Ms Ann O'Dwyer:

Deputy Conway-Walsh raises an important issue. We have lots of interventions and the question is whether we mainstream them or if we just keep bringing in new interventions. If I were to ask what we could do that would really make a difference over the next five years, I suggest we look at how the junior cycle framework has been rolled out in the past five to six years. A strategic approach was taken to it and a team was set up nationally. A minimum standard of training was provided for everybody who needed to roll out all the different subjects and it was reviewed on a regular basis to see if that was happening. Then the inspectorate came in and it wanted to see if it was happening and it measured it. The same approach is required here. We need a team of people, probably employed through the professional development service for teachers, PDST. We need them to clearly outline the minimum standard of training required to provide a policy SPHE programme that really engages students. Unfortunately, SPHE is not a subject recognised by the Teaching Council. We do not have qualified SPHE teachers, so therefore we must provide supplementary training to SPHE teachers. SPHE teachers are often teachers who have some hours left at the end of their timetable from their other subjects. Instead of looking at it like that, we could decide that they are a priority group of teachers who require a minimum standard of really good quality training over a three-year cycle. Then we will have to start again because there will be changes, the programmes will be reviewed, there will be new content and there will be changes in personnel. That is a minimum that I would do.

Alongside that, we need training for leaders. We must ask what is the role of a principal and a deputy principal to lead social, personal and health education and relationships and sexuality education in schools. They must ask what their role is in the programme and how they are going to lead it. I make the same suggestion in terms of what has happened in the junior cycle framework where the leaders are trained in their leadership role, because this is a very important and legitimate leadership function in all our schools. If those two things were to happen, that would bring about a significant change.

Then we must decide what is the standard SPHE curriculum that we must see in every school. There is a very good SPHE curriculum at the moment, but we want to make sure it is happening everywhere. Other programmes have been introduced in recent years, in particular the lockers programme, which deals with cyberbullying and online bullying. It is an extremely important Department of Education programme but there has been very little training rolled out for it so far. If I was to say anything should happen from here, that should be the framework. We must take a strategic approach to it. That should be included in the review of the bullying procedures. They were very good at the time, but a lot has changed since 2013. All of that should be included and there should be an ongoing review. We have a quality framework for schools at the moment and included in that is SPHE. We have well-being guidelines that have been renewed again this year to 2021, which set out the importance of well-being and the health of students. There is a really good opportunity but the missing piece for me has been the quality standards and quality training that we need to provide in continuing professional development, CPD, for teachers in particular and for school leaders.