Mr. Eddie Ward:

We recognise that the Department can come up with great policies and strategies but there can be a gap when it comes to implementation at local level. The point has been made - perhaps more than once - around what the school culture is like. Very often, it can take time to move school culture. It is a constant process and it is through training, information and leadership development that we get agents of change across the system at every level. I do not exclude the Department from that. It is a challenge. During my time in the Department, we have certainly moved in terms of the provision of special education, about which we have spoken. We have also moved in terms of curriculum development. There are strands of curriculum development that are focused around differentiated learning and teaching in the classroom. I know that in respect of the new primary language curriculum introduced in the past number of years, there would have been dedicated aspects of training to help teachers in the different environments they might be in.

The other issue concerns the quality of relationships within the school. Some of the points made by Mr. Harris refer to that. Clearly, we must value the voice of the student and child more and more because there is great learning from that. We have ways and means of beginning to capture that evidence with our inspectorate model and increasingly consulting with parents and families around their experience. We are beginning to focus on that more and more through the work of agencies such as the Teaching Council and the NCSE.

By its nature, change takes time. If we achieve one goal, obviously, there are four or five more on the horizon at any given time. There is a progression here. As human beings, this will be a lifelong challenge. A a lot of work has been done but there is more to do.