Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman. I thank Members for the interest they have shown in this Bill and their contributions yesterday and today. This is an important Bill. Its core aim is to improve communication and engagement within the whole school community. It is important that students, parents and school staff are part of a school environment and culture that are inclusive, connected and transparent in how they listen to the views of all and communicate information and decisions on many important matters relating to how the school operates.

The Bill endeavours to provide a cohesive approach to enhance how schools can engage with the school community. The existing legislative provisions that attempt to set out what the school community can expect from schools are limited and those that do exist are not supported by an overarching framework which could guide practice and increase the extent to which schools are responsive to the needs and expectations of the school community.

The approach the Government is taking in this Bill is to put in place a set of legislative measures that will establish that framework and help to support and foster a culture change in schools in terms of engagement across the whole school community. As has already been outlined, the Government intends to bring forward a number of amendments to the Bill on Committee Stage. A key amendment will be to change the Title of the Bill to the Education (School Community Charter) Bill. This amendment reflects the spirit of inclusivity with which the Government is bringing this Bill forward.

A school's charter is, of course, for the whole school community, including students, parents and school staff. Many schools already engage very well with the school community. For the schools, the Bill will help to underpin and build on this work. It will also help schools that have not been as strong in this area by providing a clear framework to guide them in establishing and implementing good practice. It will facilitate and support that shift in how those schools engage with the community by inviting feedback, comments and observation from students, parents and school staff and by developing a listening culture in the school.

We need to move away from concentrating on reacting to problems in schools after they have given rise to grievances to an approach which improves the day-to-day experience that students, parents and staff can and should expect from schools. The national charter guidelines will be key to the successful implementation of this Bill's aims and objectives and in that regard the consultation process with the education stakeholders will be particularly important. The comprehensive consultation process on the development of the guidelines should help to ensure that all schools will have charters that are clear, workable and practical for the whole school community.

These guidelines will also put in place new standardised complaints procedures that will have to be followed by all schools. The guidelines will set out the details of the new complaints procedures and these will focus on dealing with complaints from students and parents efficiently, effectively and, as far as possible, informally. Under the provisions of the Bill, the guidelines may require schools to provide information to students and parents on the number and types of complaints received and information on their particular outcomes.

As the complaints procedures will be developed in consultation with all education stakeholders, including parent and student representatives, this should help to ensure that the national complaints procedures are straightforward, fair and easily understandable by all, including parents and students. It is vitally important that all public bodies which deliver services to children, in particular schools, listen to student voices and actively invite and respond to comments and feedback from children and young people. We have seen the power, clarity and maturity of the student voice in the past year and the benefit that listening to these voices can bring as we navigate through these challenging times.

To conclude, I am very pleased that the Bill and its aims have been broadly supported in this House and I acknowledge the detailed consideration by Members of the Bill. I am confident that the provisions in the Bill will be discussed in more detail again on Committee Stage.

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