Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The redevelopment of the primary curriculum builds on the successes and strengths of the 1999 curriculum whilst also responding to key challenges. It incorporates the call for new areas of learning such as modern foreign languages, STEM and more time for existing areas such as wellbeing.

The new primary curriculum will better reflect the world we live in and it’s smooth and successful implementation in all our primary and special schools is a priority for me. My Department is very aware of the pressures on teachers and the system and we appreciate that this curriculum change will take time and effort.

As the Deputy is aware, the curriculum is not taught in isolation but is supported by inter-connected strategies and policies. Our intention is that these policies and strategies reinforce and complement each other. These include the current Literacy and Numeracy Strategy and its successor strategy will help raise the standards in literacy, numeracy and digital literacy for all our learners. The implementation of the STEM Education Policy Statement and its implementation plans which will help prepare our schools for engagement under the new curriculum area of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The Digital Strategy for Schools seeks to further progress the effective use of digital technology within our classroom and supports the development of ‘being a digital learner’ as set out in the Primary Curriculum Framework. Our Foreign Languages strategy focuses on supporting the development of language skills in our schools which will help pave the way for introduction of modern foreign languages within our primary schools.

The intention is that all our strategies work to keep the curriculum alive and up to date. We are acutely aware that they must not create confusion or unmanageable burdens on the system. In developing the specifications for the new curriculum my Department and the NCCA will be very cognisant of the vital importance of coherence in the system.

We are also aware of the need for sustained communications to all education stakeholders throughout this change process and to this end the Department has developed and is actioning a comprehensive communications strategy.