Mr. Paul Rolston:

I wish to briefly make a couple of points on communications generally. First, there are many different media and given that schools are autonomous, the information is best coming from the schools to the parents. The key in communications is that it is ongoing and that the language used is clear. Quite a lot of the information that comes through to the school is not in language that a parent may be familiar with. That information has to be translated by the school so that the parents, students and children understand what is going on.

In our submission and in general terms we have spoken about the early weeks of going back to school. This is brand new for us all. I refer to the understanding of routine, the gaining of knowledge for each pupil, what each pupil requires and what pupils' needs are as they move into the school. This is a critical period during which the schools, parents and children all have to work together. It is worth taking time at the start, even at the risk of not covering some of the academic side, to get to know exactly what each student needs and ensure the two-way communication is understood and delivered.