Ms Miriam Duggan:

The Deputy spoke about schools and being self-critical about how we produce things for our students. We all need to be that way, I entirely agree, but the central point is about time, resource and training. That is hugely important. The Deputy talked about following up and chasing things. That is the experience. How much better it would be if the proper resources were in place and we could spend the time constructively.

Time is the biggest issue. Anybody who has been teaching will say it is very intensive. You hit the ground running at the end of August and keep going for the year. On planning for students with special educational needs, 65% of respondents to our 2019 survey, Achieving Inclusive Schools, said time and workload were huge issues; 67% of that 65% said that was a barrier to achieving. That is hugely important. We all want the same thing, which is that our students go through school not just surviving but thriving and flourishing. That will not happen if policy is made without concentration on resources, training and the time people will need to follow them through.