Dr. Paul Downes:

This is where I have called for a more holistic vision, which would bring in family support centres. We have some kind of national network where investment has gone into these family support centres to link in with parents who are under severe strain for various reasons.

I would also argue that we need to educate people to be parents and that needs to be in the life skills curriculum in secondary school. There can be community-based parenting programmes as well. It is very much hit and miss and lacks a systematic strategic national vision. Anything the committee could do to go beyond ad hoc, here and there bits of these sorts of parenting support programmes would be welcome.

This is not only in the early years or primary settings. Adolescence is a hugely complex parenting time in terms of boundaries, rules, negotiation and dialogue. We need a developmental dimension to that as a support for parents. Again, it is not only within a bullying lens, but also a more social and emotional education lens. At EU level, there are now new competences for lifelong learning called personal, social and learning to learn. The personal and social competences across different dimensions of the education system, including lifelong learning and adult education, are now a key European priority.