Mr. Damian White:

I will address the first question. The reality is that the appointment of a person to that type of position would require bespoke solutions for different types of schools and so on. There are schools with 25 or 26 children and others with 1,000 children. The solution would have to be index linked. It is unrealistic to expect that schools would have a teacher totally devoted to this area. We appreciate that we cannot have everything we want. As part of the allocation for special educational needs, additional time could be allocated for a person to deal with that work specifically. For example, in an average sized school of 200 children, there would be an allocated time during the week when the appointed person would not have teaching duties and would be able to attend to such matters with the support of the principal. It would make a significant difference. Schools would be able to deal with matters in a considered and less emotional way. Sometimes when an incident arises in a classroom it is difficult to address it because there are other children present and so on. The teacher has to deal with everything as well as the particular incident. When there is a person available who is a step removed it makes things easier and more considered. An allocation of time specifically for dealing with behaviour and such issues is required.