Jennifer McCann
West Belfast · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“I have listened to the answers that you have given. What steps will you and your Department take to address the issue? As you mentioned, quite a percentage of schools are failing to meet the entitlement framework requirements. What actual steps will your Department take?”
“I begin by echoing what my two colleagues said: we will oppose the motion and support the DUP amendment. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the general direction of travel of the draft area plan. It puts the needs of children and young people at the heart of the planning process.”
“I want to say again — we have had this in debates — about the excellent results in my constituency of West Belfast in educational outcomes. It clearly shows that, when the right intervention is made in those areas, the children shine and their potential comes through.”
“It is not just about their academic achievements but about giving them the skills to deal with life's problems and difficulties. <BR /> <BR />The plan also seeks to close the attainment gap. That issue should be of great concern to all of us and the wider community.”
“I hope that in the final area planning it will be. I have seen it at first hand with programmes like New Start in west Belfast. We all want children to go to mainstream education, but, for whatever reason, mainstream education just does not suit some children's needs and does not do it for them.”
“It is not just about school buildings, but school buildings sometimes can be crucial, particularly in an area where, for instance, they do not have sporting facilities in a school. The Minister will be aware of the campaign in the Colin area of west Belfast for a new school.”
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“I have listened to the answers that you have given. What steps will you and your Department take to address the issue? As you mentioned, quite a percentage of schools are failing to meet the entitlement framework requirements. What actual steps will your Department take?”
“I want to say that we will be supporting the DUP amendment but not the motion.”
“It is not just about school buildings, but school buildings sometimes can be crucial, particularly in an area where, for instance, they do not have sporting facilities in a school. The Minister will be aware of the campaign in the Colin area of west Belfast for a new school. It is essential that all our children have access to those opportunities. It is about building a community; it is not just about a school. I would like to see those regeneration projects being taken forward in the overall plan. As I said, we have debated all sorts of things over the last number of weeks, for example, nurture units and autism provision.”
“I hope that in the final area planning it will be. I have seen it at first hand with programmes like New Start in west Belfast. We all want children to go to mainstream education, but, for whatever reason, mainstream education just does not suit some children's needs and does not do it for them. Therefore, interventionist programmes that provide one-to-one support and which support the whole family are clearly the right way for some children to have the opportunities in life that other children have. I hope that the final plan will do that. <BR /> <BR />I also want to say, and the Minister is aware of this, that it is not about buildings. The previous Minister, John O'Dowd, did excellent work on bringing the entitlement framework forward.”
“I want to say again — we have had this in debates — about the excellent results in my constituency of West Belfast in educational outcomes. It clearly shows that, when the right intervention is made in those areas, the children shine and their potential comes through. Every child has a right to have its potential fulfilled, and I believe that those interventions and programmes of support help to do that. <BR /> <BR />My colleague Barry McElduff mentioned the need for another post-primary Irish-medium school, particularly in north Belfast and the north-west. That is crucial because more and more people are learning through the medium of Irish. That is an important issue. <BR /> <BR />I want to touch on the EOTAS provision, which, in my opinion, is not given the recognition that it deserves.”
“They are entitled to as much help and support as any other child, no matter what type of family background they come from.”
“It is not just about their academic achievements but about giving them the skills to deal with life's problems and difficulties. <BR /> <BR />The plan also seeks to close the attainment gap. That issue should be of great concern to all of us and the wider community. There is clear evidence — we have heard it time and again in the education debates, and no doubt we will hear it in the next debate — that links deprivation, poverty and exclusion to underachievement and poor educational outcomes. They act as a barrier to learning for some of our children and young people, and that is something that we need to change. It is important that we ensure that young people born into social and economic deprivation or poverty get the support that they need.”
“I begin by echoing what my two colleagues said: we will oppose the motion and support the DUP amendment. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the general direction of travel of the draft area plan. It puts the needs of children and young people at the heart of the planning process. It states that it wants a broad and balanced curriculum for all our children. Given the number of debates that we have had on education, particularly over the past couple of weeks, it is key that all our children and young people have as much choice as possible in the curriculum. It is not just about academic subjects, although they are very important; vocational subjects need to be part of the curriculum as well. It is about skilling up our children and young people for life by giving them the life skills that they will need.”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. I know that you have already mentioned the different engagements, but can you elaborate on what engagement has taken place with the Irish Government, particularly to identify issues of mutual interest and to exert joint influence on the British Government and the EU?”
“— are the ones who will benefit quite a lot from these nurture provisions. I support the motion.”
“Over the years, we have had many debates in the Chamber in which it was very clear that intervening early in a child's life, when a vulnerability or difficulty is identified, can have a long-term impact on their lifetime opportunities. Nurture groups provide a short-term and focused intervention for children experiencing difficulties in the class for a number of reasons. They also provide that link, as I said, between home life and school which helps children settle into class again. <BR /> <BR />Children, particularly those from deprived communities or from a family with social and emotional difficulties or, indeed, financial difficulties —”
“It also highlights the difference between children who have received support compared with those who have not because the support was not available in their school. The report goes on to say that nurture groups were very cost-effective; we know that and we have all seen it. We have taken part in debates, but we have seen with our own eyes that early intervention programmes save Departments money in the longer term. When you invest early, particularly in young children and in supporting families, you will see long-term benefits over the years in education, health, social and family issues.”
“Maybe they have had brothers or sisters at the same school, and the unit has been beneficial for those children to sit in that home environment to try to come to terms with the great sense of loss that they have had and then go back to the family home to help the remaining parent. While we might view it here mainly in an educational capacity, there is a wider benefit when those children go back into the family home. <BR /> <BR />Early intervention programmes, such as the services provided by nurture units, are known to work and all the evidence points to them working. Other Members mentioned the evaluation carried out by Queen's University that provided clear evidence of their benefits.”
“Those challenges can have an impact on their emotional well-being and can affect their personal development and, of course, their education. That is what these nurture units are intended to do: give children a bit of support and help to go back to the classroom. <BR /> <BR />The time taken by teachers and staff to help a vulnerable child through a difficult period with one-to-one support not only helps the child but can also be beneficial for parents and the whole family setting. I have spoken to people whose young children have attended a nurture unit after losing a mother or a father in tragic circumstances and they have told me that the whole family unit has been helped.”
“For me, it was clear that they were not just getting help in going back to the classroom but were also being helped to go back to the family home, which was very important. A lot of parents said very positive things about it. At that time, not too many schools had nurture units. I am glad to see that, through the Delivering Social Change signature projects and other sources of funding, there are now 32 units throughout the North. I hope that, as the motion says, that provision can be mainstreamed in future. <BR /> <BR />Everybody has to commend the great work that the staff and teachers do with the young children in the units. Talking to teachers and staff, I know that our children often have to face really big challenges in their lives that no child should have to face.”
“I welcome the opportunity to take part in this important debate. It is the second education debate today, and it is very good to see, given the contributions so far, that the motions seem to be almost knitting together. We support the motion, and we have no difficulty with either amendment. <BR /> <BR />Nurture units are of great benefit to young children when they are going through a difficult period, for whatever reason, in their young lives and need a wee bit of extra help and support. I remember my first visit 10 years ago to a nurture unit in my constituency. The setting surprised me because it was very similar to a home environment. The children at that unit received one-to-one help from teachers, classroom assistants and other staff.”
“I hope that people see that that is the way the motion is meant to be. It is about the added value of Middletown, and is certainly not a criticism of what is happening there at the moment.”
“The recent evaluation report said that the quality of leadership and management at the centre was outstanding, and that the services provided by the centre had a significant impact on the education and experiences not just of the pupils but of staff and parents. <BR /> <BR />There is no doubt, and I do not think that anybody is saying that it is not providing an excellent service. The reality is that outreach provision is a much-needed service. Like many here, I can remember people, at the time when this idea was being developed, wanting the services to be kept in local communities and schools that were handy for parents. There was also a small group of people who needed that residential facility — perhaps those who had more complex needs. What we are trying to do is to build and support that.”
“There are a lot of self-help groups out there that exist on donations and very small amounts of funding. They do activities with children and other parents. We need to look again at helping those groups and resourcing them better. <BR /> <BR />The Middletown centre, as has already been said, provides intensive assessment and learning support for children and young people with complex autism who experience difficulties in their educational setting. It also provides training to education professionals and parents of children who have autism, alongside different areas of research and information. People have already mentioned that it is an all-island facility that is jointly funded by the Executive and the Government in the South.”
“That child cannot receive help in school until the assessment is carried out, which has a major impact on that child's ability to learn and future attainment levels. We really need to look at some of those issues as well. <BR /> <BR />Statistics show that some children can wait that length of time. Many families find it extremely difficult to cope with the practical and emotional problems that caring for someone with autism brings, and they often feel isolated and overwhelmed. There is a real need for those support services and adequate provision that can be easily accessed in order to help them. <BR /> <BR />I work with a number of people in my constituency in the Butterfly support group, which is a group of parents of children with autism who came together to support and encourage each other.”
“<BR /> <BR />Someone already mentioned some of the issues in 'Broken Promises', in which Autism NI and the National Autistic Society called for action now to ensure that that better quality of life for autistic people and their families is now delivered. There are a lot of people — I meet them day and daily in my constituency — who still feel that those services and access to them are not properly resourced in the way that they should be. That is particularly true of waiting times for children's assessments. I raised that issue at the Education Committee last week when the Department was in. There are still areas where people are waiting for up to 20 months for a child's assessment.”
“I thank my colleague Barry McElduff for proposing the motion. We are trying to add to what is happening at Middletown. We are not saying that its direction is wrong or anything else but are just trying to add the residential part of it. <BR /> <BR />The passing of the Autism Act 2011 was the result of a long campaign. Like me, many other Members were here at the time when individuals, parents and organisations representing people with autism fought long and hard in that campaign to get the Act passed. The Act was followed by the launch of an autism strategy and action plan. For children and adults who have autism or for parents whose children are autistic, it pointed the way towards the provision of improved support and services. Unfortunately, that was not the experience of many of those people.”
“Community initiatives need to be adequately resourced, and there needs to be meaningful input to any co-design approach, as I said.”
“— all 43 recommendations, it is clear that any implementation plan must have buy-in from the community.”
“No, I will not. I would not get to finish. <BR /> <BR />Philip McGuigan spoke about promoting lawfulness, support for transition, tackling criminality and addressing systemic issues. He mentioned a cross-departmental programme board that will allow for coordination across Departments. He also said that any initiatives have to tackle economic deprivation, unemployment and educational underachievement. Other Members mentioned that as well. <BR /> <BR />Our amendment is saying that while responsibility rests with the Executive Office and the Department of Justice to fully implement —”
“That was a bit of a cheap political point.”
“It is OK for us to say, from up here, to the communities that will marginalise the criminal gangs, "That's what you need to do". People need to go into those communities and see how it impacts on them and, more importantly, how they respond. Our communities are resilient in standing up to this type of activity, although they can be fearful of it. <BR /> <BR />Gerry Kelly mentioned the positive and productive role that ex-prisoners have played in society. Doug Beattie, in his disgraceful contribution, talked about Sinn Féin not condemning dissident republicans. In particular, my colleague Gerry Kelly has been demonised. People in the Chamber know that we have consistently condemned — you have only to look at our record. We have been at the forefront of communities, standing with the residents who have been targeted by these people.”
“If we are to assist in delivering the type of society that we want — one that tackles this type of criminality and anti-community activity — everybody has to be involved. <BR /> <BR />Members mentioned a number of vulnerable groups, particularly our young people, who can be targeted by sinister individuals. We see all the time how young people can be caught up in paramilitary activity. It is the individuals, families and communities on the ground who see that and it is they who are impacted, so we need to involve young people as much as possible, particularly in the programmes of intervention that we want to take forward. <BR /> <BR />Gerry Kelly, who proposed our amendment, mentioned not only an outcomes-based approach and joined-up thinking but the importance of a co-design approach that will empower communities.”
“Time and time again, when looking at issues right across criminality and even antisocial activity, we have seen that there needs to be a holistic response and buy-in from all the statutory agencies and communities in order to tackle any of those problems. I do not see this as any different in terms of the framework. <BR /> <BR />It is important that communities have the resources. Very often, we see a lot of volunteers on the streets, particularly at weekends, dealing with issues. They are expected to consistently give up their free time, and it is important to recognise that that is not sustainable. Communities need to be involved not just in the delivery stage but in the design and implementation stages. We need to empower communities.”
“I have heard no one argue against the thrust of what has been said. Most Members are calling for an end to paramilitary activity, criminality and organised crime throughout the North, which is what the Executive's action plan also aims to do. As with all action plans, there needs to be an implementation plan for how it will be done. More importantly, this needs to be structured around the 43 recommendations, as a number of Members pointed out, because it is very important that they are implemented. <BR /> <BR />The reality, as a lot of Members said, is that this has to be done within a framework that has total community involvement. That, alongside the criminal justice response, has to be at the core.”
“Just to conclude, I think that there is an emphasis and an onus on us, which is why our amendment was tabled. Before we go to public consultation, we need to agree the mechanisms. We cannot let people down again. We cannot raise people's hopes and go out there again for something that is unacceptable to families.”
“<BR /> <BR />Am I near the end of my time?”
“<BR /> <BR />The mechanisms of the HIU, the ICIR, the IRG and the Oral History Archive, which were agreed in the 2014 Stormont House talks, would see a number of processes being made available to families. As my colleague said, we had consistently called for an international independent truth recovery process. It is a compromise for people, but it is more than that. These are mechanisms so that families can get some sort of closure. During the Stormont House talks, those were the mechanisms that, from the suite of options available, we felt would help families to have a choice as to which road they want to take. They would give families access to justice; information recovery; enhancement of the Coroners' Courts; storytelling and archiving their experiences; and the provision of high-quality services, which cannot be missed either.”
“In the past, national security has been used in a blanket fashion to prevent families from maximum information disclosure, and, as such, it was and continues to be unacceptable to many victims' families and campaign groups. In our negotiations, we put forward a number of options to try to get through the impasse, including an appeals mechanism, which my colleague, the proposer of the amendment, has just described, but they were not accepted. Since the end of the negotiations, we have engaged with officials from both the Irish and British Governments on occasions too numerous for me to remember. We are still trying to resolve outstanding issues.”
“<BR /> <BR />We are almost a year on from the Fresh Start Agreement, and there has still been no meaningful engagement from the British Government in serious negotiations around the impasse on their national security veto and other outstanding issues. We fully appreciate the hurt and frustration felt by victims and survivors at the end of the recent phase of negotiations. Again, it did not produce the outcome that they deserve and need.”
“Let me finish first, and I will see how far I get. <BR /> <BR />There is a need for the establishment of a comprehensive process that seeks to investigate the nature, the causes and the consequences of our recent conflict, and there are many families across society, in all of our communities, that suffered immense loss and harm. There are also many competing narratives and views and experiences of that conflict, and, on the reconciliation journey, all identities and cultures need to be given equal respect. We have said time and time again that we will promote and defend the rights of all victims and not support a process that allows discrimination and a hierarchy of victims to be introduced.”
“<BR /> <BR />In order to advance reconciliation, it is important to address the hurt and division that has taken place to ensure that the conditions that created the conflict in the first place will not be repeated. We must all recognise that it is very important to the many people who have lost loved ones that they are able to pursue truth, justice and information recovery. The Member for Strangford is not here, but he mentioned young people looking in at the debate. In the cases of the people I know who still seek truth and justice about what happened to their loved ones, actually their grandchildren are the ones who have the passion and are behind the campaigns. Very clearly, there is a need for us to come to some conclusion on this and deal with it, because it will go down generations; people are not going to just forget about it.”
“Like my party colleague said, I think that our amendment adds something to the motion, so we will support the motion but oppose the amendment from the DUP. <BR /> <BR />As people have already said, victims of the conflict have a right to the truth about the past. We, as a party, have consistently said that we do not have any desire to score points on the issue, particularly in debates like today's. I am glad that it has been quite measured; some of the debates we have had on the subject have not been. It is very important that, no matter what we send out from the House, we say that we want a process that delivers for families. It is not about point-scoring or making party political points.”
“Will the Minister give us an update on her proposed visit to China in December?”
“Supporting families outside of school and providing support inside the school, through the nurture units provision that are there, and hopefully will be developed, is crucial. <BR /> <BR />To conclude, I hope that Members will support the motion and that the Minister will ensure that adequate resources are put into developing the services. We have had some very positive engagement already, and the Minister has seen at first hand some of the working in partnership with the community-based services in schools with teachers and parents. I hope that we all come together and support this motion tonight.”
“In particular, I welcome her and her Department's commitment to programmes such as the early intervention transformation programme, which sees the Department of Health, the Department of Education and the Department for Communities all working together to find ways of intervening early in the lives of children to improve their educational outcomes. This is key to making the difference and giving all our children and young people the best start in life, not just for their educational outcomes but their health outcomes and all those other best outcomes that we want for our children. <BR /> <BR />Tackling health inequalities, poverty and deprivation are key areas that we need to focus on if we are to remove the barriers to equality of opportunity in education that our children face.”
“<BR /> <BR />That brings me to alternative education projects; they are very important. Not all our children and young people are suited to education in schools. We need to look at how we develop and grow alternative education projects. From my own experience of knowing young people who have gone through some of those projects, in some cases, it has taken those young people away from alcohol abuse, drug abuse and even suicidal thoughts. I want to commend the people who run some of those alternative education projects that are based in the community. <BR /> <BR />Earlier today, we heard the Health Minister give a very positive statement to the Assembly on what she wants to see as the direction of travel for health and social care. I welcome her statement.”
“They have an Easter school and a summer school, where young people can have extra tuition for their GCSEs. I think that is another part of why we are seeing the attainment levels going up. <BR /> <BR />The rise in educational achievement of our children and young people is, of course, only one part of the story. The entitlement framework was introduced to give a better choice of subjects to young people, especially those who want to go down the vocational route. All Members will be aware that all children are different and all children want to take different career paths. Some might want to choose an academic path, some might want to choose a different path. It is important that, no matter what journey they travel on or road they take, we have that opportunity open to them and they have the choice to take whatever path they choose.”
“You have heard me speak about community-based education before in other debates, and I have also heard other Members support it. It is very important that we give the choice to people to have that community-based education. <BR />There are also huge benefits when a school partners up with a local community in the sharing of provision. Again, we see that working with sporting facilities in schools when school halls are made available to local community providers, including many of the youth organisations. Unfortunately, I still believe that we see far too many schools closed in the evenings and at weekends. I want to commend St Mary's University College, in my constituency, which opens its doors for all sorts of events for community organisations and, in particular, the West Belfast Partnership Board's programmes.”
“I want to emphasise the importance of involving parents in children's education. For early years development in particular, the importance of family and parental engagement that looks at developing increased aspirations for the child is also very important. As parents, it is very important that we instil that type of aspiration in our children and young people. <BR /> <BR />We need to recognise the importance of community-based services such as extended-schools programmes and Sure Start. I do not want to leave anyone out, but I want to mention homework clubs, breakfast clubs and those types of full-service community schools, where support can be accessed either in the school setting or outside, in wider community-based provision. That is also very important.”
“In 2015, there was a 15% increase in students eligible for free school meals achieving seven or more GCSEs, including maths and English, at grades A* to C in 2015 compared with 2013. I am sure that Members will agree that those are really outstanding achievements for the young people of an area of social and economic deprivation. It is the worst constituency across the North. When we look at those results and the better outcomes for children and young people, we see that intervention and support programmes delivered in a partnership approach work. <BR /> <BR />It is also worth remembering that schools are only part of a child's education. We need to educate our children for life. It is not just about what they learn in school, it is also the influences of family and the wider community that are very important.”
“It had a particular focus on members of the area learning community of West Belfast, but there were four case studies, some of which happened in Europe, including in Bulgaria. I will repeat those achievements, because, as I say, they are very important. There was an increase of 11·4% in pupils in West Belfast achieving five GCSE grades from A* to C from 2011 to 2015. There was a 12·3% increase in pupils achieving five GCSEs, including maths and English, from 2013 to 2015. That differential was even greater for those pupils achieving seven GCSE grades from A* to C, including maths and English, with an increase of 12·7% over the past four years. <BR /> <BR />When we look at pupils eligible for free school meals, increases in GCSE attainment levels were even better.”
“<BR /> <BR />In the Adjournment debate that I mentioned earlier, I talked about a recent piece of research titled 'School Inspection in a Polycentric Context', which was launched in the Long Gallery. I apologise to the Members who were there for that debate, but I am going to make some points that I feel are very important to make. It was commissioned by the West Belfast Partnership Board and carried out by a group of academics from Dublin City University (DCU). The main message in the report was that schools on their own can reach only a certain level of attainment but that results can increase substantially when they work in partnership with other schools, teachers, local community-based services and parents.”
“Whatever life choices our children make or whatever career paths they choose to follow, it is essential that we give them access to the best educational opportunities that we can and provide them with the skills to equip them for whatever they face during their lifetime. Education and our experience of it, from nursery school right through to higher education, can present us with positive experiences and, unfortunately, some very negative ones. It offers us opportunities that we might not ordinarily have access to. Those very formative years are crucial to unlocking the potential in every child. We as policymakers, along with parents, teachers and all other stakeholders, have to ensure that all our children have equal access to educational opportunities and that they are all treated the same.”
“It almost feels as though we have been here before. We had an Adjournment debate recently on a similar topic, but this is a wider debate that, hopefully, other Members will get the chance to come in on. It is a very important area of work. There were a lot of good contributions from other Members in the Adjournment debate about education services in West Belfast several weeks ago. I hope that it will be the same tonight. <BR /> <BR />There is nothing more precious than our children and young people. Their health and education are probably two of the most important services that we, as parents and wider society, want the best from for them.”