Ms M?ir?n N? Ch?ileachair:

I will take the question on July provision first. July provision has expanded amazingly in the last three years with the advent of Covid-19. The DEIS summer camps are available not only to DEIS band 1 schools but to all DEIS schools. The summer provision is available to all schools and not just those with special units in them. There would have been a tradition in certain schools of July provision where there was a special class or the children required it. It is a new thing for schools. One of the major issues we have found at trade union level is the payment of teachers for July provision. People are working this week and in our experience they will not see money until December. The prompt payment of teachers is a huge issue for it. There is a solution and we are hoping that this year the online claim system will be used effectively and far more efficiently than it was used last year for the payment of teachers.

It can be difficult in schools where there is no tradition of summer provision to establish that tradition. Schools are working very hard to do this. There have been some very creative solutions found this year, such as the registration of student teachers in the Teaching Council with student membership and the engagement with colleges of education to make sure newly qualified teachers realise they are eligible to teach on the summer provision courses.

Schools which have not traditionally provided it have started on that journey. It is well established in some schools but we have more than tripled provision in two years. To say that teachers are not engaging with it-----