Ms Arlene Forster:

I might go back a step to how we arrived at the specification. One of the key pieces that inform all of our work is extensive literature reviews. In the case of the well-being specification, which I think is the specification to which the Cathaoirleach is referring, we had an extensive literature review that took in the latest findings and what we know about how children develop physically, including fundamental movement skills. That research was core in informing the specification. The essence of the two pieces the Cathaoirleach referenced, physical literacy and fundamental movement skills, is in the learning outcomes in the specification.

One of the pieces that we are now working on, which always happens after the specifications are published, is the suite of support materials that we provide to teachers. These are focused on the how of teaching and learning that is captured in the specification. Physical literacy and fundamental movement skills are very much part and parcel of the suite of support materials that we will be developing.

In addition, when specifications are published, we begin to work with schools to gather examples of these core concepts that sit in a specification and we publish those to support teachers in their work with the specification.