English: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. As Minister for Education and the Welsh Language, my most urgent priority is clear, namely ensuring that every child and young person progresses to their full potential, in spite of the pandemic. Every decision I make as Minister will be guided by the needs of learners and their well-being, with a focus on narrowing educational inequalities and ensuring the best outcomes for all. The last year has clearly been very important for our schools, our educational settings, our colleges and universities, and has shown how important they are for our children and young people. Education practitioners have heroically risen to the challenges of the pandemic, showing remarkable adaptability, commitment and resilience. I want to thank them for their dedication, innovation and swift response. Learners too have had to adapt, learning and working in very different ways. But the truth is that despite all of this, the pandemic has taken a significant toll on our young people, on the education profession that supports them, and on their families. Many of our children and staff have found it harder to manage their mental health and their relationships with others, and this has shone a light on the stubborn inequalities that still exist in parts of our educational system, gaps in attainment and in digital access that none of us should tolerate. We must ensure that nobody is left behind. This will require an extraordinary effort from all parts of the Government and the education system to address both the immediate and longer term impacts of COVID on education. In recent years, we have made strong gains in supporting pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. We must build on this. We cannot allow the pandemic to narrow young people's aspirations. As a Minister who will be working with the profession, every policy and decision I take will be done through the lens of whether it supports our most disadvantaged learners. Our aim is to ensure that learners progress to their full potential, no matter where they are right now. And this is not about telling learners that they are 'behind' or about packing in hours working on worksheets and tests. We cannot base our recovery from the pandemic on a deficit model. Instead, we need to reignite a passion for learning and make sure that all learners - in particular learners who have been most adversely impacted - feel supported every step of the way. We will put our learners first by supporting their health and well-being, their levels of motivation and confidence, and making sure that they continue to develop the key skills that enable them to learn. These are the foundations on which our learners will make the progress they need. The packages of support that we are developing are designed to address the unique challenges faced by different learners. Every learner has had their own COVID experience, and the nature of our support will reflect that. Our support will focus on helping post-16 learners to progress to the next steps on their journey, providing the foundations that enable our most vulnerable and disadvantaged learners to achieve their potential, and supporting crucial development in early years learners. And those youngest learners will be supported by the additional £13 million that I'm announcing today for schools and non-maintained settings, to help them provide extra teaching capacity to support the unique needs of early years learners. Opportunities for meaningful, quality interactions are essential, and enabling increased practitioner-to-learner ratios will help deliver the supported, active educational play and experiential learning that our youngest learners require. There have been particular challenges for our youngest learners who attend Welsh-medium schools where Welsh is not spoken at home. Teachers in Welsh-medium schools have worked extremely hard during the pandemic to support learners' progression in Welsh, and more importantly, their love of learning through the medium of Welsh. We will continue to support those teachers and learners, building on the support of the Recruit, Recover and Raise Standards programme, which has helped to increase capacity and to bring new and innovative approaches to meeting schools' linguistic needs.
Welsh: Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Fel Gweinidog y Gymraeg ac Addysg, mae'r flaenoriaeth sydd angen sylw ar frys yn glir: sicrhau bod pob plentyn a pherson ifanc yn gwneud cynnydd tuag at gyflawni eu potensial llawn, er gwaethaf y pandemig. Fe fydd pob penderfyniad y byddaf i'n ei wneud fel Gweinidog yn cael ei lywio gan anghenion dysgwyr a'u lles nhw, gyda ffocws ar leihau anghydraddoldebau addysgol a sicrhau'r canlyniadau gorau i bawb. Mae'r flwyddyn ddiwethaf wedi bod, yn amlwg, yn un bwysig iawn yn ein hysgolion ni, ein lleoliadau dysgu ni, ein colegau a'n prifysgolion ac yn dangos pa mor bwysig ydyn nhw i'n plant a'n pobl ifanc. Mae ymarferwyr addysg wedi ymateb yn arwrol i heriau'r pandemig, gan arddangos hyblygrwydd, ymrwymiad a gwydnwch trawiadol. Dwi am ddiolch iddyn nhw am eu hymroddiad, eu dyfeisgarwch a'u hymateb cyflym. Mae dysgwyr hefyd wedi gorfod addasu, gan ddysgu a gweithio drwy ddulliau gwahanol iawn. Ond mewn gwirionedd, er gwaethaf hyn oll, mae'r pandemig wedi cael effaith arwyddocaol ar ein pobl ifanc, ar y proffesiwn addysg sy'n eu cefnogi, ac ar eu teuluoedd. Mae llawer o'n plant a'n staff wedi'i chael yn anoddach rheoli eu hiechyd meddwl a'u perthynas gydag eraill, ac mae wedi amlygu'r anghydraddoldebau di-ildio sy'n dal i fodoli mewn rhannau o'n system addysgol, bylchau o ran cyrhaeddiad ac mewn mynediad digidol na ddylai'r un ohonom eu derbyn. Mae'n rhaid inni sicrhau nad oes unrhyw un yn cael ei adael ar ôl. Fe fydd hyn yn galw am ymdrech aruthrol gan bob rhan o'r Llywodraeth a'r system addysg er mwyn mynd i'r afael ag effeithiau uniongyrchol a thymor hirach COVID ar addysg. Yn ystod y blynyddoedd diwethaf, rŷm ni wedi cymryd camau breision o ran cefnogi disgyblion o gefndiroedd difreintiedig. Mae'n rhaid inni adeiladu ar hyn. Allwn ni ddim caniatáu i'r pandemig gyfyngu ar uchelgais pobl ifanc o dan unrhyw amgylchiadau. Fel Gweinidog a fydd yn gweithio gyda'r proffesiwn, fe fydd pob polisi a phenderfyniad yn cael ei wneud yng ngoleuni pa un ai yw'n cefnogi ein dysgwyr mwyaf difreintiedig. Ein nod ni yw sicrhau bod pob dysgwr yn gwneud cynnydd tuag at gyflawni eu potensial llawn, dim ots lle maen nhw arni ar hyn o bryd. Ac nid mater yw hyn o ddweud wrth ddysgwyr eu bod nhw 'ar ei hôl hi' neu dreulio oriau yn gweithio ar daflenni gwaith a phrofion. Allwn ni ddim seilio ein hadferiad yn dilyn y pandemig ar fodel o'r hyn sy'n ddiffygiol. Yn hytrach, mae angen inni aildanio brwdfrydedd dros ddysgu a gwneud yn siŵr bod dysgwyr - yn enwedig dysgwyr sydd wedi cael eu heffeithio fwyaf - yn teimlo eu bod nhw'n cael eu cefnogi bob cam o'r ffordd. Fe fyddwn ni'n rhoi dysgwyr gyntaf felly, gan gefnogi eu hiechyd a'u lles, eu lefelau cymhelliant a'u hyder, a gwneud yn siŵr eu bod nhw'n parhau i ddatblygu'r sgiliau allweddol sy'n eu galluogi i ddysgu. Dyma'r seiliau y bydd ein dysgwyr yn adeiladu arnyn nhw i wneud y cynnydd sydd ei angen. Mae'r pecynnau cymorth rŷn ni'n eu datblygu yn cael eu dylunio i fynd i'r afael â'r heriau unigryw sy'n wynebu gwahanol ddysgwyr. Mae pob dysgwr wedi bod drwy ei brofiad ei hun o gyfnod COVID, ac fe fydd natur ein cefnogaeth yn adlewyrchu hyn. Bydd ein cefnogaeth yn canolbwyntio ar helpu dysgwyr ôl-16 i symud ymlaen i gamau nesaf eu taith, darparu'r seiliau sy'n galluogi ein dysgwyr mwyaf agored i niwed a difreintiedig i gyflawni eu potensial, a chefnogi datblygiad hollbwysig ymhlith dysgwyr blynyddoedd cynnar. A bydd y dysgwyr ieuengaf hynny'n cael eu cefnogi gan y £13 miliwn ychwanegol rwy'n ei gyhoeddi heddiw ar gyfer ysgolion a lleoliadau nas cynhelir, i'w helpu i ddarparu capasiti addysgu ychwanegol i gefnogi anghenion unigryw ein dysgwyr yn y blynyddoedd cynnar. Mae cyfleoedd rhyngweithio ystyrlon o ansawdd yn hanfodol, ac mae galluogi cymarebau gwell o ran ymarferwyr a dysgwyr yn helpu i ddarparu'r cyfleoedd chwarae addysgol, gweithredol, a dysgu drwy brofiadau gyda chymorth ymarferydd, sy'n ofynnol ar gyfer ein dysgwyr ieuengaf. Bu heriau penodol i'n dysgwyr ieuengaf sy'n mynychu ysgolion cyfrwng Cymraeg lle nad yw'r Gymraeg yn cael ei siarad gartref. Mae athrawon mewn ysgolion cyfrwng Cymraeg wedi gweithio'n eithriadol o galed yn ystod y pandemig i gefnogi cynnydd dysgwyr yn y Gymraeg, ac yn bwysicach, eu cariad at ddysgu trwy gyfrwng y Gymraeg. Byddwn ni'n parhau i gefnogi'r athrawon a'r dysgwyr hynny, gan adeiladu ar gefnogaeth y rhaglen Recriwtio, Adfer a Chodi Safonau, sydd wedi helpu i gynyddu capasiti ac i ddod â dulliau newydd ac arloesol o ddiwallu anghenion ieithyddol ysgolion.