Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The accommodation and facilities provided as part of new school building projects have been designed to meet the curricular and operational needs of schools, including the delivery of the Physical Education curriculum, taking account of the number of pupils enrolled in the school.

The General Purpose (GP) rooms form part of a suite of ancillary facilities provided as part of new school buildings. At primary level, new school buildings additionally include a Library, Multipurpose room, Special Education Tuition rooms, and offices. The accommodation provided for new primary and post-primary schools to support children with special educational needs also includes a Central Activities Space, Multi-Activity Room, Daily Living Skills facility and Quiet Spaces.

In addition, my Department’s Design Guidelines for all new schools provides for outdoor multi-use games areas (or hard play areas) and the level of play space provided varies with the size of school. For example, a new 24 classroom primary school with Special Education Needs classes is provided with 3 ball courts, 2 junior play areas, as well as a Secure hard and soft play area and a Sensory Garden.

The GP room is a teaching area that caters primarily for the teaching and learning of physical education. It may also be used for the teaching of other subjects across the curriculum, and may additionally be used for general school assembly or for other functions requiring a large assembly area. My Department provides different size GP rooms depending on the size of the school. A 195m2 GP room is provided as standard as part of new 8 to 16 classroom school buildings, with larger primary schools, with 24 or more mainstream classes, being provided with twice this size. My Department’s Primary School Design Guidelines, which are available at www.gov.ie/en/collection/ddc58-school-building-and-design/ set out the specific design requirements applicable to the design of primary schools, including GP rooms.

The current primary PE curriculum was introduced as part of the Primary School Curriculum (1999). In primary schools, PE is allocated one hour each week within curriculum time and this time will be increased to include Well-being as outlined in the Primary Curriculum Framework, launched in March 2023. The PE curriculum (1999) contributes to children’s overall development by helping them lead full, active and healthy lives. It provides a balanced range of activities for children through six strands: Athletics, Dance, Gymnastics, Games, Outdoor and adventure activities, and Aquatics.

No provision is made for primary schools to alter the curriculum taught in the school or to choose not to teach particular areas of the curriculum. Teachers are expected to adapt the curriculum to match the facilities available to them in the school and local area. The provision for PE focuses on the delivery of a broad and balanced PE curriculum, taking into consideration the context of the school and the facilities available to them.

The main focus of resources over the last decade and for the coming period is on provision of additional capacity to cater for increasing demographics particularly at post-primary level and for special education needs provision. The Deputy will appreciate that the immediate priority of my Department is continued strong delivery to support the operation of the school system with particular regard to planning ahead for future school years and beyond and also with particular regard to supporting special needs provision. My Department has no plans to include covering for outdoor play areas in its technical guidance documentation.