Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support that proposal by Deputy Buckley. On what the petitioner is seeking in terms of the school curriculum at primary level and wanting to respond to the needs of children in society, from mental health issues to obesity, social media and so forth, I want to recognise what is already being done in schools. I have attended meetings in the past couple of weeks with the HSE on the healthy eating programme. I know from my own three children who are all in primary school that this programme which is in operation bans, certainly in the school that my children are in, snacks other than healthy eating snacks. In terms of going from the academic, desk-based approach to the more outdoor-centred approach, and the response from the Department referencing Aistear, I want to recognise as well the work that Aistear is doing because I have seen its implementation and it is a very good programme.

The evolution of the curriculum over the last decade has been substantial and has been significant in terms of producing a broader and more holistic educational experience for children. Certainly, I see that at first hand simply because I have three young children in primary school. In respect of the broader debate on the curriculum, I welcome that this report will published this month, so I support Deputy Buckley in saying we should wait until we examine that further. We have had the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment in here before for extensive debate in respect of something similar in terms of the requirement and necessity for homework at primary school level; that was a hugely interesting debate about the rationale the Department set down for children having written studies after school and so forth. There is a broader piece of work here, and I think we are right maybe to keep this open and have a further examination of it. I want to acknowledge that a huge amount of work has been done on issues like obesity through the Department and the HSE on the healthy eating programme, the change from desktop to more outdoor through the work of the Aistear programme in which my own wife is involved. Young teachers are hugely cognisant of the feelings and emotions and well-being of young children in schools, and it is only right and proper that that be acknowledged.