:00:25. > :00:35.Thank you Debbie dib residing officer. The word -- thank you
:00:36. > :00:38.Debbie keep presiding officer. -- deputy residing others.
:00:39. > :00:45.... Uniquely demonstrates that the quality of teaching and learning
:00:46. > :00:49.cannot be separated. Assessment for learning means that teaching is
:00:50. > :00:54.always adaptive and specific to the learners needs and supporting
:00:55. > :01:00.raising standards for everyone. The recent OECD report recognised that a
:01:01. > :01:04.commitment to improving the teaching and learning in our schools is
:01:05. > :01:09.visible at all levels of our education system and the report
:01:10. > :01:15.recommended that the focus of our reforms should be on developing a
:01:16. > :01:19.high-quality teaching profession, making leadership a key driver for
:01:20. > :01:22.reform and making sure that equity and learning opportunities and
:01:23. > :01:27.student well-being and moving towards a new system of assessment
:01:28. > :01:32.evaluation and accountability that aligns with the new 21st-century
:01:33. > :01:36.curriculum. I spoke about our plans to develop leadership to the chamber
:01:37. > :01:41.last week, and today I want to focus on assessment. What good assessment
:01:42. > :01:45.looks like and what we have done to date and what we will do to take
:01:46. > :01:52.forward a new assessment and evaluation framework. And along the
:01:53. > :01:56.way, I would also like to bust a few myths about our national tests.
:01:57. > :02:01.High-quality ongoing assessment has a crucial role in teaching, learning
:02:02. > :02:08.and in raising standards, and it should be a natural and integral
:02:09. > :02:12.feature of classroom practice, and future assessment arrangements will
:02:13. > :02:15.give priority to this. We are working with schools and regional
:02:16. > :02:19.consortiums and taken the advice of international assessment experts
:02:20. > :02:26.such as Dylan William and John Hattie to make sure that there is a
:02:27. > :02:31.new emphasis on assessment for learning and that the learner is at
:02:32. > :02:34.the heart of our proposals. Assessment for learning is
:02:35. > :02:39.responsive teaching and it is the bridge between teaching and the way
:02:40. > :02:45.we would discover -- the way where we discover what was intended, and
:02:46. > :02:51.it can drive progress and race achievement for all of our learners.
:02:52. > :02:55.-- raise. The prime purpose is to provide information that can guide
:02:56. > :02:59.decisions about how best to progress young people's learning and to
:03:00. > :03:04.report to their parents and carers on that progress. By so doing,
:03:05. > :03:07.assessments should improve learners learning and teachers teaching and
:03:08. > :03:14.parents and carers and understanding. The search has shown
:03:15. > :03:17.that assessment for learning offers us and effective way to reach our
:03:18. > :03:20.goals for a high performing education system, that provides
:03:21. > :03:26.learners with the means to become lifelong learners. Learners who are
:03:27. > :03:29.given high-quality feedback and who understand where they are in their
:03:30. > :03:34.learning and where they need to go next and crucially how they get
:03:35. > :03:40.there, they are the most likely to make the most improvement. As you
:03:41. > :03:44.will be aware from my recent statement, one of the most exciting
:03:45. > :03:49.developments in the years ahead is the transition from traditional
:03:50. > :03:56.paper reading and numerous sea tests that learners sit, to an online
:03:57. > :04:03.personal adaptive assessment -- new Morrissey tests.
:04:04. > :04:10.Adjusting to provide appropriate challenge for each individual. This
:04:11. > :04:12.means that all learners will be presented with questions that match
:04:13. > :04:19.and challenge their individual skills in reading and numeracy.
:04:20. > :04:23.Schools will receive high-quality tailored information about each
:04:24. > :04:29.learner that they can use as additional evidence to plan the next
:04:30. > :04:33.steps for teaching and learning. The tests will be self marking and
:04:34. > :04:36.compatible with schools information management systems and teachers and
:04:37. > :04:44.learners will have high-quality immediate and specific feedback
:04:45. > :04:48.giving them a better picture of strengths and weaknesses and there
:04:49. > :04:53.are many advantages to personalised assessments, but let me be clear,
:04:54. > :04:58.the current paper tests share exactly the same purpose. There are
:04:59. > :05:02.still a few myths doing the rounds when it comes to the national tests
:05:03. > :05:06.and I would like to take this opportunity to set the record
:05:07. > :05:18.straight. Firstly, the tests are completely different from Sats in
:05:19. > :05:21.England. Our tests were implemented to support teaching and learning and
:05:22. > :05:26.were never intended to be high stakes. The test results are not
:05:27. > :05:29.used by Welsh government to Judge school performance and the key to
:05:30. > :05:35.our approach is that the focus is on what the tests tell teachers which
:05:36. > :05:38.is then used to help shape planning for learners neck steps and to
:05:39. > :05:43.develop core skills and knowledge -- next steps. We know at the moment
:05:44. > :05:50.assessment for learning is not always understood or embedded across
:05:51. > :05:55.every school. And that is why I have re-focused activity to improve
:05:56. > :05:58.confidence in its use. Earlier this year I ended the programme of
:05:59. > :06:02.external verification and outlined our intentions to put in place a
:06:03. > :06:05.programme that would maintain the original aim of improving teacher
:06:06. > :06:10.assessment, that with more focus on the needs of teachers and their
:06:11. > :06:15.professional learning, we have made changes to the reporting on the
:06:16. > :06:16.national numeracy framework and Auschwitz calls were notified they
:06:17. > :06:32.were only going ... And language, literacy and
:06:33. > :06:34.communication and mathematical development in the development
:06:35. > :06:40.phase, and taking away the expectation of literacy and numeracy
:06:41. > :06:44.reports across the curriculum will allow schools to focus efforts on
:06:45. > :06:49.literacy and numeracy development and effective curriculum planning.
:06:50. > :06:54.In a coherent and collective approach to raising standards and
:06:55. > :06:57.expectations, assessment and accountability is critical to our
:06:58. > :07:00.ongoing reforms and the development and deliverability of the new
:07:01. > :07:09.curriculum, but in the past the lines between the two have been
:07:10. > :07:12.blurred leading to negative and unintended consequences in the
:07:13. > :07:15.classroom and a lack of focus on standards and in the next few weeks
:07:16. > :07:20.I will make further announcements on accountability. Taken together these
:07:21. > :07:25.will reckon and promote high-quality teaching and learning so that we
:07:26. > :07:37.raise standards -- these will recognise and promote. Thank you.
:07:38. > :07:41.Thank you, Cabinet Secretary, for your statement, and giving the
:07:42. > :07:46.advance notice of it. We would all agree in this chamber that we want
:07:47. > :07:50.to see a rigorous assessment process in Wales which is fair to the
:07:51. > :07:57.learner and which helps to inform teachers about how best to respond
:07:58. > :08:03.to their needs but which also acts as a benchmarking system across the
:08:04. > :08:07.whole of Wales so that we can compare and contrast performance
:08:08. > :08:11.both between pupils within schools and indeed compare and contrast
:08:12. > :08:19.performance between different schools. We know that the current
:08:20. > :08:25.system isn't perfect. There's far too much self-evaluation, if you
:08:26. > :08:30.like, within the current system and not enough in terms of
:08:31. > :08:36.standardisation, and that is why I was brave pleased to welcome the
:08:37. > :08:42.shift to more responsive and personalised testing online when the
:08:43. > :08:49.Cabinet Secretary announced it earlier this year. I think that is a
:08:50. > :08:55.step in the right direction. But I will say, that what we must also not
:08:56. > :09:01.be afraid to do is to continue to put our children and our young
:09:02. > :09:05.people in examination type situations with paper tests because
:09:06. > :09:12.at the end of the day those high-stakes paper tests they will be
:09:13. > :09:21.doing when they get to GCSE age and A-level age they will be less fazed
:09:22. > :09:27.they have had experience of being sat in a test like situation, and so
:09:28. > :09:30.it is important that they have the experience of those tests in the
:09:31. > :09:38.classroom and in the schools at different points. I know you like to
:09:39. > :09:43.draw the distinction between the Sats tests in England and the ones
:09:44. > :09:47.we have had traditionally in Wales. You say that is not something where
:09:48. > :09:51.we are going to rank schools, but at the end of the day they do need to
:09:52. > :10:00.be things which are used to manage performance within schools and to
:10:01. > :10:03.manage local authority attention to schools and regional Consortium's
:10:04. > :10:06.attention to schools in weaknesses are identified in those outcomes
:10:07. > :10:12.will stop it is only right that the outcomes of those tests are shared
:10:13. > :10:16.with patient because at the end of the day parents should be empowered
:10:17. > :10:23.to be able to make decisions about which schools they want to see their
:10:24. > :10:27.children educated in. And the more information they can have, including
:10:28. > :10:32.information on tests and outcomes from those tests, the better. I
:10:33. > :10:36.appreciate that you can swing the pendulum too far and just use
:10:37. > :10:44.markers on things like the achievements of these kind of tests.
:10:45. > :10:48.And overemphasise them, if you like. And not consider properly other
:10:49. > :10:54.things in schools, and that is why we've been as a party supportive of
:10:55. > :10:57.the green amber and red system which has been developed by the Welsh
:10:58. > :11:02.government and it is important that is also a robust system. I know
:11:03. > :11:07.Cabinet Secretary, you want that to be a robust system which reflects
:11:08. > :11:13.the performance of schools, but do not forget, the results that
:11:14. > :11:17.children and young people have in tests like the ones we are talking
:11:18. > :11:20.about today, the assessment for learning, they are an important
:11:21. > :11:27.indicator in terms of school performance and we must not ignore
:11:28. > :11:31.them. We know that the OECD told us that there are many teachers at all
:11:32. > :11:36.levels who lack the skills to implement quality formative
:11:37. > :11:40.assessments and use that assessment data to support students in their
:11:41. > :11:46.learning, and I think it is only right to pick up on that point. I
:11:47. > :11:51.was pleased that you made reference to the OECD and the work they are
:11:52. > :11:57.doing. To oversee the implementation of this work in the future. We know
:11:58. > :12:01.also, from the recent education workforce council survey, of the
:12:02. > :12:07.education workforce in Wales, that one of the other problems we have is
:12:08. > :12:11.communicating to our teachers. About the changes that are taking place in
:12:12. > :12:23.Wales in our education system. I wonder whether you can tell us how
:12:24. > :12:26.you are going to insure there is an appropriate response from the
:12:27. > :12:32.teaching workforce, to these new testing regimes, as they are being
:12:33. > :12:39.rolled out in Wales? What you are going to do to monitor the way the
:12:40. > :12:46.teaching workforce is using the information in a confident way, to
:12:47. > :12:51.change their practice, so they can support learners better? What
:12:52. > :12:56.assurances you can give us, as an assembly, that we are not completely
:12:57. > :13:00.ditching the paper tests in literacy, numeracy, and all the
:13:01. > :13:03.other subjects, save our children can still be well prepared as they
:13:04. > :13:13.get on into later life, to take those high-stakes tests, that will
:13:14. > :13:19.come down the line. Thank you, Darren for your questions. I had
:13:20. > :13:24.hoped that the statement this afternoon would be able to help
:13:25. > :13:28.develop a broader understanding of the difference between assessment
:13:29. > :13:33.for learning, which is a crucial part of how we raise standards in
:13:34. > :13:37.schools, and how that is a very different beast to accountability.
:13:38. > :13:43.The fact that the two have been melded together in the past some of
:13:44. > :13:49.it in reality, some of the inmates, and the minds of practitioners, is
:13:50. > :13:56.why, and one of the reasons we're not making the progress we need, let
:13:57. > :14:00.me make it absolutely clear, we need accountability in the Welsh
:14:01. > :14:08.education system. We know from past experience, what happens when that
:14:09. > :14:13.accountability is taken away. I will continue to ensure that our schools
:14:14. > :14:18.and regional consortium have to account for their performance.
:14:19. > :14:24.Accountability measures have to be the right ones. It has to be
:14:25. > :14:34.divorced from the principles of assessment from learning. We will
:14:35. > :14:40.continue to provide a holistic view of how individual schools are
:14:41. > :14:46.performing. I will continue to develop a robust inspection regime,
:14:47. > :14:48.by testing, and giving parents the information they need when looking
:14:49. > :14:56.at prospective schools for their children. There is more we can do to
:14:57. > :15:01.improve categorisation, and potentially how we can improve the
:15:02. > :15:04.inspection regime also. Let me be clear, assessment for learning is
:15:05. > :15:11.not part of that accountability regime. It is simply not a robust
:15:12. > :15:15.way, not a robust way to use assessment tests to judge the
:15:16. > :15:26.performance of our school. Cohorts can be very different. I visited a
:15:27. > :15:31.school in Swansea, last week and they are significantly behind
:15:32. > :15:37.development wise, then you would expect in the Welsh population.
:15:38. > :15:42.Dixie percent of those pupils are on free school meals. That is very
:15:43. > :15:47.different from a school in the same local education authority. Relying
:15:48. > :15:51.on scores from standardised testing is not the right way to judge. How
:15:52. > :15:58.we monitor the school is the progress they have made. It was
:15:59. > :16:00.recently given a good evaluation by the testers, because of the progress
:16:01. > :16:06.they have made for those children. It would not be right to use
:16:07. > :16:11.individual test scores to judge the performance of the school. But
:16:12. > :16:15.parents need to know. There are no plans to stop parents from given
:16:16. > :16:22.access to their children's test scores. Important as a parent, and I
:16:23. > :16:29.am one myself, whose children have sat the assessments recently.
:16:30. > :16:34.Important to me to know where my child is. To have a standardised
:16:35. > :16:38.benchmark assessment, to work alongside the individual teacher
:16:39. > :16:45.assessments. The paper tests will be phased out. They will be phased out
:16:46. > :16:49.to an online adaptive system. One of the problems with the current
:16:50. > :16:54.testing, it does not take into account where a child is. We could
:16:55. > :16:57.have a child of additional learning needs, sitting down in front of a
:16:58. > :17:03.test, and cannot answer the first question. That potentially is
:17:04. > :17:05.damaging to a char's confidence. The questions will adapt to the
:17:06. > :17:13.adaptability of the children, pushing them, to see how much they
:17:14. > :17:18.can do. Good news for all children. So they can get better and accurate
:17:19. > :17:20.picture of where the child is. The idea that children will be
:17:21. > :17:26.completely phase if they sit there in front of an exam paper and 16th,
:17:27. > :17:33.it is fanciful, Darren. The reality is, teachers in high schools prepare
:17:34. > :17:43.their pupils for sitting exams with mock papers, mock exams, they
:17:44. > :17:51.happen. We have two divorce the two. There is professional learning, we
:17:52. > :17:54.need to get self-assessment better. Continued moderation is really
:17:55. > :17:59.important. By moving some of the emphasis away, that gives us more
:18:00. > :18:06.time for teachers to develop their skills in this area. As you know, we
:18:07. > :18:13.have put them side - ?6 for the Conservative professional learning
:18:14. > :18:20.funds. Five people waiting to the statement. We said in the successful
:18:21. > :18:22.futures report, that's a satisfaction is one of the strongest
:18:23. > :18:27.messages he received. Good to see messages he received. Good to see
:18:28. > :18:32.this as being pursued. I'm fearful of Saint or tests after that
:18:33. > :18:40.exchange. It has been given a decent airing, I will not pursue it to. The
:18:41. > :18:44.frequency test should be kept to a minimum, in view of the impact on
:18:45. > :18:49.the curriculum. The danger is people are taught to test, all of a sudden
:18:50. > :18:54.you find yourself going off on a tangent. Not focusing on the work
:18:55. > :19:01.that needs to be done. I did not hear you mention self-assessment.
:19:02. > :19:04.Clearly, they are important factors in encouraging children and young
:19:05. > :19:08.people to take greater responsibility for their own
:19:09. > :19:15.learning. My children have a learning success criteria dei
:19:16. > :19:20.adhered to. They are given a task they they have to achieve, they have
:19:21. > :19:27.to understand how to achieve it, and what they will demonstrate from. I'm
:19:28. > :19:31.sure you will be us about the importance of self-assessment.
:19:32. > :19:39.Teachers have their professional learning passports, very different
:19:40. > :19:44.potentially for pupils. Maybe even electronic portfolios. I wonder
:19:45. > :19:50.where we are giving on that, whether that is something you are actively
:19:51. > :19:53.pursuing or not? Your statement talks of an online adaptive
:19:54. > :20:01.personalised assessment. Teachers and learners having high-quality,
:20:02. > :20:04.immediate specific feedback. Donaldson mentioned we should
:20:05. > :20:08.increase the use of digital media, and explore the opportunities to
:20:09. > :20:15.improve the immediacy of feedback to parents and carers. This could be
:20:16. > :20:21.extending to a lone parents access so they can in real-time track the
:20:22. > :20:33.development of children. Whether there is a public facing element
:20:34. > :20:40.which could be used in that respect. Moving to more than automated online
:20:41. > :20:47.system, clearly has its strengths. I'm looking for reassurance, and I'm
:20:48. > :20:51.sure you will give it to me. We will not take our eye off the ball, it in
:20:52. > :21:00.continuing to build teachers ability to assess. That is something we need
:21:01. > :21:04.to be wary of. The children meeting committee had been scrutinising the
:21:05. > :21:08.lamentation of the new curriculum. We heard contrasting views of the
:21:09. > :21:12.relationship between the design of the curriculum and setting the
:21:13. > :21:16.assessment framework. Some people saying, tell us what you want to
:21:17. > :21:20.assess, we will design you are curriculum. Other people saying, and
:21:21. > :21:28.rightly in my view, that the purpose driven curriculum starts with
:21:29. > :21:32.purposes, proceeding from there. A somewhat discombobulated response to
:21:33. > :21:35.the committee committee is not a chicken or egg, it is chicken and
:21:36. > :21:39.egg at the same time. I'm not sure whether that is possible. I would
:21:40. > :21:51.like to reassure us that the sector is getting the clarity needs. We
:21:52. > :21:55.touched on that somewhat earlier. The processes we have been moving
:21:56. > :22:02.awards are not appropriate for the new curriculum. Thank you very much
:22:03. > :22:05.for those questions and observations. You are quite right,
:22:06. > :22:12.Professor Donaldson told us the frequency of testing should be kept
:22:13. > :22:14.to a minimum. Also very clear on his report, external standardised
:22:15. > :22:21.testing provides important benchmarking information, and should
:22:22. > :22:26.be used in cooperation with school tests and teacher feedback. He said
:22:27. > :22:31.in a way should we be stopping national tests. He saw it as part of
:22:32. > :22:38.a holistic national picture. What Professor Donaldson recommended in
:22:39. > :22:40.his report, and I quote, innovative approaches to assessment, including
:22:41. > :22:45.interactive approaches should be developed. Our move to interactive
:22:46. > :22:55.online testing is in response to a recommendation made in that report.
:22:56. > :22:59.You are absolutely clear, if you look at pretty pictures about what
:23:00. > :23:06.assessment for learning actually looks like. One of the crucial
:23:07. > :23:10.components is peer review, and children looking critically at their
:23:11. > :23:17.own work, and indeed help mark the workaday classmate alongside them. I
:23:18. > :23:21.don't know whether you're children use the tickled pink, green for
:23:22. > :23:26.growth method, allowing them to use pink highlighters to highlight the
:23:27. > :23:30.good bits, green highlighter to identify the bits that need to grow
:23:31. > :23:35.and improve. It is a very important part of a strategy of developing
:23:36. > :23:45.that self critique. And the ability to criticise. Many innovative ways
:23:46. > :23:49.of using it. The classes getting an answer right all the time, who is
:23:50. > :23:53.learning? Sometimes we need to get things wrong, to identify what led
:23:54. > :23:58.us to give that answer. Lots of different approaches. The ability to
:23:59. > :24:02.engage children in that, not simply have their work marked by a teacher,
:24:03. > :24:08.reported on by teacher, but able to look critically at their own work,
:24:09. > :24:13.crucially important. You talked about professional learning
:24:14. > :24:17.passports, there is absolutely a role for the professional learning
:24:18. > :24:22.passports. I think we can do better than me have it at the moment. I
:24:23. > :24:29.don't think it is in the optimum stage, to get teachers to engage
:24:30. > :24:33.with it. For children's say, many schools imply strategies for
:24:34. > :24:38.compiling E portfolios. Only this morning, I was discussing the use of
:24:39. > :24:44.building blocks, developed by a local company. Using that to capture
:24:45. > :24:49.and record work. People reflect, share it with other classmates. Send
:24:50. > :24:56.it home. I'm looking at what more we can do to use that kind of
:24:57. > :25:02.technology in our learning. One of the significant improvements that
:25:03. > :25:07.online testing, adaptive testing, it will bring more timely responses.
:25:08. > :25:11.You though the tests were set by our children a number of weeks ago, I
:25:12. > :25:16.don't know that the scores in your area, but I will get my children's
:25:17. > :25:21.test on the last week of term. The last week of term. Little time to go
:25:22. > :25:27.into school, have a discussion with the teacher. This summer holidays
:25:28. > :25:30.come, the momentum is lost. One of the benefits of moving to this
:25:31. > :25:37.system is that you will have instantaneous results. Schools will
:25:38. > :25:43.be able to do it at times of the year suits them and their children.
:25:44. > :25:46.I am hoping one of the benefits of moving to this gives us greater
:25:47. > :25:51.flexibility, allowing for greater parental engagement in discussing
:25:52. > :25:57.test results with their schools. That is crucial. We know, after the
:25:58. > :26:01.quality of the teacher in the classroom, parental engagement in
:26:02. > :26:05.your child's education is the second most important factor. We had to
:26:06. > :26:12.find new and innovative ways to encourage parents to be engaged in
:26:13. > :26:20.the children's education. Digitally. How many school days to see outside,
:26:21. > :26:23.everyone is on the smartphone. We need to increase conversations
:26:24. > :26:28.between schools and parents regarding their children's learning.
:26:29. > :26:34.We need to do more in terms of professional teaching to support
:26:35. > :26:39.teachers skills, and as I said in my statement, it is not as embedded as
:26:40. > :26:42.I would like it to be, and this will continue some of the ongoing
:26:43. > :26:48.conversations we have had with regional consortia around
:26:49. > :26:52.professional learning. What comes first, and how do we assess a new
:26:53. > :26:56.curriculum, and one of the lessons I think we have learned from Scotland
:26:57. > :26:59.is that they develop their curriculum and then thought about
:27:00. > :27:02.the assessment later, and that has been one of the problems that the
:27:03. > :27:07.Scottish education system has suffered. So we are looking at
:27:08. > :27:13.assessment and evaluation as we develop the curricula, so we are
:27:14. > :27:18.mindful of the fact that we need to have purpose pays, but also are
:27:19. > :27:23.mindful of how we assess for that and how will be test for that as we
:27:24. > :27:30.develop it, so that work is ongoing in conjunction with the work on
:27:31. > :27:33.everything else, so if we leave this until the end I think we will defeat
:27:34. > :27:37.the purpose of what the assessment is about. Assessment should be an
:27:38. > :27:47.integral part of teachers practice in the classroom and not an add on.
:27:48. > :27:50.Finally, Michelle Brown. Thank you. While I support the use of the
:27:51. > :27:54.latest technology in the classroom it must always remain in the way
:27:55. > :27:59.that improves education for the child and does not just alleviate
:28:00. > :28:02.the teachers workload. The answer should be more teachers and not more
:28:03. > :28:05.computers, because there's no substitute for the praise of a
:28:06. > :28:10.teacher who is respected by pupils and a computer can never give
:28:11. > :28:13.encouragement that a teacher can. On the one hand we are telling parents
:28:14. > :28:18.it is a bad idea for their children to spend too much time in front of
:28:19. > :28:22.their computers but when it suits us we encourage it in the classroom,
:28:23. > :28:26.and by increasing the use of computers for assessment we are
:28:27. > :28:29.downgrading the status of teachers and encouraging isolation in the
:28:30. > :28:33.classroom when we should be fostering interaction. Apple was
:28:34. > :28:38.meant to be a gift for the teacher, not a replacement for them, and I
:28:39. > :28:40.welcome that the Cabinet Secretary Phileas personalised assessment but
:28:41. > :28:51.I would question whether this is a new thing -- values personalised
:28:52. > :28:56.assessment. Surely they have been doing this since the profession
:28:57. > :28:59.began. As regards the Cabinet Secretary's attempt to differentiate
:29:00. > :29:06.tests that school pupils in England and Wales sit I would say it is
:29:07. > :29:11.irrelevant to the child what the school would do with any of those
:29:12. > :29:15.results, and a test is a test from the point of the person sitting at.
:29:16. > :29:20.I would like to address the Cabinet Secretary what thoughts as she had
:29:21. > :29:26.on making sure that children remain Primeira Liga taught by teachers and
:29:27. > :29:32.not computers -- remain primarily taught. And have you asked the young
:29:33. > :29:40.people and their parents for their thoughts on the increasing android
:29:41. > :29:51.eyes Asian of their education? -- and android -isation. This is not
:29:52. > :29:53.about replacing teachers with computers, this is about supplying
:29:54. > :29:58.teachers with instantaneous good-quality information about the
:29:59. > :30:06.abilities of an individual child. Something that at the moment we do
:30:07. > :30:11.in one way but I think we can improve upon it. As I said in my
:30:12. > :30:16.statement, the purpose of these tests is absolutely about the child
:30:17. > :30:19.and it is about having the information that we need for
:30:20. > :30:27.teachers and parents to assess how we count that child to develop more.
:30:28. > :30:29.The fact that actually introduces workload on teachers gives us better
:30:30. > :30:35.quality information and a better time frame, are some of the other
:30:36. > :30:40.reasons why this is the good thing to do. But I try to judge myself in
:30:41. > :30:47.everything I do on the basis of the mantra, child first and always. And
:30:48. > :30:52.I judge that moving to these systems is better for individual children in
:30:53. > :30:56.Wales. We are all concerned about screen time for children and the
:30:57. > :31:02.impact on digital technology on children's lives and we have spent
:31:03. > :31:05.time in this chamber debating that. We acknowledged there are benefits
:31:06. > :31:12.and this benefits but let me be clear, this is a test over a short
:31:13. > :31:18.period of time that probably most schools will decide to do only once
:31:19. > :31:23.a year. This is not sitting children in front of a screen for hours and
:31:24. > :31:28.hours and hours. I would reiterate, this is not about replacing teachers
:31:29. > :31:32.with computers and this is allowing us to harness the power of new
:31:33. > :31:37.technology to help teachers do even better for the children in their
:31:38. > :31:41.classroom. Thank you very much, Cabinet Secretary.