English: Thank you, Llyr, for that. I want to begin by saying that I'm grateful that you recognise the need to give stability to schools as much as we can, which is why the decision has been taken. That's especially true when, as I said to Darren, funding situations are difficult, and this gives schools and their governing bodies the best possible opportunity to plan for the effective use of these resources. And you're right; Estyn says that there is more that can be done to ensure that these resources are used effectively, which is why we are working with the regional consortia, with the PDG co-ordinator in each of them, to ensure that schools are doing just that: that they are using best practice and that they can evidence the reasons for the decisions they're taking with regard to the PDG. You might not regard this as a particular priority, but we can't have the education system that I want for our pupils if we take our eye off this particular ball. Maybe, if you were standing in my place here, you'd want to get rid of the PDG. But I want to make it absolutely clear to the parents of some of our most disadvantaged children, and to the schools that serve those communities, that whilst I am the Cabinet Secretary for Education, then the PDG will exist, and I will do my best to ensure, where there are opportunities to increase the value of that, like we did last year, and like we have done this year, that we will do just that. I make no apologies for wanting to invest this money in the education of our poorest children. I mean no discourtesy to the Chair or other members of the committee by making this announcement, but it is the start of the financial year, and we have had to make allocations to schools. It's not your fault that your report is going to come later on, but it is not my fault. When schools are asking me for their allocations, we need to be able to get that allocation out to them. I hope that I have demonstrated over the last two years that, where I can respond positively to the work of scrutiny committees, I will do that, but in terms of the allocation, we've had to make that money and those allocations known to schools as quickly as possible. It's not meant as a discourtesy to the committee. It's just a question of timing and the start of the financial year. I will be making a statement later on this term to update Members on our changes to assessment and accountability measures. It seems to me we are in a position to move to a more intelligent suite of assessment and accountability measures that moves us on from where we have been in the past, which perhaps has been, in some schools, used to focus exclusively on the C/D boundary, which has had consequences for other aspects of our education system, for the types of qualifications that children have been entered for. Despite the dip in performance in 2017, what we did see in 2017 is more children on free school meals being entered for GCSEs than ever before - children that previously wouldn't have been entered for a GCSE science exam. More children than ever before from poorer backgrounds are being entered for these qualifications, and that's something I think we should take into consideration, and we do need a better suite of performance measures. As I said, Llyr, you may not believe in the ability of this investment to transform the life of children. Listening to schools, listening to the evaluation and listening to Estyn, I believe that this is the right path, this is the right focus, and whilst I remain in this position, it will continue to be so.
Welsh: Diolch, Llyr, am hynny. Rwyf eisiau dechrau drwy ddweud fy mod i'n ddiolchgar eich bod yn cydnabod yr angen i roi sefydlogrwydd i ysgolion cymaint ag y gallwn, a dyna pam y mae'r penderfyniad wedi'i wneud. Mae hynny'n arbennig o wir, fel y dywedais wrth Darren, pan fo sefyllfaoedd cyllido yn anodd, ac mae hyn yn rhoi'r cyfle gorau posibl i ysgolion a'u cyrff llywodraethu gynllunio ar gyfer defnydd effeithiol o'r adnoddau hyn. Ac rydych chi'n gywir; mae Estyn yn dweud bod mwy y gellir ei wneud i sicrhau y defnyddir yr adnoddau hyn yn effeithiol, a dyna pam yr ydym ni'n gweithio gyda'r consortia rhanbarthol, gyda'r cydgysylltydd grant datblygu disgyblion ym mhob un ohonynt, er mwyn sicrhau bod ysgolion yn gwneud hynny'n union: eu bod yn defnyddio'r arferion gorau ac y gallant ddangos tystiolaeth am y rhesymau dros y penderfyniadau y maent yn eu gwneud o ran y grant datblygu disgyblion. Efallai nad ydych chi'n ystyried hyn yn flaenoriaeth benodol, ond ni allwn gael y system addysg y mae arnaf i ei heisiau i'n disgyblion os ydym ni'n tynnu'n sylw oddi ar yr agwedd benodol hon. Efallai, pe byddech chi yn fy sefyllfa i, y byddai arnoch chi eisiau cael gwared ar y grant datblygu disgyblion. Ond rwyf i eisiau ei gwneud hi'n gwbl glir i rieni rhai o'n plant mwyaf difreintiedig, ac i ysgolion sy'n gwasanaethu'r cymunedau hynny, tra byddaf i'n Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet dros Addysg, yna bydd y grant datblygu disgyblion yn bodoli, ac fe wnaf i fy ngorau i sicrhau, lle ceir cyfleoedd i gynyddu gwerth hynny, fel y gwnaethom y llynedd, ac, fel yr ydym wedi gwneud y flwyddyn hon, y byddwn yn gwneud yr union beth hynny. Nid wyf yn ymddiheuro am fod eisiau buddsoddi'r arian hwn yn addysg ein plant tlotaf. Nid fy mwriad i oedd bod yn anghwrtais tuag at y Cadeirydd nac aelodau eraill y Pwyllgor drwy wneud y cyhoeddiad hwn, ond mae hi yn ddechrau'r flwyddyn ariannol, ac rydym ni wedi gorfod gwneud dyraniadau i ysgolion. Nid eich bai chi yw hi y bydd eich adroddiad yn cael ei gyhoeddi yn nes ymlaen, ond nid fy mai i yw hynny ychwaith. Pan fydd ysgolion yn gofyn imi am eu dyraniadau, mae angen inni allu rhoi gwybod iddyn nhw am y dyraniad hwnnw. Rwy'n gobeithio fy mod wedi dangos dros y ddwy flynedd ddiwethaf, pan fydd modd i mi ymateb yn gadarnhaol i waith pwyllgorau craffu, fy mod yn gwneud hynny, ond o ran y dyraniad, rydym ni wedi gorfod rhoi gwybod i ysgolion am yr arian hwnnw a'r dyraniadau hynny cyn gynted â phosib. Nid bod yn anghwrtais i'r Pwyllgor oedd y bwriad. Mae'n fater o amseru a dechrau'r flwyddyn ariannol. Byddaf yn gwneud datganiad yn ddiweddarach y tymor hwn i roi diweddariad i'r Aelodau ynglŷn â'r newidiadau yr ydym yn eu gwneud i'r mesurau asesu ac atebolrwydd. Mae'n ymddangos i mi ein bod ni mewn sefyllfa i ddechrau defnyddio cyfres fwy deallus o fesurau asesu ac atebolrwydd a fydd yn fodd inni wneud cynnydd o'r sefyllfa y buom ynddi yn y gorffennol, a ddefnyddiwyd efallai, mewn rhai ysgolion, i ganolbwyntio'n yn llwyr ar y ffin rhwng gradd C a gradd D, sydd wedi effeithio ar agweddau eraill ar ein system addysg, o ran y mathau o gymwysterau y mae plant wedi eu cofrestru ar eu cyfer. Er gwaethaf y gostyngiad mewn perfformiad yn 2017, yr hyn a welsom yn 2017 oedd mwy o blant yn cael prydau ysgol am ddim yn cael eu cofrestru ar gyfer TGAU nag erioed o'r blaen - plant na fyddai wedi cael eu cofrestru o'r blaen ar gyfer arholiad gwyddoniaeth TGAU. Mae mwy o blant nag erioed o'r blaen o gefndiroedd tlotach yn cael eu cofrestru ar gyfer y cymwysterau hyn, ac mae hynny'n rhywbeth yr wyf yn credu y dylem ni ei ystyried, ac mae angen cyfres well o fesurau perfformiad arnom. Fel y dywedais, Llyr, efallai nad ydych chi'n credu yng ngallu'r buddsoddiad hwn i weddnewid bywyd plant. O wrando ar ysgolion, o wrando ar y gwerthusiad ac o wrando ar Estyn, rwyf i'n creu mai hwn yw'r llwybr cywir, hwn yw'r pwyslais cywir, a thra byddaf i yn y swydd hon, bydd yn parhau i fod felly.