English: If I may just take an example - it's an area where I think my view and perhaps the view of many, at least in the Conservative group, may be different from yours, Cabinet Secretary, and from the Labour Government, but it's about accountability for schools and transparency over how they are doing. We have Estyn's own assessment and the rating it gives. We then have this red, amber and green, which I think comes from Welsh Government. And the messages coming from those two measures - at least for some schools - I find sometimes contradictory. Then, there is the harder evidence of what schools are getting in terms of their results. At least relative to England, there is less transparency about what those results are. There seems to be this huge fear of there being league tables whereas, to me, it is obvious that, if you are transparent and if you are accountable, and if you are open with information rather than suppressing it and hiding it from parents, then that is likely to assist your school system in becoming better. I speak with a certain degree of frustration, as a parent myself, in seeking to compare schools. But what I don't understand is the sort of mixed system that we've ended up with where, since 2014, Estyn has changed its approach and, in its inspection reports on individual schools, has become more transparent in how much it tells parents and others about what results those schools are getting. Before 2014, there were very vague comparisons of key stage 2 results. It was a family of schools, and it wasn't clear how it went to the nation as a whole, and it didn't tell you actually what the results were for a particular school. Since 2014, that policy has changed, but I'm just a little puzzled by it because I don't see any evidence of the approach of Welsh Government particularly having changed or our having won the argument in Wales that schools should be more transparent and we should be open about this data. It just seems that Estyn took a decision. Perhaps this was approved by Welsh Government. Perhaps the Cabinet Secretary can tell me, but since 2014, you do have this information on individual schools, but then if you try and compare it to other schools, the information is taken at different dates, making those comparisons less reliable for parents. I just don't understand what is the purpose of that or how that helps anyone. Two areas I just want to comment on, briefly, about the report is the increased emphasis that Estyn seems to be putting on the need to give better support to able and talented students, and particularly the absence of this at primary level in many schools, and particularly those schools that are performing particularly poorly. To some extent, it may be understandable, if a school is doing very badly in terms of its results, that it focuses on lifting the floor or trying to get perhaps the average of those results up, but if at the time, through doing that, that perhaps a number of children who are able and talented in that school really aren't getting support and aren't having their particular needs met, I think that is a concern, and if you are able and talented and are in a school that is doing poorly, things are going to be so much worse because of that lack of focus. I hope Estyn will also look at how it can, at the secondary level, link in support for able and talented students with the Seren network, and ensure that schools engage with that properly and actually push and encourage their pupils to link into Seren on a more consistent basis. Finally - and excuse my cough, Llywydd; I think others may be suffering from that too - just looking at the career and the future educational advice that children get, Estyn seems to be relatively satisfied with what's happening in year 9, but there are some more criticisms of what happens in year 11. While Welsh Government seems to be sort of pushing against school sixth forms and encouraging mergers and amalgamations and a focus on further education colleges for A-levels to a degree - I may perhaps just be talking about some local examples in my south-east region - Estyn as a whole seem to be suggesting that schools are biased, or some schools at least, to pushing children to go to their own sixth form. Of course, I understand why a school would want to promote its own sixth form, but we also need to ensure that young people are getting proper advice and an ability to consider other options on a fair basis. I would welcome, Cabinet Secretary, if you could say a few words on perhaps what more we could do to ensure that young people do get that.
Welsh: Os caf i gymryd un enghraifft - mae'n faes lle'r wyf i'n meddwl y gallai fod fy marn i ac efallai farn llawer o bobl, o leiaf yn y grŵp Ceidwadol, yn wahanol i'ch un chi, Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet, ac i'r Llywodraeth Lafur, ond mae'n ymwneud ag atebolrwydd i ysgolion a thryloywder dros sut maent yn gwneud. Mae gennym asesiad Estyn eu hunain a'r sgôr mae'n ei roi. Wedyn mae gennym y coch, ambr a gwyrdd, sy'n dod gan Lywodraeth Cymru, rwy'n meddwl. Ac rwy'n gweld y negeseuon sy'n dod o'r ddau fesur hyn - o leiaf ar gyfer rhai ysgolion - yn anghyson weithiau. Yna, ceir tystiolaeth fwy cadarn o'r hyn y mae ysgolion yn ei gael o ran eu canlyniadau. O leiaf o gymharu â Lloegr, ceir llai o dryloywder ynghylch y canlyniadau hynny. Mae'n ymddangos bod ofn enfawr o dablau cynghrair, ond, i mi, mae'n amlwg, os ydych chi'n dryloyw ac os ydych chi'n atebol, ac os ydych chi'n agored gyda gwybodaeth yn hytrach na'i chelu a'i chuddio rhag rhieni, bod hynny'n debygol o gynorthwyo eich system ysgol i wella. Rwy'n siarad â rhywfaint o rwystredigaeth, fel rhiant fy hun, sy'n ceisio cymharu ysgolion. Ond yr hyn nad wyf yn ei ddeall yw'r math o system gymysg sydd gennym nawr lle, ers 2014, mae Estyn wedi newid eu dulliau gweithredu ac, yn eu hadroddiadau arolygu ar ysgolion unigol, maent wedi dod yn fwy tryloyw o ran faint y maent yn ei ddweud wrth rieni ac eraill am y canlyniadau y mae'r ysgolion hynny'n eu cael. Cyn 2014, roedd canlyniadau cyfnod allweddol 2 yn cael eu cymharu'n amwys iawn. Roedd yn deulu o ysgolion, ac nid oedd yn glir sut yr oedd yn mynd i'r genedl gyfan, ac nid oedd yn dweud wrthych beth oedd canlyniadau gwirioneddol ysgol benodol. Ers 2014, mae'r polisi hwnnw wedi newid, ond mae'n peri ychydig o benbleth imi oherwydd nid wyf yn gweld dim tystiolaeth bod ymagwedd Llywodraeth Cymru wedi newid yn arbennig na'n bod ni wedi ennill y ddadl yng Nghymru y dylai ysgolion fod yn fwy tryloyw ac y dylem ni fod yn agored am y data hyn. Mae'n ymddangos mai dim ond penderfyniad gan Estyn oedd hwn. Efallai fod Llywodraeth Cymru wedi ei gymeradwyo. Efallai y gall Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet ddweud wrthyf, ond ers 2014, mae gennych y wybodaeth hon am ysgolion unigol, ond wedyn os ydych chi'n ceisio ei chymharu ag ysgolion eraill, mae'r wybodaeth wedi'i chymryd ar ddyddiadau gwahanol, sy'n gwneud y cymariaethau hynny'n llai dibynadwy i rieni. Yn y bôn, dydw i ddim yn deall beth yw diben hynny na sut mae hynny'n helpu neb. Dau faes yr hoffwn i sôn amdanynt, yn fyr, yn yr adroddiad yw'r pwyslais cynyddol y mae'n ymddangos bod Estyn yn ei roi ar yr angen i roi gwell cymorth i fyfyrwyr abl a thalentog, ac yn benodol absenoldeb hyn ar lefel gynradd mewn llawer o ysgolion, ac yn enwedig yn yr ysgolion hynny sy'n perfformio'n arbennig o wael. I ryw raddau, gallai fod yn ddealladwy, os yw ysgol yn gwneud yn wael iawn o ran ei chanlyniadau, ei bod yn canolbwyntio ar godi'r llawr neu geisio efallai cynyddu cyfartaledd y canlyniadau hynny, ond os oes ar y pryd, drwy wneud hynny, efallai nifer o blant sy'n abl a thalentog yn yr ysgol honno ddim wir yn cael cymorth a bod ganddynt anghenion penodol sydd ddim yn cael eu diwallu, rwy'n meddwl bod hynny'n destun pryder, ac os ydych chi'n abl a thalentog ac mewn ysgol sy'n gwneud yn wael, mae pethau'n mynd i fod gymaint gwaeth oherwydd y diffyg ffocws hwnnw. Rwy'n gobeithio y gwnaiff Estyn hefyd edrych ar sut y gallant, ar y lefel uwchradd, gysylltu cymorth i fyfyrwyr abl a thalentog â rhwydwaith Seren, a sicrhau bod ysgolion yn ymwneud yn briodol â hwnnw ac wir yn gwthio ac yn annog eu disgyblion i gysylltu â Seren yn fwy cyson. Yn olaf - ac esgusodwch fy mheswch, Llywydd; rwy'n meddwl efallai fod eraill yn dioddef o hwnnw hefyd - dim ond i edrych ar y cyngor mae disgyblion yn ei gael am yrfaoedd ac addysg yn y dyfodol, mae'n ymddangos bod Estyn yn gymharol fodlon â'r hyn sy'n digwydd ym mlwyddyn 9, ond bod mwy o feirniadaethau o'r hyn sy'n digwydd ym mlwyddyn 11. Er ei bod yn ymddangos bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn rhyw wthio yn erbyn chweched dosbarth mewn ysgolion ac yn annog uno a chyfuno a phwyslais ar golegau addysg bellach ar gyfer safon uwch i raddau - efallai mai dim ond sôn yr wyf am rai enghreifftiau lleol yn fy rhanbarth de-ddwyreiniol - mae'n ymddangos bod Estyn yn gyffredinol yn awgrymu bod ysgolion yn tueddu, neu rai ysgolion o leiaf, i wthio plant i fynd i'w chweched dosbarth eu hunain. Wrth gwrs, rwy'n deall pam byddai ysgol am hyrwyddo ei chweched dosbarth ei hun, ond mae angen inni hefyd sicrhau bod pobl ifanc yn cael cyngor priodol ac yn gallu ystyried dewisiadau eraill mewn modd teg. Byddwn yn croesawu, Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet, pe gallech ddweud ychydig eiriau am efallai beth arall y gallem ni ei wneud i sicrhau bod pobl ifanc yn cael hynny.