Ms Arlene Forster:

In addition to the points Ms O'Connor made, a couple of other issues strike me in the context of the Senator's questions. I am struck by the pedagogy aspect and the actual experience the young person has in partnership with his or her teacher but also with his or her peers in the room. I am thinking back to the discussions that took place during the four years of the review. One point that was made by participants in the review was that in the case of transition year, for example, or the leaving certificate applied programme, which we were talking a moment ago, as well as the experience of young people in the link modules, which make up the leaving certificate vocational programme, LCVP, really creative and innovative work is happening in our schools and it is important we acknowledge that.

From the perspective of pedagogy and the opening-up of democratic practice, part of it lies in the relationship between teaching, learning and assessment. The three have to go hand in hand. Some of it will probably involve looking again at what the assessment arrangements could be to demonstrate the learning we deem to be really important for young people. As part of that, we will open up conversations about what types of experiences young people need to have access to the types of learning we deem important, and what assessment arrangements are best placed to enable young people to demonstrate that.

It is quite complex when we get into the detail of it, but I agree that the work with schools will open opportunities for us as we begin to examine that detail. As Ms O'Connor said, for our part we always link this work back to the clear purpose that emerged for the redevelopment of the senior cycle and those eight guiding principles. We arrived at those principles through consensus during the discussions as part of the review, and they have become very important reference points for us in our work with schools.