All of Mr Paul Givan’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
The Department is taking a SEN-first approach through its capital and the prioritisation of investment. For every family that is not able to have a child placed in a school, it is a crisis. Often, I speak to parents who are already providing support for a child or a young person who needs additional support and who…
The priority on the capital spend has been for special educational needs provision. Therefore, there will be the funding that is needed to stand up the various specialist provisions so that we can address that. We will do what we need to do to ensure that support is there. That is why I outlined a new stand-alone…
I recognise, as all Members do, that that issue requires a resolution. When I first came into office again, the indications were that some 1,000 children needed to be placed in September. That led to action on my part to communicate to schools directly and seek indications that they would be willing to provide a place…
I am not sure of the exact, precise reasons why that has not been provided. It may be an entirely internal-facing document. That could be the reason. I do not know the reason for that, but I will certainly provide a written response to the Member.
I do not have that particular detail to hand for the Member, but I am happy to provide more detail. Suffice it to say, he raises the important issue around 14- to 19-year-olds. There is collaboration between my Department and the Minister for the Economy. I met the Minister a number of weeks ago on the framework in…
Before my first child was born, I read to my wife. Hopefully, Annie picked up some of it before she came into this world. The importance of reading cannot be overstated, because it has a hugely beneficial impact on children's development. I will therefore reinstate that important programme. Northern Ireland is the…
Yes. I agree about the importance of reading to young children and encouraging their enjoyment of books. We know from the evidence around children's early learning and development that that has a positive impact on their language, communication and social skills.
When it comes to taking decisions on this issue, we, as an Executive, have stepped up. I know that the Member sometimes does not feel that that is the case, but there are occasions when he could recognise that Ministers are genuinely, sincerely and in earnest trying to resolve issues. When the institutions were…
I provided the House with an update on this issue in response to an earlier question. When I came into post, I recognised the work that our support staff carry out. I deeply value that work. I approved the business case and put it to the Finance Minister, and the Finance Minister approved the business case. The…
My Department is responsible for the home-to-school transport policy, and the Education Authority is responsible for its operation and delivery. That includes route planning and determining eligibility for transport assistance in line with the policy. The EA determines its bus routes on the basis of public demand in…
The Member, who is Chair of the Education Committee, highlights forest schools. I have been impressed by the number of schools that I have visited that have been able to incorporate some of the trees and vegetation that are in their estate. Children and young people love to be outside. They love to pick up all the…
The Member rightly makes the point about the time that it takes for projects to go through the various stages until they are at the point of being able to move into that tender/construction phase. It is a frustration that I share and one that the principal of Carrick Primary School — the Member had me at that school —…
The Executive Budget provides the Department with a capital budget of £254 million for 2024-25, which is an increase of over £80 million on last year’s opening position. That additional funding has allowed me to release seven school enhancement programmes in addition to the major new capital bids that were announced.…
On comparators, in England, many local authorities do not offer uniform grants, and, for those that do, there can be considerable variation in the level of support. It can vary from £30 to £160. In Scotland, there is a minimum level uniform grant of £120 per child at primary school and £150 per child at post-primary…
Obviously, I will not be able to have the guidance placed on a statutory footing for this September. Many schools have already engaged with retailers and the supply chain. We will not, therefore, be able to do that. However, I was able to remind schools to follow the guidance, and the overwhelming majority are doing…
The Member rightly raises my desire to address the issue. On the matter of placing the current guidance on a statutory footing, I have engaged with schools through letters to principals reminding them of the circular and appealing to them to follow it. The overwhelming majority of schools follow that guidance, but we…
The school uniform grant is available to offer financial support to low-income families as a contribution towards the costs of school uniforms. The Education Authority was able to uplift its school uniform grant rate by 20% in 2022-23 following an additional allocation of funding by the previous Minister of Education.…
It is about actions and further research to make sure that, where the actions that we are taking can be improved, they are improved. It is not an either/or. We are doing far more than just doing research on the issue. I outlined the measures and the impacts that we have already had in trying to support schools. The…
The Department will collect data from other jurisdictions and further research will be carried out on the issue. Where we identify alternative methods that we are not already using to address the issues, we will learn from them. Data on bullying experiences among children and young people has been gathered by…
All forms of bullying are wrong. Bullying in respect of one's sexual orientation is wrong. It is important that schools address that issue alongside other forms of bullying that take place. Of course, my Department will continue, with the Education Authority, to support schools when it comes to addressing bullying…
We need to make sure that, where there is best practice, we disseminate it. That is something that, of course, we will want to do and facilitate. I have outlined how we have been making efforts to address those issues. Often, schools are best placed, with the right kind of support, which needs to be consistent across…
Mr Speaker, with your permission, I will answer questions 3 and 6 together. The Addressing Bullying in Schools Act 2016 came into operation on 1 September 2021. The Act has three core parts: it provides a common definition of "bullying"; establishes a new duty for schools to record all incidents of bullying, including…
The capital builds announcement last week was positive. It demonstrates that the Executive can work together, even with the difficult financial constraints within which we operate. Eight new school builds — seven primary and one post-primary — were announced, of which Millennium Integrated Primary School was one. That…
I can update the House on the progress that has been made. Last week, I engaged with the unions directly. I spent a number of hours with the team and stood up officials from my Department, and we made progress over the weekend. I engaged directly with the Finance Minister, and we identified a way forward that, I…
The Seaview Primary School project is in the early stages of development, with an integrated consultant team (ICT) having been appointed for the project in November 2023. The ICT is undertaking a technical feasibility study to explore options and costs for providing suitable accommodation for the school, and it is…