English: Thank you, Minister, for your statement, and for an advance copy of it. It is all about leadership, in terms of making sure that all of our children have the very best opportunities to thrive during their time in school and the education system here in Wales. I know that this is something that you are passionate about addressing, in terms of the deficiencies in the system. And I too want to thank Ann Keane in her role as chair of the task and finish group, indeed along with the other members of that group, for her work. I'm interested to note that the new academy is going to be based in Swansea. It's good that it's not going to be based within the Cardiff bubble, if you like, and that it's actually going to be elsewhere in the country. But I wonder why that decision was taken, and whether there were any bids from other parts of Wales, in terms of being the host of such a prestigious organisation. I'm sure that many others will be interested to know why Swansea was the successful bidder. I assume now that there is a budget in place for this organisation; I haven't seen any details of that budget. I don't know how many employees - you kept referring to it as a relatively small organisation, I noticed, during your statement. But I would be interested to know what sort of budget this organisation has at its disposal, in order that those resources can be effectively spent on the things that we want them to be spent on, i.e. making sure that there's adequate professional development and support for school leaders and others in the education system here in Wales. I noticed that there's also a focus very much on headteachers and senior members of staff in our schools. But, of course, the educational leadership that we have in our country goes beyond just headteachers. There are many organisations, like further education colleges et cetera, that may be able to benefit and, indeed, there may be an exchange of support from FE colleges and the universities sector, which may be of benefit for this new organisation. So, I wonder whether you can tell us how you expect them to be able to engage with the new national academy and what benefits you expect to be able to derive from their expertise. One of the features of recent Estyn reports has been the good leadership in our FE sector in particular, and I'm passionate about making sure that they have the opportunity to support the development of good leadership also in other parts of the education system. I wonder also - . I notice that there's an emphasis on the co-development, if you like, and collaboration with leaders in terms of developing the role of the new academy. But I wonder to what extent people will actually have the time, frankly, to be able to have an input into the development of this new organisation, given that most of them will have a day job to do, and they already feel very squeezed in terms of their time. All of the headteachers that I speak to, frankly, seem to have very little time other than to firefight in their schools at the moment, because of the work pressures that there are. So, I wonder if you could tell us how you're making sure that they have the capacity to engage in a meaningful way with the new academy in terms of developing its programmes, because I think it's very important that they're given some space to be able to do that in a meaningful way. I'm pleased to see that there's going to be an emphasis on an accreditation scheme, if you like - a quality mark scheme - for some of the tools that are already out there, and that they will be assessed against an evidence base to show that they are effective tools for leaders to be able to use in their professional development. Can you assure us, then, that those things that don't meet the mark, if you like, will be scrapped, and that we won't see Welsh taxpayers' money wasted on certain things, which we've spent money on in the past? Because I know that many people are frustrated sometimes that a lot of money is being spent on professional development, which has not delivered on the promises that have been set out at the start. And just one final question: I know that this is an independent organisation, but it's obviously very important that there's an accountability structure in place with the organisation, which is ultimately accountable to this National Assembly. So, can you tell us what the arrangements for accountability of the new academy will be? Will it be subject to inspection by Estyn? How do you expect this National Assembly to be able to interface with the organisation? And do you see a role for local education authorities and the regional consortia in being able to do that, or are there other mechanisms that you feel should be at our disposal? Thank you.
Welsh: Diolch ichi, Gweinidog, am eich datganiad, ac am y copi ohono o flaen llaw. Mae hyn i gyd yn ymwneud ag arweinyddiaeth, o ran gwneud yn siŵr bod pob plentyn yn cael y cyfle gorau i ffynnu yn ystod ei amser yn yr ysgol a'r system addysg yma yng Nghymru. Rwy'n gwybod bod mynd i'r afael â hyn yn rhywbeth yr ydych yn teimlo'n angerddol yn ei gylch, o ran y diffygion sydd yn y system. A hoffwn innau ddiolch hefyd i Ann Keane yn ei swydd yng nghadair y grŵp gorchwyl a gorffen, yn wir ynghyd ag aelodau eraill yn y grŵp hwnnw, am ei gwaith. Mae'n ddiddorol nodi y bydd yr academi newydd wedi'i lleoli yn Abertawe. Mae'n beth da nad yw'n mynd i fod wedi'i lleoli yn swigen Caerdydd, os hoffech chi, a'i bod mewn gwirionedd mewn rhan arall o'r wlad. Ond rwy'n holi pam y gwnaed y penderfyniad hwnnw, ac a fu unrhyw gynigion o rannau eraill o Gymru i gael bod yn gartref i sefydliad o'r fath fri. Rwy'n siŵr y bydd llawer o bobl eraill â diddordeb i wybod pam mai Abertawe oedd y cynigydd llwyddiannus. Rwy'n cymryd yn awr fod yna gyllideb yn ei lle ar gyfer y sefydliad hwn; ni welais unrhyw fanylion o'r gyllideb honno. Nid wyf i'n gwybod faint o weithwyr - roeddech chi'n cyfeirio ato o hyd fel sefydliad cymharol fychan, roeddwn yn sylwi, yn eich datganiad. Ond byddai gennyf ddiddordeb i wybod pa fath o gyllideb fydd ar gael i'r sefydliad hwn, fel y gall yr adnoddau hynny gael eu gwario yn effeithiol ar y pethau yr ydym yn dymuno iddynt gael eu gwario arnynt, h.y. sicrhau bod datblygiad a chymorth proffesiynol digonol ar gyfer arweinwyr ysgol ac eraill yn y system addysg yma yng Nghymru. Sylwais fod yna ganolbwyntio mawr iawn hefyd ar benaethiaid ac uwch aelodau staff yn ein hysgolion. Ond, wrth gwrs, mae'r arweinyddiaeth addysgol sydd gennym yn ein gwlad yn mynd ymhellach na phenaethiaid yn unig. Ceir llawer o sefydliadau, fel colegau addysg bellach ac ati, a allent elwa ac, yn wir, gallai fod cyfnewid cefnogaeth gan golegau addysg bellach a'r sector prifysgolion, a allai fod o fudd i'r sefydliad newydd hwn. Felly, tybed a allech ddweud wrthym sut yr ydych yn disgwyl iddynt allu ymgysylltu â'r academi genedlaethol newydd a pha fanteision y gallwch ddisgwyl eu gweld yn deillio o'u harbenigedd nhw. Un o nodweddion adroddiadau diweddar gan Estyn yw'r arweinyddiaeth dda yn ein sector addysg bellach yn arbennig, ac rwy'n daer o blaid gwneud yn siŵr bod ganddyn nhw'r cyfle i gefnogi datblygiad arweinyddiaeth dda mewn rhannau eraill o'r system addysg hefyd. Tybed hefyd - . Rwy'n sylwi bod pwyslais ar gyd-ddatblygu, mewn ffordd o siarad, a chydweithio gydag arweinwyr i ddatblygu swyddogaeth yr academi newydd. Ond tybed i ba raddau y bydd gan bobl ddigon o amser, mewn gwirionedd, i allu cael mewnbwn i ddatblygiad y sefydliad newydd hwn, o gofio y bydd gan y rhan fwyaf ohonynt eu swydd feunyddiol, ac maen nhw'n teimlo'n gyfyngedig iawn o ran eu hamser yn barod. Ymddengys mai ychydig iawn o amser sydd gan gan bob un o'r penaethiaid yr wyf i'n siarad â nhw, a dweud y gwir, i wneud dim ar wahân i ymlafnio yn eu hysgolion eu hunain ar hyn o bryd, oherwydd y pwysau gwaith sy'n bodoli. Felly, tybed a allech chi ddweud wrthym ni sut yr ydych chi am wneud yn siŵr bod y gallu ganddynt i ymgysylltu mewn ffordd ystyrlon â'r academi newydd o ran datblygiad ei rhaglenni, oherwydd rwyf i o'r farn ei bod yn bwysig iawn eu bod yn cael rhywfaint o gyfle i allu gwneud hynny mewn ffordd ystyrlon. Rwy'n falch o weld y bydd pwyslais ar gynllun achredu, mewn ffordd o siarad - cynllun marc ansawdd - ar gyfer peth o'r adnoddau sy'n bodoli eisoes, ac y byddant yn cael eu hasesu yn ôl sylfaen dystiolaeth i ddangos eu bod yn adnoddau effeithiol i arweinwyr allu eu defnyddio yn eu datblygiad proffesiynol. A wnewch chi roi sicrwydd inni, felly, y ceir gwared ar y pethau hynny nad ydynt yn cyrraedd y nod ac na fyddwn yn gweld arian trethdalwyr Cymru yn cael ei wastraffu ar rai pethau yr ydym wedi gwario arian arnyn nhw o'r blaen? Gwn fod llawer o bobl yn teimlo'n rhwystredig o bryd i'w gilydd am fod llawer o arian yn cael ei wario ar ddatblygiad proffesiynol, nad yw wedi gwireddu'r addewidion a nodwyd ar y dechrau. A dim ond un cwestiwn terfynol: rwy'n gwybod mai sefydliad annibynnol yw hwn, ond mae'n amlwg ei bod yn bwysig iawn fod yna strwythur atebolrwydd ar waith yn y sefydliad, sy'n atebol yn y pen draw i'r Cynulliad Cenedlaethol hwn. Felly, a wnewch chi ddweud wrthym ni beth fydd y trefniadau ar gyfer atebolrwydd yr academi newydd? A fydd yn destun arolwg gan Estyn? Sut ydych chi'n disgwyl i'r Cynulliad Cenedlaethol hwn allu rhyngwynebu â'r sefydliad? Ac a ydych yn gweld swyddogaeth i awdurdodau addysg lleol a'r consortia rhanbarthol wneud hynny, neu a oes dulliau eraill y teimlwch y dylent fod ar gael i ni? Diolch ichi.