Ms Evelyn O'Connor:

It came through strongly in the review that people were saying that while, of course, there is knowledge we value and knowledge we want students to be exposed to and to engage with, there are also skills they develop that are social and emotional as much as they are cognitive and meta-cognitive. We are engaged in research with someone who is examining the area of competencies as the broad, overarching, umbrella term for the person a child becomes as a result not only of his or her wider life but also of his or her experiences within education. If we can align the experiences young people have in classrooms with the knowledge, skills, values and dispositions we are clear we want our young people to develop during their education, and if we can do so in regard to assessment as well, the answer to the Senator's question will be "Yes".