Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House today. As a Green Party Senator and member of the Civil Engagement group, I have not yet had an opportunity to meet him.

I am speaking on behalf of my colleague, Senator Lynn Ruane, who is a member of the Joint Committee on the Future of Mental Health and is unable to attend the debate. I will also raise some points of my own. As a mother of three children who have gone through the primary and secondary school and on to third level, I have some experience of the education system. On the issue of caring relationships in schools, the My World survey, a collaboration between Headstrong and University College Dublin, found that 70% of those aged between 12 and 25 years consider that with one good adult in their lives, they feel connected, self-confident and future looking and can cope with problems.

The education system should operate from a holistic perspective. All those in the school environment - teachers, management and staff generally - should be empowered to recognise the benefit of their position in terms of responsibility and teaching in a caring relationship in schools.

Many children feel under pressure as a result of high expectations. The current system tends to be academically focused, which places many children under severe stress. With regard to some of the points raised by the Minister, we need to take a broader and more holistic approach and look at areas other than academia as well as nurturing relationships in school. The Minister referred to continuing professional development, CPD, training for teachers. We are moving and changing culturally and there is an increasing recognition that school should mean more than rote learning and emphasising academic achievement. Teachers can deliver many more benefits to pupils by teaching lifelong learning skills.

It is important that pupils feel a sense that they belong to their school to ensure it is not a place where they feel constricted in a learning environment. More co-operative learning should be made available, meaning students should learn from each other in a co-operative and collaborative manner to solve problems and achieve goals. This approach leads to more positive interdependence, co-operation, social skills and communication skills, which the students will need throughout their lives.

Schools can offer opportunities for social connectivity by providing sports facilities and clubs to enable children to communicate and interact with each other. We frequently hear in media reports that children are being prevented from running in playgrounds and the time available outside the classroom to access sport is limited. Sport is crucial to the development of pupils.Team sports allows pupils to interact with their peers. It is critical that sport is elevated in the day-to-day running of schools. It is critical that children are out and about in fresh air learning the skills of sport be it hurling, hockey, basketball, etc. Sport allows children to develop socially and reap health benefits.

The ECO-UNESCO green schools programme is a flag awarding mechanism. It is a fantastic scheme that has operated for a number of years. Every school should work towards being a green school. Walking to school is part of the programme. The primary school in Tramore that is located near to where I live has a walk on Wednesday. On that day the schoolchildren are encouraged to walk to school. They do so in safe way by wearing high-vis jackets and being accompanied by a parent from the parents' council who can provide guidance on health and safety. The scheme is brilliant as it teaches children social skills and makes them aware of road safety. The scheme also feeds into the idea of living towns and living cities. The walk to school initiative encourages children to get out of cars and on to the streets to walk or cycle. The scheme is really positive for children's mental and physical health.

I come from Tramore, County Waterford, and I know the local inhabitants are very lucky to have beautiful green areas. Again, it is absolutely incumbent on the Government to incorporate green areas when developing and building schools so that children can undertake nature walks or beach walks like in the old days, which teaches children about the living environment around them. Such walks also teaches children to recognise the beauty of our environment. I hope, as part of the education system, they are taught to protect the environment. These are all positive areas that can be developed in our schools.

I shall return to what Senator Gallagher said about drinking water. I, too, have read the report compiled by the Irish Heart Foundation that revealed that 40% of schools that it surveyed did not have free drinking water facilities. I was shocked by the finding. It is so fundamental for children to be able to access water. In the old days schools we had little water fountains. It was a good way to get healthy water into children which is far preferable to buying soft drinks or sugar filled drinks from vending machines. It should be a priority that every school in the country has free clean water facilities available to all of the pupils.