English: However challenging the situation is in Wales, it's nowhere near as challenging as for pupils in England, where schools that have been found to be in special measures are simply being hung out to dry because they are obliged to be taken over by academies, and academies are simply walking away. They don't even get inspected by HM inspectors, so it's absolutely ridiculous for people on the Conservative benches not to recognise that our situation is so much better. I think the Estyn report is a very good guide to what good practice looks like, and is in a very readable form for all school leaders to be able to access. It's absolutely not true that half the schools are failing. I have one concern, which is around the paucity of excellent early years provision. This may seem a very long way from secondary school education, but, actually, that is where we can really begin to tackle the disadvantage of deprivation. It's excellent that we now have four examples of early years provision that are deemed excellent, which is four more than last year, but we obviously need many more. In terms of supporting excellence in our secondary school teaching, I wondered if, in your response to the Estyn report, you might reconsider restoring Schools Challenge Cymru. I'm not the only person on these benches who thinks that they were dismantled before they had had time to embed the sharing of good practice that is very clearly evident in many of our secondary schools and needs to be shared, particularly with those schools who are facing the most challenges. We saw how excellent and transformative it was in London, therefore I wondered if you would consider that.
Welsh: Pa mor heriol bynnag yw'r sefyllfa yng Nghymru, nid yw'n agos at fod mor heriol â'r sefyllfa sy'n wynebu disgyblion yn Lloegr, lle mae ysgolion sy'n destunau mesurau arbennig yn cael eu gadael ar drugaredd y gwynt oherwydd bod rheidrwydd ar yr academïau i'w cymryd o dan eu hadain, ond mae'r academïau'n troi cefn arnynt. Nid ydynt yn cael eu harolygu gan arolygwyr ei Mawrhydi hyd yn oed, felly mae'n gwbl chwerthinllyd nad yw pobl ar y meinciau Ceidwadol yn gallu cydnabod ein bod mewn sefyllfa well o lawer. Credaf fod adroddiad Estyn yn arweiniad da iawn o ran beth sy'n arferion da, ac mae ar ffurf darllenadwy iawn i'r holl arweinwyr ysgolion allu gwneud defnydd ohono. Nid yw'n wir o gwbl fod hanner yr ysgolion yn methu. Mae gennyf un pryder, sy'n ymwneud â diffyg darpariaeth blynyddoedd cynnar sy'n rhagorol. Gall hyn ymddangos yn bell iawn o addysg ysgol uwchradd, ond mewn gwirionedd, dyna ble y gallwn ddechrau mynd i'r afael ag anfantais amddifadedd. Mae'n wych fod gennym bellach bedair enghraifft o ddarpariaeth blynyddoedd cynnar y bernir eu bod yn rhagorol, pedair yn fwy na'r llynedd, ond yn amlwg rydym angen llawer mwy. O ran cefnogi rhagoriaeth yn ein haddysg uwchradd, roeddwn yn meddwl tybed a fyddech, yn eich ymateb i adroddiad Estyn, yn ailystyried adfer Her Ysgolion Cymru. Nid fi yw'r unig un ar y meinciau hyn sy'n credu bod y rhaglen wedi'i diddymu cyn cael amser i wreiddio'r arfer o rannu arferion da sy'n amlwg iawn mewn nifer o'n hysgolion uwchradd ac sydd angen cael eu rhannu, yn enwedig gyda'r ysgolion sy'n wynebu'r heriau mwyaf. Gwelsom pa mor ragorol a thrawsnewidiol oedd y rhaglen yn Llundain, felly roeddwn yn meddwl tybed a fyddech yn ystyried hynny.