Ms Arlene Forster:

On behalf of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, I thank the Chair and committee members for this opportunity to speak with them today. My name is Arlene Forster and I am the CEO of the NCCA. I am joined by two colleagues, Mr. Barry Slattery, deputy CEO, and Ms Evelyn O’Connor, acting director.

Appointed by the Minister for Education, the council is a representative structure. Its remit is to advise the Minister on curriculum for early childhood education, primary and post-primary schools, and the assessment procedures employed in schools and examinations on subjects that are part of the curriculum. In carrying out this remit, the council oversaw a review of senior cycle between 2016 and 2020. The review involved extensive work with schools and high levels of collaboration and engagement with stakeholders. It culminated in the development of the Senior Cycle Review:

Advisory Report which was submitted to the Minister for consideration and published following the Minister’s announcement on 29 March 2022.

The advisory report records and responds to the range of stakeholders’ views about how senior cycle could evolve to meet the needs of all young people. In addition, the report signals the common ground that emerged. That common ground centres on a renewed vision for this stage of education and on clear purposes and guiding principles for a redeveloped senior cycle. In this way, the report provides strong foundations for the redevelopment of this stage of education so that it continues to do the following: educate the whole person; helps every student to become more enriched, engaged and competent; serves collective and individual purposes; and helps students to access diverse futures.

The report identifies three key areas for further research and action. These include: providing more flexible pathways through senior cycle; having a greater mix of subjects and modules, including technical, creative and vocational options; and broadening assessment and reporting arrangements. The report summarises the themes that emerged in the review and outlines what these might mean in a redeveloped senior cycle. The three key areas - pathways and flexibility, curriculum components, and assessment, reporting and transitions - link directly to the themes identified by this committee in its exploration of leaving certificate reform.

The report also describes conducive conditions which we need to pay attention to as we move to the next stage of work. The report concludes with a commitment to continued extensive consultation and collaboration with schools and all education partners as the senior cycle is redeveloped and as a framework for senior cycle is co-constructed. The council looks forward to a briefing with Department of Education officials in the coming weeks as it plans a programme of work grounded in the advisory report and the Minister’s announcement.

Moving briefly to the Irish language, as part of ongoing work on senior cycle, the NCCA developed draft leaving certificate specifications for Irish L1 and L2. Work is advanced on the analysis of the consultation data and findings will be presented in a report later this year. In addition, a report on the early enactment review of junior cycle Irish will be published. These reports, along with the Minister’s recent announcement, will provide a basis for the next steps in this important work.

Further information is provided in the NCCA’s written submission and accompanying reports. My colleagues and I are happy to answer questions members may have.