English: The Welsh Government has also committed to closely monitoring the impact of the PDG and ensuring value for money, which we welcome. Estyn told the committee that two thirds of schools were using the grant effectively. Both Estyn and the Cabinet Secretary indicated that this was to be expected as it reflects the proportion of schools with good or better leadership. However, the committee believes that we should not be satisfied with a position whereby a third of schools are not using the PDG effectively and would seek further assurances from the Cabinet Secretary on this point. The PDG has been in place for over six years now, and almost £400 million has been invested in it. The school improvement consortia have now appointed PDG leads in each of the four regions. We recommended that they should do much more to challenge ineffective use of the grant. This is something that the evaluation by Ipsos MORI and the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods found was not happening sufficiently. I welcome the Cabinet Secretary's acceptance of our recommendations in this area, particularly on how the PDG can be used to improve eFSM pupils' attendance and engagement with their education. Deputy Presiding Officer, I will now focus on a couple of the recommendations that the Welsh Government has rejected. From 2018-19, the Welsh Government expects schools to use the PDG on pupils who've been eligible for free school meals in either of the previous two years; this provides welcome flexibility. However, schools have not been given any extra money to do this, as their PDG allocations are still based on a one-year eFSM headcount. If the Welsh Government wants schools to adopt a more flexible definition for targeting the grant, the committee recommended that it should commit to fully funding this. Furthermore, in relation to allocations, the committee recognised the rationale for using the 2016 annual school census data: eFSMs figures were higher in that year, which had enabled more money to be drawn down for the PDG. However, we were concerned about schools that buck the trend and may have had a higher number of eFSM pupils in 2017 or 2018. As such, we called for schools' PDG allocations to be determined by whichever is the higher of their 2016 eFSM headcount or the latest available. The committee made a number of recommendations about the impact of the PDG on attainment of eFSM pupils and unintended consequences of changes to key stage 4 performance measures. Attainment data shows encouraging progress in narrowing the gap in the attainment of pupils eligible for free school meals and non-eFSM pupils, at least up to 2016. However, the committee was very concerned by what happened following the Welsh Government's changes to key stage 4 performance measures in 2017, which reduced the weighting given to vocational qualifications due to concerns that pupils were being excessively entered for these. I know that rates of achievement of the level 2 threshold measures are not comparable between 2017 and previous years. However, what really concerned the committee was the widening gap between eFSM pupils and their peers. We found that there's now a disincentive to schools to enter pupils for vocational qualifications, even where it might be right for that pupil, and this has affected eFSM pupils disproportionately. The committee recommended that the Welsh Government urgently investigate this unintended consequence and learn lessons at the earliest opportunity. We recognise that new interim performance measures have been announced for summer 2019. However, given that the provisional 2018 results show a similar position to 2017, we'd welcome further assurances from the Cabinet Secretary that the 2017 and 2018 eFSM cohorts were not unfairly and adversely affected by the previous changes. How has the PDG mitigated, or failed to mitigate, against this? The same can be said for looked-after children; their attainment relative to their peers has widened since 2016 after years of good progress in narrowing the gap. Moving on to the element of the PDG for looked-after children and adopted children, I welcome the Welsh Government's commitment to using the evaluation it has commissioned from ICF Consulting to improve the programme going forward. The committee heard that this aspect of the PDG has been insufficiently strategic until quite recently, when the regional consortia have improved the way they target and administer the grant. The committee's biggest concern, however, related to the way the PDG is used or not used on adopted children. There are around 4,000 looked-after children in Wales, and an estimated 3,000 to 3,500 adopted children. Whilst the Welsh Government expects consortia to target the PDG at adopted children as well as looked-after children, the funding allocation is based only on the numbers of looked-after children. This means one of two things: either the PDG is not being used for adopted children or if it is, then the per-head amount of £1,150 is effectively diluted by almost half. I'm really pleased that the Welsh Government has said it will look at how adopted children can be more proactively identified and subsequently supported through the PDG. However, we are disappointed that our recommendation that the PDG is allocated to consortia based on the numbers of both looked-after children and adopted children has been rejected, although we note that the Cabinet Secretary will keep it under review. Turning to Schools Challenge Cymru, I am pleased that the Cabinet Secretary has accepted our four recommendations, albeit one in principle. Whilst the improvements shown by schools involved in the programme were variable, some schools did extremely well as a result of the extra challenge and support, particularly in the central south Wales region. It is vital that there is no loss of momentum in these schools following the closure of a programme, and I am glad that the Government has agreed that the regional consortia should closely monitor the position. We did hear different interpretations of whether Schools Challenge Cymru was always intended to be time limited, but there was general consensus in our evidence that a programme of this kind really needs to run for longer than three years to have a lasting effect. The committee noted the Cabinet Secretary's position that Schools Challenge Cymru served its purpose while the consortia were in their infancy and that they can now take on the baton of targeted school improvement in specific schools. But what the committee couldn't really understand was why the decision to discontinue Schools Challenge Cymru came seven months before the evaluation, which the Welsh Government itself commissioned, was completed. We were also concerned to be told of a lack of engagement in learning lessons from Schools Challenge Cymru with those central to delivering the programme, who told the committee that they felt somewhat frozen out. The committee recommended that the Welsh Government and the consortia do more to learn lessons from Schools Challenge Cymru in order to apply these to school improvement more generally, and I am pleased the Cabinet Secretary has agreed to do this. The committee was concerned that, following the closure of the programme, its annual budget went back to reserves, rather than elsewhere within the education budget. Indeed, this inquiry has highlighted the wider issue of school funding, which has come up time and time again in various inquiries the committee has undertaken. The committee will be examining these issues and the process of allocating school budgets in its forthcoming inquiry into school funding, and this is, of course, a key issue for the 2019-20 draft budget, particularly given the concerns expressed over the level of funding for school budgets. Finally, Deputy Presiding Officer, I'd like to thank stakeholders for the way they've positively engaged with the inquiry and their invaluable contributions, as well as the schools that we visited. I'd also like to thank the Cabinet Secretary for her positive response to this inquiry and our recommendations. I know the Welsh Government is committed to supporting disadvantaged pupils to reach their full potential and raising school standards more generally. I hope that our report has shown the value of regularly monitoring that Welsh Government's approach is truly on the money. All our pupils, whatever their background, deserve to receive the greatest impact and value for money from a targeted approach. Thank you.
Welsh: Mae Llywodraeth Cymru hefyd wedi ymrwymo i fonitro effaith y grant datblygu disgyblion yn agos a sicrhau gwerth am arian, ac rydym yn croesawu hynny. Dywedodd Estyn wrth y pwyllgor fod dwy ran o dair o ysgolion yn defnyddio'r grant yn effeithiol. Nododd Estyn ac Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet fod hyn i'w ddisgwyl gan ei fod yn adlewyrchu'r gyfran o ysgolion gydag arweinyddiaeth dda neu well. Fodd bynnag, mae'r pwyllgor yn credu na ddylem fodloni ar sefyllfa lle nad yw traean yr ysgolion yn defnyddio'r grant datblygu disgyblion yn effeithiol a byddai'n gofyn am sicrwydd pellach gan Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet ar y pwynt hwn. Mae'r grant datblygu disgyblion wedi bod ar waith ers dros chwe blynedd bellach, a buddsoddwyd bron i £400 miliwn ynddo. Mae consortia gwella ysgolion bellach wedi penodi arweinwyr grant datblygu disgyblion ym mhob un o'r pedwar rhanbarth. Rydym wedi argymell y dylent wneud llawer mwy i herio defnydd aneffeithiol o'r grant. Dyma rywbeth y canfu'r gwerthusiad gan Ipsos MORI a Sefydliad Ymchwil, Data a Methodoleg Gymdeithasol ac Economaidd Cymru nad oedd yn digwydd yn ddigonol. Rwy'n croesawu'r ffaith bod Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet wedi derbyn ein hargymhellion yn hyn o beth, yn enwedig ynglŷn â sut y gellir defnyddio'r grant datblygu disgyblion i wella presenoldeb disgyblion sy'n gymwys am brydau ysgol am ddim a'u hymgysylltiad â'u haddysg. Ddirprwy Lywydd, rwyf am ganolbwyntio yn awr ar un neu ddau o'r argymhellion y mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi'u gwrthod. O 2018-19, mae Llywodraeth Cymru yn disgwyl i ysgolion ddefnyddio'r grant datblygu disgyblion ar ddisgyblion sydd wedi bod yn gymwys am brydau ysgol am ddim yn y naill neu'r llall o'r ddwy flynedd flaenorol; mae hyn yn cynnig hyblygrwydd sydd i'w groesawu. Fodd bynnag, nid yw ysgolion wedi cael unrhyw arian ychwanegol i wneud hyn, gan fod eu dyraniadau grant datblygu disgyblion yn seiliedig ar nifer y disgyblion sy'n gymwys am brydau ysgol am ddim mewn un flwyddyn. Os yw Llywodraeth Cymru am i ysgolion fabwysiadu diffiniad mwy hyblyg ar gyfer targedu'r grant, mae'r pwyllgor yn argymell y dylai ymrwymo i ariannu hyn yn llawn. At hynny, mewn perthynas â dyraniadau, roedd y pwyllgor yn cydnabod y rhesymeg dros ddefnyddio data cyfrifiad ysgol blynyddol 2016: roedd y ffigurau prydau ysgol am ddim yn uwch yn y flwyddyn honno, gan alluogi mwy o arian i gael ei neilltuo ar gyfer y grant datblygu disgyblion. Fodd bynnag, roeddem yn bryderus ynglŷn ag ysgolion sy'n mynd yn groes i'r duedd ac a allai gael nifer uwch o ddisgyblion sy'n gymwys am brydau ysgol am ddim yn 2017 neu 2018. O'r herwydd, galwasom am bennu dyraniadau'r grant datblygu disgyblion i ysgolion ar sail pa un bynnag sydd uchaf, naill ai nifer y disgyblion sy'n gymwys am brydau ysgol am ddim yn 2016 neu'r cyfrif diweddaraf sydd ar gael. Gwnaeth y pwyllgor nifer o argymhellion ynghylch effaith y grant datblygu disgyblion ar gyrhaeddiad disgyblion sy'n gymwys am brydau ysgol am ddim a chanlyniadau anfwriadol newidiadau i fesurau perfformiad cyfnod allweddol 4. Dengys data cyrhaeddiad gynnydd calonogol ar gau'r bwlch yng nghyrhaeddiad disgyblion sy'n gymwys am brydau ysgol am ddim a disgyblion nad ydynt yn cael prydau am ddim, o leiaf hyd at 2016. Fodd bynnag, roedd y pwyllgor yn bryderus iawn ynglŷn â'r hyn a ddigwyddodd yn dilyn newidiadau Llywodraeth Cymru i fesurau perfformiad cyfnod allweddol 4 yn 2017, a leihaodd y pwysoliad a roddwyd i gymwysterau galwedigaethol oherwydd pryderon fod gormod o ddisgyblion yn cael eu cofrestru ar eu cyfer. Gwn nad oes modd cymharu cyfraddau cyflawniad y mesurau trothwy lefel 2 rhwng 2017 a blynyddoedd blaenorol. Fodd bynnag, yr hyn a oedd yn peri pryder gwirioneddol i'r pwyllgor oedd y bwlch a oedd yn tyfu rhwng disgyblion a oedd yn gymwys am brydau ysgol am ddim a'u cyfoedion. Canfuom nad oes cymhelliad i ysgolion gofrestru disgyblion ar gyfer cymwysterau galwedigaethol, hyd yn oed lle gallai fod yn iawn ar gyfer disgyblion unigol, ac mae hyn wedi effeithio'n anghymesur ar ddisgyblion sy'n gymwys am brydau ysgol am ddim. Argymhellodd y pwyllgor y dylai Llywodraeth Cymru fynd ati ar fyrder i ymchwilio i'r canlyniad anfwriadol hwn a dysgu gwersi ar y cyfle cyntaf. Rydym yn cydnabod bod mesurau perfformiad dros dro newydd wedi cael eu cyhoeddi ar gyfer haf 2019. Fodd bynnag, o gofio bod y canlyniadau 2018 dros dro yn dangos sefyllfa debyg i 2017, byddem yn croesawu sicrwydd pellach gan Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet fod carfannau prydau ysgol am ddim 2017 a 2018 heb gael eu heffeithio'n annheg ac yn niweidiol gan y newidiadau blaenorol. Sut y mae'r grant datblygu disgyblion wedi lliniaru, neu wedi methu lliniaru yn erbyn hyn? Gellir dweud yr un peth am blant sy'n derbyn gofal; mae eu bwlch cyrhaeddiad o'i gymharu â'u cyfoedion wedi ehangu ers 2016 ar ôl blynyddoedd o gynnydd da ar gau'r bwlch. Gan symud ymlaen at yr elfen o'r grant datblygu disgyblion ar gyfer plant sy'n derbyn gofal a phlant wedi'u mabwysiadu, rwy'n croesawu ymrwymiad Llywodraeth Cymru i ddefnyddio'r gwerthusiad a gomisiynodd gan ICF Consulting i wella'r rhaglen yn y dyfodol. Clywodd y pwyllgor nad oedd yr agwedd hon ar y grant datblygu disgyblion wedi bod yn ddigon strategol tan yn weddol ddiweddar, pan wellodd y consortia rhanbarthol y ffordd y maent yn targedu ac yn gweinyddu'r grant. Roedd pryder mwyaf y pwyllgor, fodd bynnag, yn ymwneud â'r ffordd y caiff y grant datblygu disgyblion ei ddefnyddio neu'r ffordd na chaiff ei ddefnyddio ar blant wedi'u mabwysiadu. Ceir oddeutu 4,000 o blant sy'n derbyn gofal plant yng Nghymru, a 3,000 i 3,500 amcangyfrifedig o blant wedi'u mabwysiadu. Er bod Llywodraeth Cymru yn disgwyl i gonsortia dargedu'r grant datblygu disgyblion ar gyfer plant wedi'u mabwysiadu yn ogystal â phlant sy'n derbyn gofal, nid yw'r dyraniad cyllid ond yn seiliedig ar niferoedd y plant sy'n derbyn gofal yn unig. Mae hyn yn golygu un o ddau beth: naill ai nad yw'r grant datblygu disgyblion yn cael ei ddefnyddio ar gyfer plant wedi'u mabwysiadu neu os yw'n cael ei ddefnyddio, mae'r swm y pen o £1,150 wedi ei wanhau bron i'w hanner i bob pwrpas. Rwy'n falch iawn fod Llywodraeth Cymru wedi dweud y bydd yn edrych ar sut y gellir mynd ati'n fwy rhagweithiol i nodi plant sydd wedi'u mabwysiadu a'u cefnogi wedyn drwy'r grant datblygu disgyblion. Fodd bynnag, rydym yn siomedig fod ein hargymhelliad y dylai'r grant datblygu disgyblion gael ei ddyrannu i gonsortia yn seiliedig ar y niferoedd plant sy'n derbyn gofal a phlant wedi'u mabwysiadu wedi ei wrthod, er ein bod yn nodi y bydd Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet yn ei adolygu'n rheolaidd. Gan droi at Her Ysgolion Cymru, rwy'n falch fod Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet wedi derbyn ein pedwar argymhelliad, er mai mewn egwyddor y mae wedi derbyn un ohonynt. Er bod y gwelliannau a ddangoswyd gan ysgolion sy'n rhan o'r rhaglen yn amrywiol, gwnaeth rhai ysgolion yn dda iawn o ganlyniad i'r her a'r cymorth ychwanegol, yn enwedig yn rhanbarth canol de Cymru. Mae'n hanfodol na chollir momentwm yn yr ysgolion hyn yn dilyn cau rhaglen, ac rwy'n falch fod y Llywodraeth wedi cytuno y dylai'r consortia rhanbarthol fonitro'r sefyllfa yn agos. Clywsom wahanol ddehongliadau o ran y bwriad i gynnal Her Ysgolion Cymru am gyfnod penodol yn unig, ond gwelwyd consensws cyffredinol yn ein tystiolaeth fod gwir angen i raglen o'r fath redeg am fwy na thair blynedd i gael effaith barhaol. Nododd y pwyllgor safbwynt Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet fod Her Ysgolion Cymru wedi cyflawni ei diben tra bo'r consortia'n magu gwraidd, ac y gallant bellach gymryd yr awenau o ran targedu gwaith gwella ysgolion ar gyfer ysgolion penodol. Ond ni allai'r pwyllgor ddeall pam fod y penderfyniad i ddod â Her Ysgolion Cymru i ben saith mis cyn i'r gwerthusiad, a gomisiynwyd gan Lywodraeth Cymru ei hun, gael ei gwblhau. Roeddem hefyd yn bryderus o glywed am ddiffyg ymrwymiad i ddysgu gwersi gan Her Ysgolion Cymru gyda'r rhai sy'n ganolog i'r gwaith o gyflawni'r rhaglen yn dweud wrth y pwyllgor eu bod yn teimlo eu bod wedi cael eu cau allan rywfaint. Argymhellodd y pwyllgor y dylai Llywodraeth Cymru a'r consortia wneud mwy i ddysgu gwersi gan Her Ysgolion Cymru er mwyn cymhwyso'r rhain i'r gwaith o wella ysgolion yn fwy cyffredinol, ac rwy'n falch fod Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet wedi cytuno i wneud hyn. Roedd y pwyllgor yn pryderu, yn dilyn cau'r rhaglen, y byddai ei chyllideb flynyddol yn mynd yn ôl i gronfeydd wrth gefn, yn hytrach nag i fannau eraill o fewn y gyllideb addysg. Yn wir, mae'r ymchwiliad hwn wedi amlygu mater ehangach yn ymwneud ag ariannu ysgolion, sydd wedi codi dro ar ôl tro mewn gwahanol ymchwiliadau a wnaeth y pwyllgor. Bydd y pwyllgor yn edrych ar y materion hyn a'r broses o ddyrannu cyllidebau ysgol yn ei ymchwiliad sydd ar y ffordd i gyllido ysgolion, ac mae hyn, wrth gwrs, yn fater allweddol ar gyfer cyllideb ddrafft 2019-20, yn enwedig o ystyried y pryderon a fynegwyd ynghylch lefel y cyllid ar gyfer cyllidebau ysgolion. Yn olaf, Ddirprwy Lywydd, hoffwn ddiolch i'r rhanddeiliaid am y ffordd y maent wedi ymwneud yn gadarnhaol â'r ymchwiliad ac am eu cyfraniadau gwerthfawr, yn ogystal â'r ysgolion yr ymwelwyd â hwy. Hoffwn ddiolch hefyd i Ysgrifennydd y Cabinet am ei hymateb cadarnhaol i'r ymchwiliad hwn ac i'n hargymhellion. Gwn fod Llywodraeth Cymru yn ymrwymedig i gynorthwyo disgyblion difreintiedig i gyflawni eu potensial llawn a chodi safonau ysgolion yn fwy cyffredinol. Gobeithiaf fod ein hadroddiad wedi dangos gwerth monitro'n rheolaidd fod dull gweithredu Llywodraeth Cymru yn bendant yn werth yr arian. Mae ein holl ddisgyblion, beth bynnag yw eu cefndir, yn haeddu cael yr effaith fwyaf a'r gwerth gorau am arian o ddull wedi'i dargedu. Diolch.