For my experience, flying faster will afford more crisp control, which might seem like better control for gusts. I have only ever had one circumstance in which I aborted an approach (still at 100 feet up) because it was so gusty that I did not feel I had adequate control of the plane. That was a type with "heavier" ailerons, and in hind sight, I was just not skilled enough with that plane at the time.
Low wing planes react better to ground effect, so flaps may seem less important, but I still like full flaps for landing, and "takeoff flap" for takeoff, rather than less.
In my opinion, if pilots are to be trained the techniques for landing an A320, they should be training on an A320 or sim. The fact that you can abuse a GA trainer to emulate an airliner, does not mean you should!