintained school attendance data was published annually in a form that was summarised for a whole academic year. The most recent published data for the period before the pandemic is the 2018-19 academic year. However, the data since the start of the pandemic has shown some very worrying trends. There are higher rates of absences in secondary schools, there are higher rates with primary schools, and far more absences for disadvantaged learners, those eligible for free school meals and pupils with additional learning needs, those with an special educational needs statement or on school action plus. During the pandemic, we have seen that schools have reported to the attendance review that their attendance has been down, typically by 5 per cent and usually within a range of 2 per cent to 10 per cent. As the report highlights, some learners have established a pattern of not attending school during lockdown that they and their families are finding difficult or unnecessary to change. The review even suggests that, even after disaggregating COVID-related reasons, attendance generally has not returned to pre-COVID levels yet. This is clearly an issue. Minister, how are you going to address the issue and encourage the full return to class at at least pre-pandemic levels? Not only do we need to see a firm encouragement back to the classroom, but we need to have better safeguarding and support - mainly support - in place for those who have unexplained long-term absences. Also, Minister, how are you going to better closely monitor long-term absences, and will you change the related trigger points for interventions to ensure absences aren't missed? It's also known from the attendance review that deteriorating absence can be a precursor to and predictor of a range of behavioural and emotional problems for learners that, if not addressed, may lead to the exclusion of these learners from school. So, really stepping in at the right time - . And finally, Minister, it is clear that this is now a good chance to tackle truancy and our chance to make sure that students are in the classroom. So, will you undertake further research into the use of fixed-penalty notices and their impact on learner attendance patterns, improving learner experiences, now that fines are returning, to see if they are actually working or not? However, what is clear, though, is that, prior to the pandemic, one of the best ways for improving attendance was based on an acknowledgement that attendance will improve if learners want to come to school and if they find what is offered engaging, interesting and relevant to them, and, of course, obviously, since the pandemic, whether the support's been there or not. I know as I've been going around south-east Wales recently, I've met a lot of pupils that have found it difficult to get back into school, purely because of the mental health impact of the pandemic and the struggles that they had. We must take a multipronged approach to this issue and use all levers available to Government, whether it be strengthening fixed-penalty notices or ensuring the educational offering is up to a certain standard and enticing for the learner, and that that support - mainly that support - is in place. Minister, although your statement is a start, we cannot rest on our laurels and we should now be looking to make the most of this opportunity now after this review to ensure that no child needlessly misses time in the classroom if at all possible. Thank you.
Welsh: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, a diolch yn fawr am eich datganiad, Gweinidog. Rydym yn croesawu, wrth gwrs, yr hyn yr ydych chi wedi'i amlinellu a'r hyn sy'n cael ei wneud hyd yma ar yr hyn sy'n gynnydd pryderus iawn o ran presenoldeb mewn ysgolion ar hyn o bryd yng Nghymru. Wrth gwrs, mae'r cyfan yn ymwneud, yn fy marn i, ag ymddygiad, dewis a diffyg cefnogaeth, ac wrth gwrs effaith COVID ar iechyd meddwl, yn arbennig. Fel yr ydych chi wedi sôn, mae effaith COVID wedi cael effaith sylweddol iawn ar ein bywydau ni i gyd a phob agwedd ar addysg yng Nghymru. Fel y gwyddom, cyn y pandemig, cyhoeddwyd data presenoldeb ysgol a gynhelir yn flynyddol ar ffurf a grynhowyd ar gyfer blwyddyn academaidd gyfan. Y data diweddaraf a gyhoeddwyd ar gyfer y cyfnod cyn y pandemig yw blwyddyn academaidd 2018-19. Fodd bynnag, mae'r data ers dechrau'r pandemig wedi dangos tueddiadau sy'n peri pryder mawr. Mae cyfraddau uwch o absenoldebau mewn ysgolion uwchradd, mae cyfraddau uwch mewn ysgolion cynradd, a llawer mwy o absenoldebau o ran dysgwyr difreintiedig, y rhai sy'n gymwys i gael prydau ysgol am ddim a disgyblion ag anghenion dysgu ychwanegol, y rhai â datganiad anghenion addysgol arbennig neu'r rhai sy'n destun gweithredu gan yr ysgol a mwy. Yn ystod y pandemig, gwelsom fod ysgolion wedi adrodd i'r adolygiad presenoldeb bod eu presenoldeb wedi gostwng, 5 y cant yn nodweddiadol ac fel arfer rhwng 2 y cant a 10 y cant. Fel y mae'r adroddiad yn amlygu, roedd rhai dysgwyr wedi sefydlu patrwm o beidio â mynychu'r ysgol yn ystod y cyfyngiadau symud y maen nhw a'u teuluoedd yn ei chael yn anodd eu newid neu'n gweld hyn yn ddiangen. Mae'r adolygiad hyd yn oed yn awgrymu, hyd yn oed ar ôl dadgyfuno rhesymau sy'n gysylltiedig â COVID, nad yw presenoldeb yn gyffredinol wedi dychwelyd i lefelau cyn COVID eto. Mae hyn yn amlwg yn broblem. Gweinidog, sut ydych chi am fynd i'r afael â'r mater ac annog pobl i ddychwelyd yn llawn i'r dosbarth o leiaf i lefelau cyn y pandemig? Nid yn unig y mae angen i ni weld anogaeth gadarn yn ôl i'r ystafell ddosbarth, ond mae angen i ni gael gwell diogelwch a chefnogaeth - cymorth yn bennaf - ar waith, i'r rheini sydd ag absenoldebau hirdymor anesboniadwy. Hefyd, Gweinidog, sut ydych chi yn mynd i fonitro absenoldebau hirdymor yn well, ac a wnewch chi newid y trothwy cysylltiedig ar gyfer ymyriadau er mwyn sicrhau na chaiff absenoldebau eu methu? Mae'n hysbys hefyd o'r adolygiad presenoldeb y gall absenoldeb sy'n dirywio fod yn rhagflaenydd i ystod o broblemau ymddygiadol ac emosiynol i ddysgwyr a allai, os na eir i'r afael â nhw, arwain at wahardd y dysgwyr hyn o'r ysgol. Felly, mewn gwirionedd, camu i mewn ar yr adeg iawn - . Ac yn olaf, Gweinidog, mae'n amlwg bod hwn bellach yn gyfle da i fynd i'r afael â thriwantiaeth a chyfle i ni i sicrhau bod myfyrwyr yn yr ystafell ddosbarth. Felly, a wnewch chi gynnal ymchwil pellach i'r defnydd o hysbysiadau cosb benodedig a'u heffaith ar batrymau presenoldeb dysgwyr, gwella profiadau dysgwyr, gan fod dirwyon bellach yn dychwelyd, i weld a ydyn nhw yn gweithio ai peidio? Fodd bynnag, yr hyn sy'n glir, serch hynny, yw, cyn y pandemig, roedd un o'r ffyrdd gorau o wella presenoldeb wedi ei seilio ar y gydnabyddiaeth bod presenoldeb yn gwella os yw dysgwyr eisiau dod i'r ysgol ac os ydyn nhw'n canfod fod yr hyn a gynigir yn atyniadol, yn ddiddorol ac yn berthnasol iddyn nhw, ac, wrth gwrs, yn amlwg, ers y pandemig, pa un a yw'r cymorth wedi bod yno ai peidio. Rwy'n gwybod gan fy mod wedi bod yn mynd o gwmpas y de-ddwyrain yn ddiweddar, rwyf wedi cwrdd â llawer o ddisgyblion sydd wedi ei chael yn anodd dychwelyd i'r ysgol, dim ond oherwydd effaith y pandemig ar iechyd meddwl a'r trafferthion a gawson nhw. Rhaid i ni fabwysiadu ymagwedd amlbroffesiwn tuag at y mater hwn a defnyddio'r holl ddulliau sydd ar gael i'r Llywodraeth, boed hynny'n cryfhau hysbysiadau cosb benodedig neu'n sicrhau bod y cynnig addysgol yn cyrraedd safon benodol ac yn ddeniadol i'r dysgwr, a bod y cymorth hwnnw - y cymorth hwnnw'n bennaf - ar waith. Gweinidog, er bod eich datganiad yn fan cychwyn, ni allwn laesu dwylo a dylem ni yn awr fod yn ceisio manteisio i'r eithaf ar y cyfle hwn ar ôl yr adolygiad hwn i sicrhau nad oes unrhyw blentyn yn colli amser yn yr ystafell ddosbarth yn ddiangen os yw hynny'n bosibl. Diolch.