Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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559. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children in County Westmeath who failed to complete the leaving certificate cycle in each of the years 2016 to 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form. [21519/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The data is not yet available for Junior Certificate or Leaving Certificate sits in 2020.  The data for Leaving Certificate sits comes from the retention report where the entry cohort of 2013-14 is likely to sit the Leaving Certificate in 2019, but also in 2018. This entry cohort is adjusted for recorded emigration, deceased students and students  who repeat based on six years of academic year data.

Junior Certificate sit data from the 2014 entry cohort onwards is adjusted but only based on three years of data, this will further change when offically reported in future retention reports.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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560. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children in County Longford who failed to complete the leaving certificate cycle in each of the years 2016 to 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form. [21520/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The data is not yet available for Junior Certificate or Leaving Certificate sits in 2020.  The data for Leaving Certificate sits comes from the retention report where the entry cohort of 2013-14 is likely to sit the Leaving Certificate in 2019, but also in 2018. This entry cohort is adjusted for recorded emigration, deceased students and students  who repeat based on six years of academic year data.

Junior Certificate sit data from the 2014 entry cohort onwards is adjusted but only based on three years of data, this will further change when offically reported in future retention reports.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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561. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children in County Westmeath who failed to complete the junior certificate cycle in each of the years 2016 to 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form. [21521/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The data is not yet available for Junior Certificate or Leaving Certificate sits in 2020.  The data for Leaving Certificate sits comes from the retention report where the entry cohort of 2013-14 is likely to sit the Leaving Certificate in 2019, but also in 2018. This entry cohort is adjusted for recorded emigration, deceased students and students  who repeat based on six years of academic year data.

Junior Certificate sit data from the 2014 entry cohort onwards is adjusted but only based on three years of data, this will further change when offically reported in future retention reports.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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562. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children in County Longford who failed to complete the junior certificate cycle in each of the years 2016 to 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form. [21522/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The data is not yet available for Junior Certificate or Leaving Certificate sits in 2020.  The data for Leaving Certificate sits comes from the retention report where the entry cohort of 2013-14 is likely to sit the Leaving Certificate in 2019, but also in 2018. This entry cohort is adjusted for recorded emigration, deceased students and students  who repeat based on six years of academic year data.

Junior Certificate sit data from the 2014 entry cohort onwards is adjusted but only based on three years of data, this will further change when offically reported in future retention reports.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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563. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of primary schools which do not provide swimming lessons to students in each local authority in tabular form. [21530/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Education does not have access to the information on the number of primary schools which do not provide swimming lessons in each local authority. Whether or not swimming lessons are offered would be a matter for each individual school based on their own context.

The Physical Education (PE) curriculum at primary level contributes to children’s overall development by helping them to lead full, active and healthy lives. It provides a balanced range of activities for children through the six strands, of which Aquatics is one.  The aquatics programme is concerned with gaining competence and confidence near, in, under and on water. The term ‘aquatics’ is used to include not only the teaching of swimming strokes but the provision of opportunities for enjoyment of water play and other aspects of aquatics. The concern for water safety permeates all aquatic activities. However, the PE curriculum has been developed on the understanding that facilities available to schools vary. Consequently, it offers a level of flexibility that allows each individual school to design a programme that can be delivered using the resources and supports available to it. 

Currently,  the primary curriculum is undergoing a period of review and redevelopment led by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. The new draft Primary Curriculum Framework was published in 2020 for public consultation. Phase one of the consultation ended in December 2020 and phase two, which will focus on consulting with school leaders, teachers, children and parents will commence in September 2021. This consultation will inform the direction of the new primary curriculum, with the completed draft framework expected to be published in Q2 2022 and the specifications for the curricular areas, including physical education, to be developed in the following years.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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564. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of secondary schools which do not provide swimming lessons to students in each local authority in tabular form. [21531/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Education does not have access to the information on the number of post primary schools which do not provide swimming lessons in each local authority. Whether or not swimming lessons are offered would be a matter for each individual school based on their own context.

In the new Leaving Certificate Physical Education specification learners’ physically active participation is central to teaching and learning. To enable this to happen, students learn about the different theoretical perspectives through their participation in three different physical activities. These activities are selected from six distinct physical activity areas which reflect the activities more commonly included in school physical education programmes currently. In the Physical Activity area ‘Aquatics’ students learn about water-based activities that utilise swimming and/or diving skills and techniques for performance water safety, or recreational purposes. Learners may choose one of the following activities Lifesaving, survival swimming, swimming strokes, water-polo, synchronised swimming.

However, it is recognised that the particular context of the school, the physical education programme it can facilitate and the level of community facilities, will have a bearing on the level of choice that can be managed. The physical education teacher, in consultation with the learners, will agree the range of activities that can be accommodated and supported for their physical activity project.