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

We have a campaign in conjunction with the National Parents Council around mental health in schools. We are looking closely at a model in the UK where there are teams of educational mental-health professionals based in schools. They are not the teachers; they are other professionals. I have said that sometimes teachers are expected to be all things to all people. They are expected to be the occupational therapist, speech and language therapist, psychologist and counsellor. I am aware there is a national shortage of therapists, but we need to be recruiting them under all disciplines. I would love to see them based in schools. I know this is not Government policy and that the policy is for them to be based in the community. We know from international best-practice that when the therapies were based in school buildings and campuses, there is a far higher level of engagement and success rate because therapists can engage with teachers and complement what is going on in each other's practice.

The suggestion to give the funding to schools and let them manage it is a sweeping statement and I think of the beleaguered principal who would then have something else to manage. Administrative deputies were mentioned. There are very few of them at primary level. At one stage a few years ago there were 24. I think we still have fewer than 30, but there are definitely fewer than 50.

Release hours for deputy principals, which were given during Covid, were taken away by the Department again this year. It would be very valuable to have them, especially where schools have special needs classes or ASD classes. In many cases the deputy principal is the SEN co-ordinator in the school, and such provision would free that person to do vital administration.

We really need to consider the co-location of therapies. We have school buildings. We have campuses. We now have a policy of campus development which means that somebody who is co-located on a campus development could very easily serve four or five schools. Co-location is not Government policy but it has real value.