Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As he will see from my reply, the Deputy's depiction of the situation is a little inaccurate. The community national school model is a new model of multidenominational school which is not that well-known among the public. However, I believe it has a bright future ahead of it and a major role to play in providing choice to parents in the future.

Community national schools are multidenominational and provide for belief nurturing during the school day. The aim of the model has been to cater for the diversity present within the community in a single school setting. The philosophy of the community national school as a multidenominational school is based on best practice in this area, and on each child better understanding and ultimately celebrating their and their friends’ belief and cultural identities. Belief identity is explicitly not left at the school gate, but used as a means of enriching the learning experience on the basis of mutual understanding and integration.

Goodness Me, Goodness You is the patron’s programme that underpins the characteristic spirit of these schools. It is a common programme suitable for pupils of all faiths and beliefs and none. In junior infants to second class, the children follow the programme together for the majority of the school year, exploring common themes. There is a belief-specific aspect of the programme. In the junior classes only, children have been grouped for a four-week period during the programme according to their faith or belief tradition, in line with the wishes of their parents. Lesson content was designed specifically for each grouping.

In third to sixth class, children remain in their class groups throughout the year and learn about different faiths and religions together. Belief-specific teaching is integrated for these classes. The manner in which schools deliver belief-specific teaching in junior infants to second class has evolved. The majority of community national schools no longer group children according to their beliefs for the four-week period. Instead, these schools have integrated belief-specific teaching so that all children learn about different religions and beliefs together and all groups remain together throughout.

As I indicated in a recent statement, I see merit in this approach. This model has the merit of responding to the needs of parents who wish their children to be able to prepare for specific events, for example, communion and confirmation in the case of Catholic families, but also respects the best principles of inclusion and mutual understanding that are central to multidenominational education.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment is to commence a review of the Goodness Me, Goodness You programme for junior infants to second class, starting in September 2017. As part of that review, the belief-specific teaching aspect of the programme will be examined. The education and training boards, as patrons, are also examining how Goodness Me, Goodness You can be delivered in schools in the most inclusive fashion possible. I look forward to seeing the outcomes of these processes.

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