Educational disadvantage and the Protestant working Class ...

Issued by Dawn Purvis MLAand the Working Group on

Educational disadvantage and the Protestant working class

March 2011

Educational disadvantage and theProtestant working Class

A Call to Action

Educational Disadvantage and the Protestant Working Class A Call to Action

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Table of Contents

Introduction 4

Background and Context 6

Summary of Findings 7

Summary of Recommendations 8

Findings 9

Recommendations 17

Implementation and Next Steps 27

Thanks 27

Case Studies 28

A Call to Action Educational Disadvantage and the Protestant Working Class

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“Many years ago I was involved in the ‘Making Belfast Work’ programme. At that time I highlighted to both theEducation and Library Board and to head-teachers that, in my opinion, underachievement would continue togrow for the following reasons:

• the current selection process by the Grammar schools was depressing achievement amongst those whowere not selected and lowering their aspirations

• traditionally Catholic families knew and accepted that their children had to have higher qualifications ifthey were to enter what had been a historically Protestant biased workforce and hence the greater valuethey placed on education

• there seemed to be a heavy, complacent trend amongst the white working class population of sonsfollowing their fathers into ‘trade union protected’ jobs. This often produced a perception of a lack of needto gain qualifications. I predicted that these jobs would disappear as technology improved and that youthunemployment in the Protestant white working class boys sector would rise as a result of these changes

Some twenty years later, I find it personally sad that your report seems to confirm my earlier observations.”

Sir Iain Hall (Great Schools for All Children) letter to Dawn Purvis MLA, 10th December 2010


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Introductionby Dawn Purvis MLA

This Call to Action has arisen out of the work ofa small Working Group of teachers, educationaladministrators, academics, community activistsand interested others who have focused on thestatistical fact of growing under-performanceof Protestant working class young people and,in particular, Protestant working class males.

The remit that this Working Group set itself hasbeen to:

a) Consider existing research and evidence onthe issue of the underperformance ofProtestant working class young people and,in particular, Protestant working class males;

b) To seek views or short submissions frompolitical parties, educational interests, tradeunions, business, the voluntary andcommunity sector and others on whatprecisely needs to be done to address theissue;

c) To consider UK, European and internationalexperience on tackling communal, ethnic orracial underperformance and internationalgood practice; and,

d) To report on recommendations (by way ofa Call to Action) by March 2011.

The question arises, Why just look at educationaldisadvantage in one community? There isundoubtedly educational disadvantage withinall communities and much of what is concludedhere is important across all of the groups thatconstitute our society. However, there is nowan established and increasing trend in which theeducational non-progressor in Northern Irelandis most likely to be a Protestant working classmale.1 Our work has tried to address why thisis the case.

Additionally:

• Political arrangements in Northern Irelandare communitarian, and the majority ofUnionist opinion finds the issue of under-achievement difficult (or inconvenient) todeal with;

• Education in Northern Ireland is itselfsignificantly segregated along communallines;

• The governance of schools attendedpredominantly by Protestants is different,with perhaps less emphasis placed ondriving achievement and standards, or onchallenging under-performance;

• The community dynamics andorganisational mores differ significantly inthe Protestant community, as does thehistorical emphasis and value put oneducation within the working class; and,

• There appears to be a tendency towardselitism, and socially imbalanced pupilintakes within schools predominantlyattended by Protestants.

This Working Group has no statutory authority,or official remit. It was organized amonginterested and concerned individuals who feltthat if such problems of educationaldisadvantage were not addressed there wouldbe significant socio-economic and politicalramifications. The group, standing solely ontheir own respective records and reputations,have aimed to highlight a problem and thereasons for it and in so doing contend that it isfor others with the resources and influence tochallenge a significant inequity.

Given the sensitivity of inter-communalcompetition within Northern Ireland, it was notthe intention of this initiative to enter into, orpromote, any sort of zero-sum competition for

1 University of Ulster, report to OFMDFM on Participation Rates in Further and Higher Education, 2001


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scarce resources. Rather it was to shine a lighton a serious and growing problem. Additionally,we argue that educational needs must beaddressed via cooperation, mutual concern andthe specific targeting of barriers andimpediments, wherever they are found, toeffective and inclusive education.

I would like to thank the members of theWorking Group who have given many hoursover the past six months to ensure that a lightis shone on an issue requiring our urgentattention. I am also indebted to the work of theNorthern Ireland Assembly’s Research andLibrary Services team.

We have laid the path towards identifying aproblem and hope now that an earnest andworthwhile debate shall begin. It is now forpolicy-makers, practitioners and politicians torespond to this very real problem and considerour Call to Action.

Dawn Purvis

Working Group Members:

Chair: Mark Langhammer (Association of Teachers and Lecturers)

Maggie Andrews(East Belfast Partnership)

Peter Bryson (Save the Children)

Dr Colette Gray (Stranmillis University College)

Dr Ken Harland(University of Ulster)

Dr Julie Harrison (Consultant)

Jim Keith(Principal, Belfast Boys’ Model School)

Sam McCready(University of Ulster)

Andy McMorran(Principal, Ashfield Boys’ School)

Joy Poots (Inner City South Belfast Sure Start)

Colin Robinson (The Bridge, Alternatives)

Dr Peter Shirlow(Queen’s University Belfast)


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Background and Context

This Call to Action resulted from intensivediscussions of a Working Group over the pastsix months. It is the practical outworking of twodocuments.

First, a Research Summary produced inNovember 2010 by the Working Group forpublic consultation.

Second, a Summary of ConsultationResponses arising out of the public consultationin November and December 2010.2

For a comprehensive and fully contextualunderstanding of this Call to Action, it is usefulto read this paper alongside those first twodocuments.

This Call to Action is, of necessity, moredirect in its approach.

While seeking to be concise, we have also triedto avoid generating a simple shopping list ofdemands which could be cherry-picked bypolicy-makers for piloting. Such an approachrisks oversimplifying a complex situation, andfuels the assumption that a problem can easilybe addressed through yet another initiative.

Instead, we have sought to concentrate on asmall number of systemic adjustments whichwould have a chance of implementation in thecurrent economic and political climate, butwhich would also make a radical difference inthe longer term. The comment of one of theWorking Group, that “we’ve had more pilotsthan Ryanair”, was unanimously held. To helpillustrate some of the findings andrecommendations, we have included a rangeof existing projects and initiatives,representative of some of the good practicealready in place, in case studies throughout the

document. A full description of each case studycan be found at the end of this Call to Action.

Our Vision

If we are to achieve the significant change thatis clearly required to reduce educationaldisadvantage within the Protestant workingclass, we need to secure a long-termcommitment across government to support ourvision that:

• All our children will have equal accessto education opportunities andresources that help them to aspire andfulfill their potential.

• All our parents, regardless of income orcultural background, will be involved intheir children’s learning and want theirchildren to do well in school.

• All our schools will be inspiring andchallenging places for children to learn.

There are no quick fixes. Achieving this visionwill require a coordinated, determined and long-term plan with real targets for improvement.

In setting a vision of what we want to achieve,we need to take account of the degree to whichthe economy sets the agenda with educationpolicy discourse. The economy has experiencedsevere shocks in the past three years which haveseverely impacted departmental budgets.Financial constraints and the reality of shrinkingpublic spending are given full consideration inthe construction of this document.

However, so is the role that education will play inrebalancing and rebuilding the economy. It isanticipated that the UK and Northern Ireland

2 Both of these documents are available for download at www.dawnpurvis.com


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economies will no longer be able to rely onfinancial services and global speculation to offsetbudget deficits. In offsetting this challenge werequire a labour force with evident skills andflexible capacities. Growth in numeracy andliteracy are vital, as is entrepreneurial ability. Suchbalance will not emerge if the educational baseis skewed and unrepresentative of eachcommunity. For instance, we encourage some45% of our young people to undertake universityeducation yet can offer no more than 20% of jobsin the economy which require graduatequalifications. Education, of itself, is not aguarantor of movement towards a high skilled,high value-added economy.3

High post-16 educational drop-out rates areinternationally linked to low-waged economies,where insecure, highly-changeable, unregulatedemployment predominates. Large swathes ofthe UK and Northern Ireland economies havebeen run on a low-skilled equilibrium. Themotivation of young people within theeducation system is inextricably linked with thedegree to which the economy can provide workopportunities with attractive remuneration andcareer prospects in stable companies in wellregulated trades and industries. The dearth ofproductive opportunities makes the publicsector, by default, the career of choice for toomany of our most talented people.

In this regard, the education system has a partto play in economic success, but it will requiremacro-economic intervention to rebalance theeconomy. Economic growth drives skills, not theother way round. Yet efforts to develop a morehonest, sustainable, balanced economy musttake full consideration of the vital contributioneducation will make to achieving this.

The economic and social times in which wecurrently live, and the undeniable period ofchange ahead of us are the context for thefindings and recommendations in this document.

Summary of Findings1. Differentials in educational performance lie

largely outside schools and the classroom.Therefore, systemic educationalimprovement will require comprehensive,long-term responses to inequality.

2. Funding priorities are ‘back to front’.Accumulated evidence suggests that themore we invest in young people early, thebetter the outcome. Proportionately toolittle is invested in the early years during keystages of a child’s development.

3. Community and cultural factors affect howProtestant families perceive education andparticipation in schools.

4. Insufficient flexibility in the curriculum andfunding of schools weakens the ability ofeducators to respond creatively to the needsof students who are not achieving, and toadapt to different learning styles.

5. Even though external factors play theprimary role in the academic success of achild, exceptional teaching and leadershipin a school can make a tremendousdifference.

6. The lack of coordination and cooperationamong government departments andagencies wastes resources and potential.

7. The lack of social balance in many schoolsleads to an unequal distribution of resourcesand an unfair burden on non-selectiveschools.

8. Academic selection does not cause socialdivision, but it does accentuate it.

3 Ha-Joon Chang, 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism, Allen Lane, 2010 www.penguin.com ISBN 978-1-846-1-4328-1


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Summary of Recommendations

1. The Northern Ireland Executive should, evenwithin current resources, agree a time-bound, measurable, resourced, Child PovertyStrategy.

2. Serious movement towards front-loadinginvestment should take place, withinexisting resources, aimed at equalizingfunding for all pupil age groups within ashort timeframe.

3. Parents and local communities should bepro-actively encouraged to become moreinvolved in education and schools.Initiatives which seek their involvementmust also seek to understand parents’values and motivations.

4. The manner in which schools andeducational programmes are managed andfunded must be amended to provide greaterflexibility for individual schools to respondto the changing needs of studentpopulations and differences in learningstyles.

5. More must be done to support, encourageand reward exceptional teaching andleadership in schools.

6. Government departments and agenciesmust make cooperation and coordinationan immediate priority. The establishmentof a single education authority is a criticalfirst step towards this objective.

7. The education system should move towardssocially balanced intakes.

8. Understanding that the legal position onacademic selection is unlikely to change,places to grammar school intake should becapped and the compromise solution oftransfer at the age of 14 should be revisited.

9. More research may be required in selectareas.


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Findings

1. 1. Our principal finding, based on local,UK and international research, is thatdifferentials in educational performancelie (to a degree of 80% or more) outsideschools and the classroom. Therefore,systemic educational improvement willrequire comprehensive, long-termresponses to inequality.

The comparative importance of various factors ininfluencing pupil performance has beenresearched for many years and within a numberof research traditions. An importantcategorisation is between factors internal to theschool and external factors. Its importance forpolicy is obvious: since improving overallperformance is a policy priority in many countries,a better understanding of the influences should,in theory, enable more effective spendingdecisions and policy directions.

The larger the sample under investigation, thesmaller the influence of school factors is found tobe. The huge Equality of Educational OpportunitySurvey conducted in the United States forPresident Johnson in 1966 was an early example.It concluded that the school effect was very small.The more recent practice of econometric studiesreach the same conclusion.4 As a counter tofatalism within the education system whichmight derive from such findings, the schoolimprovement movement in Britain sought toidentify characteristics of effective schools, on the

assumption that the generalisation of effectivetechniques would raise overall achievement.However, a review of this work by one of its mosteminent practitioners only confirmed that suchinternal factors were much less influential thanexternal ones.5

A review of related studies was conducted byChevalier, Dolton and Levacic.6 The amount ofvariance in pupil performance due to schoolsranged between 5% and 18%. A more recentstudy by Cassen at the London School ofEconomics analysed nearly half a millionindividual pupil attainment paths. It found thatprior attainment, gender, Free School Mealentitlement, and English as an AdditionalLanguage accounted for 92% of the variance inlater attainment in secondary schools. It statesthat some of the unexplained variance, i.e., theremaining 8%, may represent differences inschool effectiveness.7

Therefore, systemic educational improvement willrequire comprehensive, long-term responses toinequality. Initiatives to address inequality mayinclude moves towards increased health spending,better housing which supports a healthier livingenvironment, robust and innovative early yearsand childcare strategies, reductions in wagedifferentials, a higher minimum wage or movingtowards a living wage. Only some of thesemeasures lie within the gift of the local Executive.However, the ones that do can make a criticaldifference.

4 Hanushek& Raymond: Does school accountability lead to improved student performance, 2004http://edpro.stanford.edu/Hanushek/admin/pages/files/uploads/accountability.jpam.journal.pdf

5 Mortimore, P., Sammons, P., Stoll, L., Lewis, D. and Ecob, R. (1988) School Matters (London., Open Books). Also see Rutter, M., Maughan, B.,Mortimore, P. and Janet, O. (1979) Fifteen Thousand Hours (London., Open Books)

6 Chevalier, Dolton and Levacic: Schoool Quality and Effectiveness, UCD Centre for Economic Research, 2004-05. See also Levacic, R. andWoods, P. A. (2002a) Raising School Performance in the League Tables (Part 1): disentangling the effects of social disadvantage, British Educa-tional Research Journal 28, 2, pp. 207-26 and Levacic, R. and Woods, P. A. (2002b) Raising School Performance in the League Tables (Part 2):barriers to responsiveness in three disadvantaged schools, British Educational Research Journal 28, 2, pp. 227-47

7 Cassen R and Kingdon G (2007) Tackling Low Educational Achievement Joseph Rowntree Foundation/LSE


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2. Funding priorities are back to front.

Accumulated evidence suggests that the moreinvestment is targeted at early years childrenand young people, the better the outcomes.Proportionately too little is invested in the earlyyears during key stages of a child’sdevelopment.

According to the most recent figures inNorthern Ireland, an average of £5,126 is spentper annum per pupil in higher education,8

£4,745 per pupil in further education, £5,287perpupil in secondary education, and £3,969 perpupil in primary education. 9

Funding for development and education in theearly years, considered to be from birth to theage of six by the Northern Ireland Departmentof Education, is spotty and indistinct. Forexample, the Sure Start programme isunderdeveloped and under-funded in NorthernIreland, compared to the rest of the UK.10 Thelack of a robust early years strategy means thatmany young children are likely to accesssupport services at the point of crisis or oncethey enter the education system at the age offour or five, when vital developmentalmilestones have passed.

The most significant period for a child’sdevelopment, learning capacity and well-beingis during pregnancy and the first three years oflife. Risk factors which affect brain developmentbefore birth are strongly associated with, orexacerbated by, poverty. Research which

analysed children’s educational attainment atthe end of primary school found that low birthweight continued to have a significant adverseeffect on English and Mathematics attainmentat P7. 11

By the age of 3 years, a child’s brain has reachedalmost 80% of its full potential.12 Thestructuring or “wiring” of the brain in these earlyyears is of critical importance to both emotionaldevelopment and academic learning.Nurturing, responsive care and the formationof a strong attachment or bond with a primarycaregiver enables healthy brain development.A positive home environment in these earlyyears provides the foundation for all futurehuman relationships and promotes resilience inchildren who are then more able to cope orrecover from stresses or trauma as they movethrough life.

Conversely, infants whose home environmentis marked by inconsistent, insecure or neglectfulparenting will remain emotionally immaturebecause their brains have already beenstructured to respond to this environment. Theimpact of poor attachment within theclassroom setting will likely include limitedconcentration skills, inability to cope withchallenge or failure, lack of empathy with peersand distrust of adults. They will frequently beperceived as ‘badly behaved’ or challenging, orconversely eager and willing to please theteacher but on closer examination have actuallylearnt little. In large classroom situations, the

8 Higher education costs depend on the course. The clinical stages of medical and dental courses can run more than £18,000 per pupil. SeeAssembly Questions AQW 4559/11.

9 See Assembly Questions AQW 4560/11 and AQW 4559/11. By way of comparison, AQW 4561/11 revealed that the average annual cost of asentenced offender is more than £60,000 per prisoner. A number of states in the United States plan for their future prison populations basedon the number of young people who leave school at 16 without qualifications.

10 Save the Children (2009) A Child’s Portion: An analysis of public expenditure on children in the UK,http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/en/54_9399.htm

11 Effective Pre-school Provision in Northern Ireland, Department of Education Research Report 41, 2006, Melhuish et alhttp://www.deni.gov.uk/researchreport41.pdf

12 Allen, G. (2011) Early Intervention: The Next Steps. An Independent Report to Her Majesty’s Government London: Cabinet Office


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latter group can fall under the radar and leaveprimary school with limited literacy ornumeracy skills.

Bonding and attachment difficulties can occuracross all social classes but as stressors such asdomestic violence, parental mental healthproblems, poverty and debt, addictions andunfit accommodation are higher in workingclass communities, the vulnerability is muchgreater. Mothers who themselves did notreceive a nurturing start in life will require muchgreater support in parenting because, forexample, their own sense of empathy has beenpoorly developed. The trans-generationalaspect of the early years experience has aspecific Northern Ireland aspect given theimpact of our long history of civil conflict onfamilies and communities.13

Another frequently interlinked area of childdevelopment is the acquisition of speech,language and communication skills. Again thekey period for building the foundations of theseskills is the period before children enter pre-school. 14

There is now an acceptance of the social andindeed economic benefits of investing in theearly years. However, the reality is, particularlywithin education in Northern Ireland, thatinvestment continues to be skewed in theopposite direction. Problems or opportunitieswhich could have been addressed in the earlyyears, or even the primary school years, arebeing missed by the lack of a meaningful earlyyears strategy and insufficient investment inprimary education.

3. Community and cultural factors affecthow Protestant families perceiveeducation and participation in schools.

One strong theme within the discourse of theWorking Group, and in responses to theconsultation, was the familiar narrative of de-industrialisation and the loss of traditionallabour markets and skills. Generations ofworking class Protestants were heavily involvedin manufacturing industry and viewed gettinga trade as the main form of educationalrequirement. The collapse in this labour marketand the movement towards a consumerist,service driven economy has, to a degree, leftelements of the Protestant working classstranded with redundant skills-sets and abilities.

Given the historic predominance of trades andapprenticeships, educational attainment viaschools, colleges and universities had not beenprioritised among this section of NorthernIreland’s working class in the manner requiredto respond to new ‘flexible’, less regulated,labour markets driven by educationalqualifications and skills tied to computerisationand portable learning. The collapse ofestablished, long-term inter-generational labourmarkets led to some aiming for new skills butmany merely feeling ‘out of sync’ withcontemporary requirements.

For the latter group, the traditional labourmarket was replaced by social fatalism, lowwage employment, insecure casualised work,feminised labour and benefit dependency.Within that group, education remains bothunder-valued and under-appreciated. A newand deep-rooted approach is needed to bringabout the scale of change that is required.

13 Dr Angela O’Rawe, Speech at the launch of the Association for Infant Mental Health at the Long Gallery, Stormont, November 2009.

14 Speech Language and Communication, Therapy Action Plan, Improving Services for Children and Young People, DHSS&PS Consultation Document, September 2010).http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/speech-language-comm-therapy-action-plan-consultation.pdf


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Accompanying this educational and labour‘vacuum’ has been the loss of positive rolemodels, community stability and the post-ceasefire rise of organised criminal groups, oftenclosely tied to paramilitary organisations, thatoffer short-term status, ‘kudos’ and profitthrough illegal activity.

Some submissions to the Working Group’sconsultation also highlighted the perception ofa different spatial geography within Protestanturban communities, with less concentrateddisadvantage and more ‘pockets of deprivation’surrounded by affluent areas. Communitycapacity in Protestant working class districts isvariable and while some neighbourhoods displayhigh levels of both capacity and capability, (asevidenced by recent analysis of social assetsacross Northern Ireland15) there are also placesin which community infrastructure is weakerthan in similar, often proximate, Catholicdistricts.

As we seek a coherent and long-term approachto educational inequalities, the links betweendeprivation and inter-communal division inNorthern Ireland are worth noting:

• Close spatial correspondence existsbetween the areas of highest deprivationand those that have endured the greatestpolitical tension and violence;

• Inter-group rivalry for socio-economicresources accentuates division betweenneighbouring communities;

• Elevating ‘bonding capital’ to achieve intra-community regeneration can compromisescope for ‘bridging capital’ to redress inter-communal division;

• Separate social provision involvesduplication and diseconomies that depletepublic resources16.

Historically, the Protestant community has beenmore at ease with ‘representative’ democracythan ‘bottom up’ or community developmentapproaches. For that reason, there is greatercomfort in universal provision (such as SureStart, Extended Schools, libraries, statutoryyouth clubs, Citizens Advice, etc.) rather thanlocally or community driven efforts.17 Tendercalls or funding initiatives therefore need toconsider broader development approacheswhich might include, for example, churches orsports associations in Protestant areas.

4. Insufficient flexibility in the curriculumand funding of schools weakens theability of educators to respondcreatively to the needs of studentswho are not achieving, and to adapt todifferent learning styles.

Within schools, there remains a hankering for a“hands on” more practical, vocationally basededucation. The strictures of the NationalCurriculum, introduced by Kenneth Baker in1988 and Brian Mawhinney in Northern Irelandin 1989, was felt to be constraining, leading to

15 Social Assets – A new approach to understanding and working with communities (CFNI and CENI 2009)

16 See for example Brand, R., Gaffikin, F., Morrissey, M. and Perry,D. (2008) Changing the Contested City, Communities in Transition Programme:Summary Evaluation. Morrissey, M & Harrison J (2009). Community Foundation for Northern Ireland.

17 Much of the community capacity within working class Protestant districts comes within the sphere of influence of Churches – who are, typically,significant providers of pre-school provision, sporting opportunities, and services for senior citizens. This was underlined by a significant mappingexercise done by current Presbyterian Moderator, Rev Norman Hamilton, as a Minister in Ballysillan Presbyterian Church in the Oldpark ElectoralArea, June 1999. Later work through the Community Development in Protestant Areas, conference report (Burrows, Sweeney, Redpath, Wrightet al), reinforced this view, as does the Protestant, Unionist, Loyalist (PUL) Network: Facing our Future with Confidence Strategic Plan 2002-05.The rural Protestant perspective is well captured in a Social Audit of the Protestant community in the Greater Newry and Mourne Area (Roy Mc-Cune & Associates for Altnaveigh House Enterprise and Culture Society, 2000) and in the Rural Community Network’s, You feel you’d have nosay – Border Protestants and Community Development (2003).


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difficulties in engaging many young boys. Therecent Wolf Report is the latest of a long line ofstudies highlighting that vocational educationremains undervalued across the UK.18

In this regard, the new Northern Irelandcurriculum and the movement towards pupilEntitlement will help, with the “24/27”Entitlement Framework offering the prospectof a broader based and more appliedcurriculum. Nonetheless, the Working Groupfound strong demand for more flexibility andfreedom to divert ‘off curriculum’ to enablemeaningful engagement with students withdifferent learning styles, and young boys inparticular. The Working Group also identifiedinconsistencies in the quality of vocationaleducation as an issue requiring review andinvestment.

5. Even though external factors play theprimary role in the academic success ofa child, exceptional teaching andleadership in a school can make atremendous difference.

It takes more than just engaged parents toenhance children’s learning. Studies of high-performing schools identify key characteristicsassociated with improvement. These includehigh standards and expectations for all childrenand the curriculum, as well as instruction andassessments aligned with those standards. Theyalso include effective leadership, frequentmonitoring of teaching and learning, andfocused professional development,complemented by high levels of parent andcommunity involvement.

Outstanding schools:19

• excel at what they do, not just occasionallybut for a high proportion of the time;

• prove constantly that disadvantage neednot be a barrier to achievement;

• put students first, invest in their staff andnurture their communities;

• have strong values and high expectationsthat are applied consistently and neverrelaxed;

• fulfil individual potential through providingoutstanding teaching, rich opportunities forlearning, and encouragement and supportfor each student;

• are highly inclusive, having complete regardfor the educational progress, personaldevelopment and well-being of everystudent;

• operate with a very high degree of internalconsistency;

• are constantly looking for ways to improvefurther; and/or,

• have outstanding and well-distributedleadership.

Throughout our discussions and consultationwe were reminded of the importance ofleadership in driving change – leadership withinschools and within the communities they serve.

Where school improvement has been evidentand a more successful learning culture hasdeveloped, particularly in some of our mostchallenging schools, the role of the schoolleader has emerged as central to this success.

18 The Wolf Report (2011) was a review of vocational education commissioned by the government. Professor Alison Wolf found that between aquarter and a third of 16-19 year olds (up to 400,000 pupils) are enrolled in vocational courses that will lead to neither a job nor study at an-higher education institution. See http://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/Wolf-Report.pdf.

19 Characteristics of outstanding secondary schools in challenging circumstances taken from, Twelve Outstanding Secondary Schools – ExcellingAgainst the Odds, www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications 2009


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The Impact of School Leadership on PupilOutcomes,20 a three-year research projectcommissioned by the Department for Children,Schools and Families (DCSF) in conjunctionwith the National College of School Leadership(NCSL) in England, has provided importantinsight into what makes a good school leaderand confirms much of the anecdotal evidencewe heard during our deliberations.

The research found that, “heads in moreeffective schools are successful in improvingpupil outcomes through who they are - theirvalues, virtues, dispositions, attributes andcompetences - the strategies they use, and thespecific combination and timely implementationand management of these strategies in responseto the unique contexts in which they work.” 21

6. The lack of coordination andcooperation among governmentdepartments and agencies wastesresources and potential.

Responses to the consultation highlighted theneed to use limited resources more wisely,driving an agenda that is centred onrationalisation, integration of services andimproving collaboration.

It is widely believed that investments ineducation yield large returns to both societyand the individual. We need, therefore, to moveaway from debates about who is funding whichshort-term projects towards a longer-termstrategy focused on aligning existing initiativesand funding streams at local level, within a clearmodel of delivery that can negate the effect ofcut backs in public services.

Dedicated resources for education need to becomplemented by other key strategic objectives

for tackling poverty, reducing inequality,improving health outcomes, improvingemployability and enhancing communitycohesion. These policy objectives exist, but donot yet sit within a coherent framework that isrobustly outcome focused over a long enoughtimeframe.

7. The lack of social balance in manyschools leads to an unequaldistribution of resources and an unfairburden on non-selective schools.

It has long been generally acceptedacademically, if not acted upon by policymakers,that overall school performance improves withbalanced intakes. The lack of balanced intake inthe education system creates a serious disparityamong schools in which some flourish, but manyare left to fight an uphill battle, coping withlarger numbers of students affected by socialand economic disadvantage.

If standards are to rise for all, we need schoolswhich are socially mixed, which have aleavening effect in which peer group pressurecan be used to open minds, change outlooksand raise aspirations.

The argument in favour of socially balancedintakes makes a case on three levels inparticular: 1) better educational outcomes; 2)a higher degree of fiscal responsibility andsmarter use of public resources; and, 3) a morejust and equitable society.

Educationally, with socially balanced intakeseveryone does better, even those pupils who arealready achieving at higher levels.22

Economically, as a society we cannot affordsuch a long tail of underachievement. Highpercentages of underachievement create a

20 DCSF – RR108 (June 2009)

21 Ibid.

22 Karley K and Bramley G (2005) Home-ownership, Poverty and Educational Attainment: Individual, School and Neighbourhoods Effects, Edinburgh, Scottish Executive.


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larger and broader financial burden on the state,which prevents any real movement along thehigh value-added economic developmentroutes mapped out by successive governmentstrategies. Finally, moving towards a lessstratified and class-segregated society is simplythe right thing to do. It will leave us more atease as a society. 23

8. Academic selection does not cause social division, but it doesaccentuate it.

The transfer issue has dominated theeducational discourse at political and societallevel over the past decade in a corrosive way.24

Powerful institutional defence has often bestedrational discourse. The Working Group wereconcerned that addressing this issue woulddistract attention from valuable findings andrecommendations contained in this documentwhich do not relate directly to academicselection. It was not ‘at the heart of’ the group’score remit for this reason.

Working Group members held a variety ofindividual views on academic selection and thegrammar school system. As this paper’s findingson the early years illustrate, and manysubmissions to the consultation further pointedout, by the age of 10 or 11 the ‘damage isessentially done’, with strong effects thereafteron the aspirations of many.25 Therefore, thegroup considered there to be questionable valuein focusing on an educational policy whichoccurs so far along in a child’s development that

the proverbial horse has already bolted.

However, the issue consistently inserted itselfin the group’s work, particularly when it cameto discussions of funding, social balance,sustainable schools, flexibility and a fairdistribution of resources among schools andcommunities.

There is little doubt, for example, that themixture of academic selection at 11 with openenrolment and a competitive LocalManagement of Schools (LMS) funding systemhas had a negative impact. The 1989 EducationOrder has been damaging for the educationalprospects of Protestant working class youngpeople.

It is within this context that we have reachedthe following conclusions:

a. Whilst the grammar system has the effectof accentuating social division at 11, it doesnot cause it.26

b. With upwards of 42% of pupils transferringto grammar schools, the current transferprocedure has a damaging effect on theoverall system, with too many secondaryschools fighting an uphill battle, coping withhigh concentrations of special educationalneeds, social disadvantage and negativecommunitarian or peer attitudes to thevalue of education.

The submission of the TransferorRepresentatives’ Council, for instance, said “IfGrammar schools are to continue in the future,

23 See for example the synopsis of thirty years of research presented in The Spirit Level – Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better.Wilkinson R and Pickett K (2009).

24 Tony Gallagher & Alan Smith: The effects of the Selective System of Education in Northern Ireland, September 2000http://www.deni.gov.uk/index/22-postprimaryarrangements-new-arrangements_pg/22-ppa-research_and_reports_pg/22-ppa-rap-gas_pg.htm

25 Ibid

26 Data from the school Leavers Survey 2008-09 shows that amongst (urban) boys in receipt of Free School Meal Entitlement (FSME), 25.8%protestant and 40.6% catholic gained 5 A*-C GCSEs compared with 63.9% and 71.8% respectively of non FSME pupils. The gap widens forboys gaining 2+ A (11.6% protestant and 22.2% catholic)


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they should be encouraged to find a way ofensuring their admissions criteria enable them tohave a largely academic focus, rather thanenrolling pupils to the maximum of theiradmissions number. This would allow secondaryschools to have a wider ability intake of pupils inany particular year.”

Unionist political and community leaders havea vital role to play in addressing this situation.While quick to laud the notable and undeniableachievements of the grammar system, there hasbeen insufficient leadership and honesty amongUnionist politicians in acknowledging andaddressing underachievement, which has aprofound and lasting impact on the Protestantworking class community in particular.


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Recommendations

1. The Northern Ireland Executive should,even within current resources, agree atime-bound, measurable, resourced,Child Poverty Strategy.

The Child Poverty Strategy should be a keymechanism in breaking the cycle of poverty inNorthern Ireland, by addressing the educationalunderachievement of disadvantaged childrenacross all communities and tackling poorperformance strategically and within eachcommunity where there is disproportionatedisadvantage.

In addition to being a legislative obligation, theChild Poverty Strategy represents a uniqueopportunity to reverse the cycles of persistentand enduring poverty in Northern Ireland, whichreduce a child’s lifetime opportunities frombirth. Unfortunately, the current draft strategyappears weak and highly conditional and seemsunlikely to make a meaningful impact.

Leading educationalists and communityactivists consistently cite anxieties, insecuritiesand stresses which are frequently the result orside effects of poverty and deprivation assignificant barriers to helping children andyoung people understand and achieve their fullpotential.27

2. Serious movement towards front-loading investment should take place,within existing resources, aimed atequalizing funding for all pupil agegroups within a short timeframe.

While it is right that secondary and third leveleducation receive robust financing, it cannot beat the expense of early years and primaryeducation spending. This imbalance preventssufficient investment in the very foundationsof a child’s development, potentially limitingthe opportunities available to them later in life.It also ensures that necessary interventions orprogrammes of support will be more costly asthey are likely to be introduced when problemsare more acute.

Within the Aggregated Schools Budget, weshould aim to taper expenditure from a higher‘per pupil’ sum in the early years and fromPrimary 1 to a lower ‘per capita’ sum, per pupilin Year 14. In other words, we should fundpupils in precisely the opposite way in whichwe do at present.

As a first step, it is recommended that all pupilfunding be equal regardless of age, with SpecialEducational Needs an important exception.28

In addition to addressing the imbalance infunding, the Working Group identified otherareas in which early years investment can beenhanced:

a. Extend Sure Start. As noted in the findings,Sure Start provision in Northern Ireland isextremely limited compared with the restof the UK. In the absence of acomprehensive early years strategy, SureStart serves as the primary vehicle throughwhich early years support and services aredelivered to communities experiencingsocial and economic deprivation. Thisensures that Sure Start will continue to playa vital role promoting early childhood

27 See the Case Studies at the end of the document for several examples.

28 This should not be read to exclude a premium for pupils with Special Educational Needs.


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development. The programme should beexpanded and funded to its full capacity.

b. Revise the manner in which areas of socialneed are identified. Any further expansionof Sure Start, as well as other programmesdesigned to address issues related to poverty,should take a more holistic approach toidentifying need and operate at moreappropriate geographic scales.29 The historicuse of criteria of social need, particularly inthe form of multiple deprivation measureshas led to a ‘rules driven’ approach which isbased on deprivation scores that have littleconnection to real social conditions, or to theassets and capabilities within communities.They simply establish a ranking order thatsays one place is more deprived than another.Additionally, there can be ‘pockets ofdeprivation’ surrounded by affluent areaswhich are missed under this system.

c. Specialised training is needed for nurseryand primary school staff. More awarenessraising and training is required for earlyyears, nursery and primary school staff oninfant mental health and attachment issuesand strategies to include and supportchildren who have, or are living in, difficultcircumstances. There is a need to moveaway from a ‘zero tolerance’ attitude andexclusion of young children displayingaggressive or challenging behaviour, towardsa culture of child protection.

3. Parents and local communities shouldbe encouraged to become more involvedin education and schools. Initiativeswhich seek their involvement must alsoseek to understand parents’ values andmotivations.

We know that differences in parentalinvolvement in children’s learning have agreater impact on attainment than differencesassociated with schools.30 Schools do not holdthe only key to positive outcomes for children.31

We know that if a child sees that their parentsare enthusiastic about education, they are farmore likely to view their schooling in a positivelight, and be more receptive to learning.32

It is also clear that what parents do, rather thanwho they are, has a significant influence onoutcomes, particularly when children are young.This is important, particularly inneighbourhoods with high levels ofdisadvantage.33

An increased sense of community ownership ofschools, particularly primary schools, is essentialto developing capacity in the Protestantworking class. More local people and those whoare active in their communities should beencouraged onto Boards of Governors.

Respondents to the consultation advocatedpromoting schools as a ‘community hub’,believing that this could play an important partin developing a positive community ethos thatvalues education and creates a natural path forparents to become more involved.

29 The late Billy Mitchell set out these arguments in more detail in his article “Measuring and Responding to Deprivation” North Belfast News,p8 20 February 1999

30 Melhuish et al. (2006) Effective Pre-school Provision in Northern Ireland Summary Report Bangor: Department of Education

31 Maintaining momentum in primary school, Sammons, P. and Sylva, K., Institute for Public Policy Research, (2005).

32 See for example www.standards.dfes.gov.uk

33 Henderson &Mapp (2002). A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections on Student Achievement.Southwest Educational Laboratory.


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The voices of pupils should also be heard more,either through school councils or other meansby which young people can participatedemocratically in their own education.34

The Extended Schools Programme is, at best,patchy in regards to community involvement,and engagement efforts need to go beyondquestionnaires with parents about what theywant. While there are good examples of jointworking and decision-making on ExtendedSchools programming and budgeting, the year-on-year funding uncertainty works against goodplanning.

For similar reasons, there is merit in reviewingthe use of Free School Meal Entitlement (FSME)as the most effective proxy to measuredisadvantage. There is anecdotal evidence thatuptake of FSME is a challenge in some Controlledschools, perhaps an attitudinal issue related to atraditional affinity between the Protestantcommunity and the state. Some Principals havereported making significant efforts to discuss andpersuade parents to register for entitlements,even if they are not taken up.

School age family programmes need to beflexible enough to work with parents ‘wherethey are at’ and use people who are best suitedto engage those parents who most need it. Thismay not necessarily be teachers. Such effortsmust be aware that parents with low self-esteem and poorest parenting capacity willgenerally not want to join groups or courses andmay need one-to-one support. Self-esteem,personal development, and literacy andnumeracy courses for mothers are veryimportant as mothers remain the primaryeducators of children.35

To provide schools with high levels of parentand community involvement, this Call to Actionadditionally recommends:

a. A clear plan for parental involvement withinthe School Development Plan, with targetsand opportunities for review processes,which is understood by teaching staff andwhich fits within the overall plan and ethosof schools;

b. High quality in-service training for teacherswhich provides expertise in how to promoteparental involvement beyond ‘the usual’attendance at Sports Days and PTAmeetings;

c. Greater clarity for parents as to the purposeof programmes designed to support themin their own learning, in order to enhancetheir children’s opportunities, or intendedto further engage parents in school life; and,

d. Greater emphasis on communication andrelationships between schools, communitiesand other stakeholders; to maximizeopportunities emerging throughregeneration and community developmentprogrammes.

34 The Northern Ireland Commission for Children and Young People has been developing models for School Councils – seehttp://www.niccy.org/

35 While the Department of Education’s, Effective Pre-School Provision in Northern Ireland (EPPNI) research shows that the educational qualifications of mothers and fathers has a significant impact on children’s attainment, it is only the mother’s qualifications that had a significant impact on children’s progress through primary school.


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4. The manner in which schools andeducational programmes are managedand funded must be amended to allowfor greater flexibility for individualschools to respond to the changingneeds of student populations anddifferences in learning styles.

The lesser status of vocational education wasraised by many respondents to the consultationas an issue. The roll-out of the “24/27” PupilEntitlement framework will help to address thebias. Notwithstanding the development of therevised curriculum and the implementation ofPupil Entitlement, there will remain cases whereschools should have the flexibility, in the bestinterests of retaining and engaging pupils, to go“off curriculum”.

One suggestion is, through the ongoing Reviewof Local Management of Schools (LMS) fundingsystem, that vocational courses should, initially,receive additional front-weighted funding inorder to secure a viable level of pupil enrolment.Courses with lower levels of enrolment couldbe merged to create required levels ofparticipation and stimulate additionalcollaboration.

Additionally, the Working Group examined localand international work on gender differentialsin education36 and recommends thateducational policy be more open to a spectrumof learning styles. This may involve being moregender conscious in the development ofcurriculum, and more aware that boys and girlsoften demand different approaches to meetingtheir educational needs.

This may be particularly true for boys fromcommunities that continue to experience socio-economic deprivation, poverty, academicunderachievement and suffer most from the

legacy of the troubles. These boys and youngmen will do best in a classroom environmentthat understands and connects to theinfluences in their lives beyond the school gates.

The Working Group noted the increasedfeminization of the teaching profession, notablyat primary level. The introduction of positivemale role models may go some way to meetingthe challenge of further engaging young menand boys in education.

5. More must be done to support,encourage and reward exceptionalteaching and leadership in schools.

Unsurprisingly, it was found that to effectchange in more challenging schools, effectiveleadership practice is required. The WorkingGroup believes that quality leadership withinschools needs to be aligned to developing localpartnerships beyond the school, to encourageparental support for learning and identify newlearning opportunities. To build success, thisrequires stronger partnerships with otheragencies, local leadership and localcommitment. Such efforts need to beresourced both within schools and thecommunity, to ensure that progress isembedded and the benefits of effectiveleadership are felt over time.

Our leadership challenges are:

• To attract and prepare new leaders for ourschools and communities;

• To spread high quality leadership acrossschools;

• To ensure that where there is exceptionalleadership it is rewarded and sustained, and;

• To secure investment in ongoingprofessional development.

36 See Case Study B from the Centre for Young Men’s Studies at the University of Ulster.


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Amongst the specific further recommendationswe would make in relation to improvingperformance in schools are:

a. Teacher Placements: Offer meaningfulincentives for excellent principals, emergingschool leaders and teachers to undertake,as part of a planned Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment (CPD) approach, placementsof two to four years in under-achievingschools.

b. A School Leadership Scheme: Considerdeveloping a programme in NorthernIreland that learns from the English ‘FutureLeaders’ Programme37, which works withteachers committed to improving the lifechances of pupils in disadvantaged areasand offers accelerated paths to headship.

c. An Excellent Teacher Scheme: Considerimplementing a variant of the ExcellentTeacher scheme (also in England) wherebyteachers at the top of their scale, and whowant to remain, predominantly, classroomfocused, could secure additional pay byvolunteering to be redeployed to teach in aschool within a disadvantaged area. 38

d. Effectiveness of Teachers: The quality ofthe Northern Irish teaching workforce ishigh. However, some respondents to theconsultation perceived that there was, insome cases, a tolerance of poor quality orineffective teaching that was unhelpful tothe improvement of standards. There is noexcuse for the wide disparity in outcomesof schools in similar circumstances.39 It is

recommended that the TeachersNegotiating Committee reconsider thecurrent Unsatisfactory Teacher Procedure toprovide effective and timely intervention toineffective teaching.

e. Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT)Guaranteed Year Scheme:We are aware ofthe proposals of the Northern Ireland TeachersCouncil calling for a cadre of 200+ NQTs tobe offered a ‘first guaranteed year’ similar tothat implemented in Scotland following theMcCrone Report.40 The aim of the scheme, inaddition to providing a first guaranteed yearof employment, would be to apply theadditional resource to cover, allowing forimplementation of 10% Planning, Preparationand Assessment for teachers. Additionally, theNQT resource could be directed and appliedto reduce class sizes, and provide additionalsupports to under-performing schools indisadvantaged areas. This scheme bringssignificant productivity gains in schools and,set against the costs of JobSeekers Allowanceand other benefits for unemployed graduateNQTs, is of marginal cost.

f. School Governance: One point made byseveral consultation responses was that theCouncil for Catholic Maintained School(CCMS) exercises a challenge function inrespect of the educational performancewithin Maintained schools, whereasEducation and Library Boards (ELB), untilrecently, had indicated that this was not theirrole. Likewise, the ELBs role as managers ofControlled schools gives them more authority

37 http://www.future-leaders.org.uk/our-programme/the-programme

38 The role of a single employing body would be key to the success of such a scheme in facilitating the flexible transfer of staff between schools.

39 As an example, some Working Group members highlighted the Montgomery County Public School system in Maryland, USA, which utilises asuccessful support-focused performance management system entitled the Teacher Professional Growth System. See “Leading for Equity”Childress, Doyle & Thomas, Harvard Education Press, Cambridge, Mass, www.harvardeducationpress.org ISBN 9-781934-742228

40 A teaching profession for the 21st century (commonly known as the ”McCrone Agreement”), see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2001/01/7959/File-1. The McCrone scheme is widely considered a success in Scotland, but is currently under review.


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to direct Governors, which may lead toGovernors undervaluing their own role and,perhaps, shying away from the challengefunction to a degree. These differences areimportant if “maximised autonomy” and thecontinued centrality of Governors are tocontinue.

With school rationalisation, and fewerschools, it should logically allow the capacityissue of spreading too few good volunteerGovernors too thin to improve. The standardand role of Governors in Controlled schoolsshould improve.

In its consultation response, the TransferorRepresentatives’ Council (TRC) argued for theremoval of the legislative quirk which requiresGovernors holding office in one school to bea Governor in another school, effectively arequirement to ‘double job’. This tends topresent a disincentive to prospectiveGovernors.

It is also the case that the experience ofserving on a Board of Governors is not alwaysa rewarding one. The culture of working ishighly bureaucratised, and tends to promotea climate of caution with more attentiongiven to administration, policies andprocedures than performance. Accountabilitytends to be upwards to those who appointGovernors, rather than coming from theschool or community population.

There is frequently an absence of arelationship with pupils and the communityin which the school sits. The composition ofa board tends to be very much adult-centric,even middle-aged, and the absence of thepupils’ voice can be striking.

We recommend that the legislative quirkraised by the TRC is considered. Additionally,where a school enters “special measures”under the Every School a Good Schoolprocess, employers should have theopportunity to appoint a fixed-term principalwith authority to take action to facilitatebetter parental and community involvement.

g. Development of a ‘Good PracticeRepository’ for teachers and parents:There are many ways to achieve this veryimportant policy structure for schools.Within schools, examples of good practicecould include sample lessons withindepartments, learning initiatives betweendepartments, a “My Favourite Lesson” fileaccessible to students and substituteteachers, or Assessment for LearningInitiatives within and betweendepartments.41

Outside of schools, a single educationauthority may take a lead facilitative role indisseminating good practice. The GeneralTeaching Council (GTC) currentlyundertakes a similar function in promotingshared policy and research relevant toteachers through the GTC NI’s researchrepository, ARTT.42 The University of theFirst Age website provides anotherexample.43

41 Among schools, there have been several success stories. A few examples include: The Development and Dissemination of Good Practice inSchools 2007 (funding ceased); Learning and Teaching, Belfast 2009 (ongoing); and, Curriculum Leaders Conference Disseminating Practice2009.

42 See http://www.ufa.org.uk/

43 See the General Teaching Council’s Research Repository, ARTT, at http://arrts.gtcni.org.uk/gtcni/


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6. Government departments andagencies must make cooperation andcoordination an immediate priority.The establishment of a singleeducation authority is an immediatepriority.

The issues and challenges identified by theWorking Group and outlined in this documentare clearly not entirely the responsibility of theDepartment of Education, nor are they withinthe ability of individual schools, Boards or theDepartment to address. The education systemalone cannot drive the sort of sustained changethat is required.

If we are to genuinely make a difference ineducational attainment and lifetimeopportunities for all our children and youngpeople, government departments must worktogether to coordinate efforts, establish cross-departmental strategies and initiatives, andcooperate in the commissioning of programmesand services for children and young people.

The experience of the Neighbourhood RenewalProgramme should be explored to inform anyprocess aimed at cross-departmental working.The mid-term review of the programmeconcluded that its success has been limited bythe failure to ignite interest and connect it towider policies across government, particularlyeconomic development.

In the case of education, the debatesurrounding the proposed move towards areabased planning underlined the value ofengagement across a wide sector of interests.Unfortunately, the development of area basedLearning Partnerships remains in its infancy, atbest a work in progress.

Effective prevention and intervention strategiesrequire joined-up government at a policy level

and integrated services at the delivery level,particularly in regard to statutory health andeducation services working together with thecommunity and voluntary sectors and localpartnerships.

This type of cooperation is more likely to leadto intelligent funding and smart investment ata time when public sector funding is facingsignificant reductions. Across all governmentdepartments, priority needs to be given totargeted, timely interventions which willprevent more costly interventions being neededat a later stage.

In addition to the Child Poverty Strategy, therecommendations we would make to ‘join up’government would be:

a. A Single Authority: The Working Group iscognisant of the political divisions over thesetting up of the Educational Skills Authority(ESA). We believe the points of divisionbetween the political parties are second orthird order issues. We are convinced of theneed, within such a small jurisdiction, of asingle education authority as the best wayto strategically manage and reconfigureeducation services, particularly at a time ofbudgetary contraction. Agreement on asingle education authority for NorthernIreland, aside from saving some £20m to gotowards frontline services,44 would alsoprovide the sort of redeployment andredundancy trawl that would allow some ofour other recommendations to happen,including the radical shift to equal ‘per head’school funding and the facilitation of larger,educationally sustainable, socially balanced,schools through school rationalisation.

The role of a single authority is alsoimportant in the development of a clearCPD offer to teachers and better leadership

44 An internal (unpublished) report by Deloitte for the Review of Public Administration estimated savings of some £20 million to front-line education by the institution of a single education authority.


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development for school leaders. It couldallow for the sort of redeployment flexibilityto allow teachers to undertake a two to fouryear challenge placement, designed as apositive CPD experience, within adisadvantaged school.

b. Controlled Schools Body: It remains theview of government that, despite movestowards a single education authority, anumber of sectoral bodies should continueto exist. We have noted a view that sectoralbodies should be largely or wholly voluntaryin nature and should not drain or divertresources from the classroom at achallenging budgetary round.

However, our recommendation is that,within the context of a single authority (andthe maintenance of a plurality ofeducational sectors) that there is no reasonwhy a Controlled Schools body should notexist if similar bodies in the Maintained,Integrated and Irish Medium sectors are tocontinue, provided that the role of suchbodies has substance and meaning.Without a real and weighty function, therole of a Controlled Schools body acting inan essentially cheerleading capacity wouldnot be useful. The Transferors RepresentativeCouncil also made the point that ownershipis central to the credibility of such a bodyto undertake any challenge function similarto CCMS.

It would also be anticipated that the TRCwould play a significant role in a ControlledSchools body and it is understood that theinformal Controlled Schools Commissionhas developed and secured broad and pluralagreement for the ‘ethos’ of such schoolswhich should represent a useful startingpoint for a Controlled Schools body.

c. Invest to Save, Intelligent Funding andSmart Investment: One cross-cuttingrecommendation, taking account of thecurrent budgetary austerity is for theprinciple of Invest to Save to informbudgetary decisions, to promote IntelligentFunding and Smart Investment. Across allgovernment departments, includingeducation, priority needs to be given totargeted, timely interventions which willprevent more costly interventions beingneeded at a later stage. This is anopportunity for the Department ofEducation and others to strategically reviewwhat is effective at achieving the bestoutcomes for disadvantaged children andinvest available resources accordingly.

The following series of principles adaptedfrom the Comprehensive Spending ReviewFramework should provide a useful guide forall government departments when makingspending cuts:

• Are poor families or vulnerable childrenthe main beneficiaries of this activity?

• Will cutting back on this activity causegreater pressure on other local services?

• Will cutting back on this activity causegreater problems for the future that willcost more?

• Could this activity be better packagedwith others to avoid duplication anddeliver a more holistic service?

• Could this activity be provided moreeffectively and for greater value formoney by non-statutory providers?

• Does this service or programmerepresent the best investment for thebest social return?


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7. The education system should movetowards socially balanced intakes.

The continuance of the general Bain principleson school sustainability will see, in time, fewer,larger and more educationally sustainableschools. Larger schools, with larger catchmentsought to create (all other things being equal) amore harmonious social balance within thepupil intake.

The challenge then is to increase the incentivefor relatively well-off families with social capitalto stay in areas and change them from within.45

Monitoring, reporting and targets on socialbalance should be undertaken as a key baselineindicator in school performance, notably withinschool inspections. Just as the monitoring,reporting and setting of targets on FairEmployment within the workplace had aneffect, so too could the same duty in respect ofsocially balanced intakes.

We know that balanced intakes are a keydeterminant in systemic educationalperformance. Equally, we know that sociallyimbalanced intakes are more prevalent withinpredominantly Protestant schools than withinpredominantly Catholic schools. Prep schools,for instance, are largely a feature of theProtestant community with only 10.7%Catholic enrolment at Northern Ireland’s 16Prep schools.46 There are significantly lowerlevels of disadvantaged pupils attendingprincipally Protestant Voluntary or Controlledgrammars than mainly Catholic grammars.47

We would further recommend that themonitoring oversight role should lie with the

Equality Commission, rather than with theDepartment of Education. It is understood thatsuch a role would be outside the EqualityCommission’s current remit and would requirelegislation to make effective. However, theEquality Commission has experience of suchmonitoring, notably in regard to FairEmployment monitoring, and therefore may bebest suited for this purpose.

8. Understanding that the legal positionon academic selection is unlikely tochange, places to grammar schoolintake should be capped and thecompromise solution of transfer at theage of 14 should be revisited.

Under the present political system, it is hard toavoid the conclusion that academic selection isunlikely to be legally abolished. Nonetheless,maintenance of the status quo of unregulatedtesting and selection will not be withoutdifficulties.

As such, if we are to tackle the systemic damagecaused by grammar schools filling all availableseats regardless of test scores, there appear tobe two realistic options within the realms ofcurrent political possibility. These are:

a. That places to grammar school intake couldbe capped, perhaps based only on theaverage number of “A” grades admitted, perschool, over the last 10 years of theDepartment of Education regulated test.The capping of places, in order to protectthe integrity of the education system as awhole would, we believe, be within the

45 In Montgomery County, Maryland, where the public school system has achieved significant movement in addressing achievement throughequality, this was undertaken through an ongoing campaign to persuade stakeholders, most notably business groupings and parents, of themerits of “lifting all boats.” The benefits to all children, young people and communities were communicated and discussed largely throughpublic Town Hall meetings.

46 Department of Education Equality Impact Assessment of the proposal to withdraw funding from the Preparatory Departments of GrammarSchools, January 2010

47 Northern Ireland Assembly Research & Library Services, Jennifer Betts “Educational Underachievement and working class Protestant boys,Research Briefing, August 2010, Annex A, 13


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competence of the Minister of Educationand would not require primary legislation.

b. That the compromise solution of transfer atthe age of 14, agreed by elements withinthe Governing Bodies Association and theSecondary Schools Principals Association,supported by the main Churches, berevisited.48

9. More research may be required inselect areas.

This Call to Action does not consider that anymore research is required that would have theeffect of holding up practical action. However,we believe that more research is desirable inrespect of the following:

• The Urban Effect: How pronounced is the“Belfast Effect”, or is it an “Urban Effect”?We received mixed views from consultees,and some research evidence suggesting thatunderachievement was an urban rather thana Greater Belfast problem – evidence toowhich may have undermined the schoolsustainability criteria in rural areas. Webelieve that a quick piece of desk researchcould provide quick answers.

• The Holiday Effect:The work at RathcoolePrimary School (see case study) indicatesthat more research into the extent anddepth of “performance loss” over the longschool holiday period, particularly by socialclass, may be useful. Such research mightexplore the extent to which good homelearning environments, access to books,access to educationally stimulating visits ortravel, or educationally focused parentalsupport is likely to mitigate againstperformance loss.

• The Integrated Effect: It is known thatintegrated schools, particularly at postprimary level, tend to encourage both abetter inter-communal mix and a bettersocial mix in pupil intake than similarControlled and Maintained schools. Whatis not known is whether Protestant workingclass boys do better in integrated education.A quick piece of desk research could provideanswers.

• Understanding NeurologicalDevelopment and the Effects of Stress:The work of the Safe Place Programme (seecase study) indicated to us that moreresearch, or a collation of currentinternational evidence, may be desirableinto brain and neurological development inthe 0-6 age group as well as the effects ofstress and anxiety, and how this may affectpedagogic practice, particularly for boys.

48 A delegation from the Governing Bodies Association (Wilfred Mulryne, Fr. Kevin Donaghy and John Young) reached an outline agreement onthe problematic issue of Transfer with the Association of Secondary School Heads, a compromise which was backed by the four mainChurches in 2009. It should be noted that the ‘Mulryne, Donaghy, Young’ compromise was not subsequently supported by the GBA andwould not represent GBA policy. However, this compromise solution remains the likeliest ground upon which the Transfer issue may beagreed.


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Implementation and NextSteps

This Call to Action is what it says – a Call toAction. Our instinct is that we do not needmore pilot work, nor much more research, butconcrete action. The case for tilting fundingtowards the early years is made. So is the casefor the Child Poverty Strategy. So is the casefor encouraging social balance in schools. Andso on! The research base is clear for all to see.What we need now is the “doing bit”.

The past six months’ work has been interestingand exhilarating. The evidence we received inmany cases confirmed what we knew. In others,it broadened the horizons of our understanding.Our Call to Action is now for the politicalarena. We will host a dissemination event. Ourwork will be at the disposal of the Assembly’sEducation Committee and the Department ofEducation.

We hope it is discussed with vigour as anelection issue in the May Assembly and localgovernment polls. After that, the WorkingGroup hopes to see action.

ThanksIn addition to the 43 groups, organisations andindividuals who responded formally to ourconsultation, we would like to thanks those whomet us face-to-face. Our thanks go to TomHesketh (Regional Training Unit), FintanConnolly (FCC Safe Place Project), BillyMacauley (Principal, Black Mountain PrimarySchool), Jim Clarke (CCMS), Rev Trevor Gribben,Rev Trevor Jamison and Rev Ian Ellis (TransferorsRepresentative Council), Margaret Kelly, LindaWilson (Barnardo’s), Professor Tim Shanahan(Chicago Reading Framework).

Case Studies

Case Study A The Effects of Stress on Attainment – The Safe Place Project

Case Study BFlexibility in the Curriculum – Engaging Boys from the University of Ulsterand Ashfield Boys’ School

Case Study C The Impact of Leadership– Future Leaders

Case Study D The Importance of Parental andCommunity Involvement in Schools – Home Learning Environments

Case Study E The Importance of Parental andCommunity Involvement in Schools – Extended Schools and Community Accessfrom Boys’ Model School

Case Study F Flexibility in the Curriculum– Academic Performance and School Holidaysfrom Black Mountain Primary School

Case Study G The Importance of the Early Years – Early Years, Sure Start and Family Learning

Case Study H Flexibility in the Curriculum– Alternative Education Provision

Case Study I Socially Balanced Intakes and ExceptionalTeaching – Montgomery County Public School System


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Case Study A – The Effectsof Stress on AttainmentThe Safe Place Project

The Safe Place Project is a programme whichaddresses the emotional well-being ofindividuals. The training programme is deliveredin the school setting and offers much neededskills to assist teachers, carers, children andparents to regulate the emotions that causeanxiety, stress, depression, conflict, offendingbehaviours and ill-health.

Seven schools in the Greater falls area of WestBelfast participated in a pilot programme in2009. Three primary and four post primaryschools participated. The programme produceda number of important findings in childrenranging from ages 6 to 16. Definitiveimprovements were recorded in:

1. emotional problems2. conduct problems3. hyperactivity4. peer relating

James was a nine year old pupil at a primaryschool in West Belfast. His behaviour at schoolwas of great concern to the teaching staff. Hewas disruptive in the classroom and displayedan inability to control his anger rages. Despiteattending weekly anger management classes(with 3 other classmates), his behaviourcontinued to be of great concern. One ofJames’s siblings had died as a result of cot deathand James had previously expressed the beliefthat it had been his fault. It was believed thathis anger outbursts were directly related to thedeath of his sibling.

The Safe Place Programme was introduced toall the children in the class. Each child wastaught to use the new biofeedback computerprogramme installed on the classroomcomputer. The children were instructed in

breathing and emotional shift techniques andthrough this simple process of self-regulation,learnt how to control their cardiac rhythms andphysiology allowing them to become calmer,more focused and attentive.

The class teacher reinforced the programmedaily with the 10 minute Audio Safe Placeguided meditation for all the pupils.

Within several weeks the children’s behaviourhad markedly improved. James in particular,was much calmer, less likely to exhibit angeroutbursts and was able to express and controlhis emotions more effectively. The Safe Placemeditation proved to be particularly popularwith the class and James wrote a poemexpressing his feelings related to this imaginarysafe place. This daily routine proved to be aneffective way for James to deal with his feelingsof grief and guilt. Within several months thefour children in the class who had exhibited“anger issues” were able to withdraw from theweekly anger management classes. The teacherreported that overall, the children were moreattentive and were able to control and expresstheir emotions more effectively.

The Safe Place Programme uses a dual approachto teach children how to self-regulate theirphysiology and emotions. They are taught howto quickly and efficiently change their responsesto stress and stressful situations. Many childrenarrive into schools today in an unsettled,anxious and sometimes aggressive state.Negative emotional and physiological statesimpair cognitive skills and decision makingability. This in turn can lead to lack ofattainment at school.

Fintan Connolly B.PharmEducational Consultant


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Case Study B – Flexibility inthe CurriculumStrategies to Engage Boys

The following case studies are drawn fromaspects of research within the Centre for YoungMen’s Studies (University of Ulster) longitudinalstudy (2006 – 2011) funded by the Departmentof Education and the Northern Ireland Office,exploring adolescent male post primary schoolexperiences. In this study, the Centre works inpartnership with YouthAction Northern Ireland.

Case Study One: Ashfield Boys’ School

Ashfield’s catchment area is mostly east of thecity of Belfast and includes a number of wardswhere unemployment, poverty, educationalunderachievement and, effects of the Troubleshave impacted for more than a generation.

While the success or failure of a school cannotbe reduced to one or two components, this casestudy identified several key reasons whyAshfield has been particularly successful inimproving educational attainment amongstadolescent males.

While these steps might not be replicableelsewhere, they represent an approach that hasshown significant success for the pupils atAshfield Boys’ School. It is like pieces of a jigsawwhereby it is not complete unless all the piecesare put together and present. There are 10 pieces:

• Knowing how boys tick and understandingwhat keeps them motivated

• Results and not process focused• Strong, clear expectations for behaviour• Pupil centred and relationship driven• Community centred• Home life is left at the door• A fully committed staff team• Very strong leadership at the top• Incentives for fundraising• Teaching for the `real` world

Any visitor will hear about boys’ need forincentives, competition and strong, clearexpectations for behaviour. Boys are introducedto a points system for attendance, punctuality,uniform, behaviour, work produced and pointsare gained from the absence of detention,behaviour incidents, late or no homework andsuspensions.

All teachers are instructed that their first aim isto ‘get the relationship right with a pupil’. Thelesson subject comes second to ensuring thatpupils are engaged. Teachers are encouraged tofind as many different ways of understandingwhat interests pupils as possible.

There are clear guidelines and boundaries forbehaviour. A first violation of these rules resultsin a yellow card (warning), and then a red card(asked to leave the class and sit in the corridor).Parents are actively involved in disciplineprocedures.

Leadership is strong. The principal is verysupportive of his staff, but even moresupportive of his pupils and is primarilyconcerned about his pupils’ achievements. No-nonsense, direct and practical are the driversbehind the leadership style.

The staff team subscribe to this approach.When new teachers arrive they are inductedinto the school’s approach. This often includessenior teachers demonstrating rapport andmethods that encourage retention. Staff arealso given incentives to keep them focused,engaged, challenged and involved. Ashfieldadapt a community-centred approach whereboys are actively involved in communityprojects and fund raising for local initiatives.

Case Study Two: Boys talking about postprimary school experiences

This case study captures some of the voices,concerns and opinions of 75 boys aged 15 fromsix post primary schools across Northern Irelandwho participated in focus groups as part of the


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Centre for Young Men’s Studies longitudinalstudy. Key findings included:

• As in the Ashfield case study, the strengthof relationship with individual teachers wasthe decisive determining factor in how wellthese boys perceived they would do insubjects.

• There was overwhelming evidence thatwhen teachers give encouragement, showedrespect and had positive relationships withboys, this improved motivation andattitudes to learning. Where thisrelationship failed, boys withdrew fromthese classes and the learning process.

• Participants were concerned about the lackof respect (being listened to and havingtheir opinions and beliefs valued) shown tothem by teachers. Being ‘talked down’ to byteachers, or shamed in front of their peersin the classroom made them feel they hadto ‘face up’ to teachers or risk be viewed as“soft.”

• Participants believed class sizes were toolarge and therefore a lot of time was spenton controlling the class which meant therewas less time to provide individual tuition.

• There was a strong sense that disciplineprocedures were often excessive andcounter-productive.

• The pattern and structure of the school dayand a lack of variety in teaching approachesmeant that boys were often bored duringsubjects, particularly where there was littlestimulation, movement or creativity inteaching style demonstrated (i.e. having tosit still for long periods of time).

• Participants were concerned that in thecurrent economic climate that there waslittle connection between school and thelack of realistic employment opportunities,particularly for those who were strugglingin school. They believed that the overemphasis on exams was unhelpful andconflicted with their expectations beyondschool.

Ken Harland and Sam McCready

Centre for Young Men’s Studies

The Centre for Young Men’s Studies is located within the Department of Community YouthWork and resides within the School of Sociology and Applied Social Studies at the Universityof Ulster. The aim of the Centre is to promote the voice, needs and interests of boys and youngmen in Northern Ireland through action research, training and dissemination of learning.

www.cyms.ulster.ac.uk


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Case Study C – The Impactof LeadershipFuture Leaders Programme

The Future Leaders Programme was establishedin 2006 by the children-focussed charityAbsolute Return for Kids (ARK) and the NationalCollege and the Specialist Schools & AcademiesTrust (SSAT) with an initial group of 20 FutureLeaders.

217 Future Leaders are now working in morethan 150 challenging schools across five UKregions, improving the life chances of at least150,000 pupils from disadvantagedbackgrounds.

The programme operates with five core beliefs:

EVERY CHILD

All children can achieve even in the mostcomplex environments.

NO EXCUSES

Adults (teachers and other school staff, parentsand carers) are responsible for ensuring allchildren reach their potential.

HIGH EXPECTATIONS

Providing a high quality education is vital fora fair society that affords every child the fullrange of opportunities in life.

LEAD LEARNING

Great schools are led by great leaders whohave a focus on learning and attract, developand coach great staff to reach every child.

NO ISLANDS

A large number of excellent school leaders canlead to a sustainable improvement across theeducation system. This is crucial to enable allchildren to succeed.

The three-year programme offers anaccelerated path to secondary headship forqualified current (and former) teachers whobelieve that every child has the potential tosucceed, regardless of background. It involves:

• An intensive initial training course, including14 days of residential training and a seriesof seminars with leading educationalexperts;

• A year of residency in a challenging schoolunder the guidance of a mentor head-teacher and dedicated LeadershipDevelopment Adviser (LDA);

• Support to secure a senior leadership postfollowing the residency year;

• Continued off-site training and coaching tomeet identified development needs; and,

• Access to peer-reviewed best practice andadvice and support from the Future Leadersalumni network.

Future Leaders is currently evaluating theimpact of its head-teachers on achievement inschools. Initial findings indicate risingattainment, an increase in GCSE scores, and areduction in persistent absence. Future Leadersparticipants are also having impacts in SeniorLeadership Team positions. Results and findingfrom individual participants in the programmecan be found at http://www.future-leaders.org.uk/impact/case-studies


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Case Study D – The Importance of Parentaland CommunityInvolvement in SchoolsHome Learning Environments

A study undertaken on behalf of the JosephRowntree Foundation entitled, How much doaffluence and disadvantage influence educationalattainment? 49, used a number of large-scalelongitudinal data sources capturing groups ofchildren in the UK from early childhood throughto late adolescence to examine attainment gapsbetween richer and poorer children.

They concluded that children from poorerbackgrounds are much less likely to experiencea rich home learning environment than childrenfrom better-off backgrounds. There weresignificant differences in poorer children's andtheir mothers':

• health and well-being (e.g. birth-weight,breastfeeding, and maternal depression);

• family interactions (e.g. mother–childcloseness);

• the home learning environment (e.g. readingregularly to the child); and,

• parenting styles and rules (e.g. regular bed-times and meal-times).

The research identified the following areaswhere policy might help to reduceeducational inequalities including:

• improving the home learning environmentin poorer families (e.g. books and readingpre-school, computers in teen years);

• helping parents and children from poorerfamilies to believe that their own actions andefforts can lead to higher education; and,

• raising families’ aspirations and desire foradvanced education, from primary schoolonwards.

Some practical ideas for principals andteachers trying to influence children’s homelearning environments emerged during theevaluation of the East Belfast Parent SupportProgramme (October 2006). These include:

• Improve communication with parents. Areletters, emails and newsletters easy to readand addressed to fathers as well as tomothers? Communication efforts shouldunderstand and adapt to the differentlifestyles, issues and pressures of childrenand parents.

• Engage parents at the earliest opportunity.Organise whole-school events during thecourse of the school year, with a curricularor parent-focussed theme, e.g., literacyevents with Story Sacks or story-telling, orMother’s or Father’s Day events.

• Enable parents to access school resourceswhere possible. Develop a lending library forboth books and equipment and encourageparents to share in their children’s learning.

• Organise ‘sharing ideas' sessions on keyaspects of child development that caninvolve teachers and parents, e.g., childhealth, speech and language, child safety.

• Welcome parents with an attractive andeasy to access ‘Parent information' area inthe entrance area of the school, withinformation on local services for familieswith young children and useful telephonenumbers and websites.

• Ideally, establish a formal parenting supportprogramme targeted at parents who lackconfidence to support their children’slearning. Local voluntary and communitysector organisations may be willing to assistin securing resources to support this.

49 Goodman, A and Gregg, G, (March 2010), see www.jrf.org.uk.


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Case Study E – TheImportance of Parental andCommunity Involvement inSchoolsAn Example from Belfast Boys’ ModelSchool

At the start of September 2007, Pupil A’sparents met with the Head of Year and YearCounsellor to explain that he was very upsetafter his uncle died by suicide during thesummer.

Additional concerns included:• Deterioration in attendance

2006-2007 78.4%2007-2008 65.8%

• Mental health concerns

• Underachievement in Year 11 GCSESubjects

He had been self-harming and his parentsfeared for his safety. He agreed to becomeinvolved in the Opportunity Youth Life Mattersprogramme. The intention of this initiative is tohelp young people struggling with low self-esteem. Pupil A was an active participant.

In October 2007, Pupil A was offered theopportunity to become involved in an EquineFacilitated Learning Programme. Young peopleinvolved in this programme have theopportunity to care for and ride horses, with thepurpose of improving their mental health. PupilA fully engaged in this strategy.

To this point, Pupil A had been engaging withhis Year Counsellor for individual support for hisself-harming. It was agreed that the youngperson required additional counselling so hewas referred to Contact Youth for individualsupport.

In February 2008, the young person indicatedhe no longer wished to engage with thecounseling and indicated that he would preferto discuss issues with a male worker. Workcommenced with a worker from Ardoyne andShankill Youth Education Help and Advice(YEHA) project. The young person engagedsuccessfully.

Pupil A continued to be supported by his Headof Year and Counsellor, but his engagement inclass and his attendance deteriorated. In May2008 an Alternatives Education programme wasoffered to the young person. This programmeinvolved 12 young people who were at risk ofleaving education before the end of Year 12.They followed a course of alternative accreditedqualifications and vocational work experience.

During the next academic year, the youngperson’s attendance improved from 65.8%during 2007-08 to 89.5% in 2009-10.Hecontinued to be supported by the worker fromthe YEHA project throughout 2009-2010.

As a result of his success with the Level 2 GCSEequivalent qualifications, Pupil A returned toYear 13 for post-16 study during 2009-10. Hestudied ICT OCR Level 2 National (worth 4GCSEs), GCSE Maths, GCSE English, and theCertificate of Personal Effectiveness.

As a result of his success in Year 13, he returnedto Year 14 to continue post 16 studies atAdvanced level in Leisure and Tourism (DoubleAward worth 2 A Levels) and ICT (1 A Level).

Without the interventions put in place, this boywould undoubtedly have left school at somestage during Year 12, without qualifications.


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Case Study F – Flexibility inthe CurriculumAcademic Performance and SchoolHolidays

In 1976, I was asked to head up Special Needsfor P1 to P7 at Rathcoole Primary School. I haveretained an interest in working with childrenwho find learning a challenge and have pickedup a few clues along the way.

The nine A’s which prevent my children frombecoming A students include:

• Aspiration and Ambition• Alienation• Aptitude and Attention• Attendance• Ability• Affirmation of self-worth• Anxiety

Some of these inhibitors we can address andchange from inhibitors to enablers. We do thisday and daily, convincing the most vulnerablechildren in society that they are valued for whatthey are and are more than mere beans to becounted.

My school is found in North and West Belfastbeside the peace-line. The community hassuffered more than most from the Troubles andthe scourge of endemic unemployment.Seventy-five percent (75%) of the children areentitled to free school meals; 60% are on theSpecial Needs register. This paints a grimpicture which is grossly misleading.

Today, we had 130 children in school, all ofwhom wore school uniform, 95% of whom hadtheir homework done to an acceptablestandard, and at Parent/Teacher conferenceslast month every family in school came toconsult with their teachers and review theirchildren’s progress.

No child has been suspended from the schoolin six years and no one has ever been expelled.A complaints procedure is in place which hasbeen used twice in 17 years. There is a lot ofevidence to suggest that this school is a happyplace where children enjoy learning with highlyinnovative and caring teachers.

However, our children do less well in transfertest than their contemporaries in other areas ofBelfast. They do less well in StatutoryAssessment Tests and I.N.C.A.S. The nine A’sabove go some way to accounting for thisrelatively poor achievement, but only someway.

There is one structural aspect of schoolingwhich, every year, contributes to loweringachievement.

Since 1984, I have tested my children on Mathsand English in June and again in September ofthe same year. Over 26 years, the same patternhas been clear to anyone who cares to examinethe data.

The graph opposite is a typical trace of a child’sperformance over a three year period, 2004 –2007. This child had a measured I.Q. (Blacktrace) of 82 in September 2004. The samechild’s I.Q. had risen to 123 in June of 2005.

Successive testing yields the typical ‘shark’steeth’ pattern which is so damaging tochildren’s progress. Simply state, when atschool, children gain up to three years inperformance in an eight month period, whenmeasured in standardised tests. This gain islost during the summer break when childrenreturn to school in September.


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In some cases, the drop is more than the gainfrom the previous year and is cumulative. Notonly will this drop occur in P3, it will occur in allsubsequent years for our children, withdevastating effects for some.

Some children never recover from this drop andremain at a Quotient of 80, which suggests that

their achievements will not reach that whichtheir early potential had indicated.

This year, the pattern revisited us with thefollowing results.

Date of test June ‘10 Sept ‘10

Spelling quotient 98 87

Maths quotient 94 80

Reading quotient 96 78

On average, the children in this class lost 1.1,1.4 and 1.8 years in Spelling, Maths and Readingrespectively in the two months of the summerholiday 2010. The fact that some children donot sustain improvement when not at schoolseems irrefutable given the evidence above.While we can play catch up on shorter spellsaway from the influence of school (and ourexpectations), we struggle to address the effectsof the longer summer holiday despite a raft ofcorrective measures in place every Septemberand October.

This set of circumstances demands teacherswho are innovative, focused on each individualin their class and are a never ending example ofunbridled energy in pursuit of the best possibledeal for their children. Models of these teacherscan be found throughout areas of economicdisadvantage in Northern Ireland, but mostnotably in North and West Belfast. Theseteachers have chosen to dedicate theirconsiderable expertise and talents tocommunities worthy of special attention andsupport to overcome generations of neglect.Their hope is that the reality of teaching as achild valuing activity supersedes the currentmodel of education as bean counting.

W.A. Macauley

Sept 04 Sept 05 Sept 06 Sept 07


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Case Study G – The Importance of the EarlyYearsEarly Years, Sure Start and FamilySupport

Inner City South Belfast Sure Start (ICSBSS) wasestablished 9 years ago and is a Company Limitedby Guarantee that is managed by a partnershipof community, voluntary and statutoryorganisations. The Belfast Health and Social CareTrust are the lead and accountable body for theprogramme. The programme covers theBlackstaff, Shaftesbury, Botanic and Ballynafeighwards in South Belfast, as well as part of UpperMalone. The programme also provides servicesto Chinese families living in the whole Belfastarea. The services are primarily for children aged0-3 years and their families, and have four aims:

• Improving Health• Improving the Ability to Learn• Improving Social and Emotional

Development• Strengthening Families and Communities

When families start using Sure Start servicesthey become registered ‘members’ and theirinformation is recorded on a database.Currently, there are:

• 652 children under 4 years• 632 parents (the database only records one

parent even if both are using the services)• 30% of parents have registered themselves

as lone parents• 20% of parents have registered themselves

as being black or from an ethnic minority

From this information, we know that ICSBSShas the active engagement of just over 50% ofthe children in the 0-3 age living in thecatchment area.

The programme of services provided includes:

• Outreach/Home Visiting – family support,befriending, parenting, information andresources and advocacy (delivered by SureStart and East Belfast Home Start)

• Group Based Play – crèches, programmesfor 2-3 year olds, nursery school starters

• Programmes for Parents – parenting, health,personal development, leisure andeducation and training courses

• Parents and Children – parent and toddlergroups (Stay to Play), trips and specialevents

• Health Promotion – Language for Life(speech and language services),breastfeeding support, dental health,nutrition, home safety, children’s physicaldevelopment, mental health (parents andchildren) etc.

• Village Sure Start Children’s Centre

To deliver these services, ICSBSS employs 43staff directly. Most of the childcare staff arepart-time employees.

Unlike many other Sure Start programmesICSBSS has no central base for services andinstead works in close partnership with theeight community partner organisations in theeight different communities it serves. As almostall of the services take place in each of thesesettings for parents, children, and parents andchildren together, ICSBSS could be described asa completely outreach programme. The homevisiting aspect of the programme extends thisoutreach ethos directly into the families’homes.

Home visiting was a new concept to most ofthe communities at the outset, with existingsupport and services for young families beingoffered almost solely within community centresor health clinics. There was, therefore, quite a


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lot of suspicion initially as to who the Sure StartKey Workers were and why they would want tocome and visit families at home.

Over the nine years since ICSBSS wasestablished, both the acceptance of homevisiting (and indeed the value placed on thisservice by parents) has grown exponentially, aswell as the understanding as to the purpose androle of home visits within the programme.

All home visits are conducted by the Key Workerteam and have a variety of purposes dependanton the needs of the individual family:

• To provide information about ICSBSSservices/programmes and help parentsaccess these. This initial home visit is usuallya ‘one off’ with sometimes a second visit tofollow up on information or bring resources(such as Bookstart packs).

• Child development support. On the initialvisit, parents may identify an area that theywould like more information or supportwith such as weaning, bedtime routines orpotty training. This usually leads to anagreed series of weekly home visits until theissue has been addressed. However,guidance and resources on childdevelopment are a feature of almost alltypes of home visits as children grow anddevelop through the different stages. Wherethere are ongoing concerns about a child’sdevelopment the Key Worker will informand consult with the family’s Health Visitoror encourage the parent to do sothemselves.

• Family support. Isolation, relationshipproblems, poor mental or physical health ofparents, addictions etc., are likely to have animpact on the relationship between parentand child or parenting capabilities. It isimportant, therefore, that parents receivesupport both as individuals with their ownneeds and as parents. This can range from

providing a listening ear to practical supportto deal with a crisis or even an advocacy rolein terms of assisting parents to get theadditional supports they need to managetheir lives and move forward.

• Parenting support. Again, this type of workcan be reasonably straightforward, such asa time limited ‘play programme’ withweekly sessions on different types of playand activities to give parents some ideas onhow they can expand on their child’slearning and development through positivestimulation. Or, it could be a behaviourmanagement programme in the home tosupport parents with managing the ‘tempertantrum’ stage. However, at a more complexlevel, where the Sure Start programme is anelement of a Social Services child protectionplan, the service provided will be focusedaround what has been assessed as theparenting deficits.

It should be noted that some ‘home visits’ donot happen in the home but in other venues(community centres, cafes etc.) for a variety ofreasons such as overcrowding, too manydistractions, domestic violence concerns, etc.Transporting and accompanying parents andchildren to important appointments or courtdates is another aspect that is included in thehome visiting/family support element of theprogramme according to the individualcircumstances.


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Case Study H – Flexibility inthe Curriculum AlternativeEducation Provision

Education By Choice

Education By Choice (EBD) is located on theinterface between two communities in innerEast Belfast. For the past 10 years, the project,managed by The Bridge CommunityAssociation, has offered learning and personaldevelopment services for 14-16 year olds nolonger in mainstream schools. EBC extended itsremit three years ago with Training by Choice(TBC). TBC offers a graduate pathway to 16year olds not in education or training.

Alternative education is a community responseto protect the minimum standards all youngpeople should expect under the United NationsConvention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC,1989). EBC and TBC are established on thebeliefs that all young people have a right to aneducation, to have their best interests served,and to a have a voice and opinion in order toimprove their life chances.

The main route for young people into EBC isreferral through the Belfast Education andLibrary Board Options Panel. Schools also referstudents to the project, as do Education WelfareServices and Alternative Justice organisations.However, young people originally self-referredor were referred by parents who found that theeducational options for their children wereeither limited or not sustainable.

The reasons for referral are as unique as theindividual experiences the young people bringwith them. However, all have not been able tofulfill their potential in mainstream school. Somehave made unwise choices, some have difficultfamily or community circumstances, all are fromworking class areas of Belfast and most are male.Lindsay is typical of a young person attending

alternative education. He attended primaryschool close to the Bridge CommunityAssociation. The school closed and he, alongwith his peers, found himself in a new schoolsite in a new community area. It was still withinwalking distance but Lindsay hadresponsibilities from an early age because hismum had difficulties of her own.

The eldest of three, Lindsay took on caringresponsibilities for his siblings, primarily simplethings such as waking the household up andorganising breakfast each morning. He walkedhis sister to school in his final years of primaryschool and then he changed schools.

Things did not go well in his final year ofprimary school. Lindsay fell behind in his workand was continually late. Some of the issues hecould have avoided, but most he couldn’t dueto his family circumstances. His behaviorbecame worse as he felt picked on and theschool began to lose patience in the midst ofall the new pressures of amalgamation. He didnot sit the transfer test, but this was notperceived within the family as a problembecause neither his mother nor hisgrandmother had passed it when they took it.He ended up attending a high school outsidehis local community and a bus journey away.

From day one Lindsay did not fit in, or so hethought. He was bullied in the first two yearsand began to get into difficulties within thecommunity. Education Welfare became involvedas his attendance began to drop rapidly. Theschool offered alternative arrangements, butLindsay felt like these classes were for‘dummies’ or ‘hoods’. Lindsay stopped going toschool, hung around the local community andgot into bother. He ended up being taken onby NI Alternatives, a community restorativejustice organization, and through thisengagement was referred to EBC.

Lindsay came to EBC aged 15. He had missed


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the bulk of two years at school, was very low inself-confidence, and had a small and fairlydestructive friendship group. He was prone tofrustration and displays of anger but rarelyviolent. His literacy and numeracy levels werevery low and he had a reading age of an eightyear old.

The Bridge worked intensively to get a learningplan together, which was discussed and agreedwith Lindsay. This took time, but gradually overthe first term he made a couple of new friendsand, importantly, he grew to trust the adult staffin the project. The teachers and youth workerswho deliver EBC programming took time to getto know him and to recognise his interests.

Lindsay graduated from EBC onto the TBCprogramme in 2010. He did not gain any formalqualifications during his 9 months with EBC, buthe did have 100% attendance. He can nowfocus his attention and take on work he hadforgotten how to do. He can function in a groupof peers and he can express his interests ininformation technology and gaming. He knowsthat he needs to get English and Maths in orderto have a chance of a job and he is takingclasses as part of TBC.

Good alternative education facilitates theemotional intelligence in order to developpractical skills. It cannot undo the time thatsome young people lose, however projects likeEBC and TBC demonstrate that it is never toolate to intervene. What is often lacking is thevision of what constitutes positive outcomesfor some young people and how we measureand validate their success.

Peter BrysonColin Robinson


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Case Study I – SociallyBalanced Intakes andExceptional TeachingMontgomery County Public School System:Addressing SystemicInequalities

Leading for Equity, the Montgomery CountyPublic School System

The focus of this Call to Action is on systemicimprovement and we are keen to look,internationally, at “what works” and what isapplicable to Northern Ireland. In May 2009officials from the Department of Education, theEducation and Training Inspectorate, theEducation and Skills Authority ImplementationTeam and the five recognized teachers unionsspent a study week in Montgomery County,Maryland, USA to study its public schoolsystem.

Montgomery County’s school population isaround 2/3 the size of Northern Ireland’s. Itsparticular success has been in securing longterm, sustained improvement in botheducational performance and equity.50

Main Features: The main features of thesystem were:

• Over-riding aims: To make all childrencollege or work ready, with a 80% target forcollege readiness. Raising standards is thekey aim, first set out in the 1999 “Call toAction: Raising the bar, closing the gap.”

• Quality of Teaching Matters: Resourcesare organised to support quality teaching,including investment within a CPD system,the Professional Growth System. Supportand underperformance are undertaken

through a Peer Assistance and Reviewscheme, led by teaching consultants(effectively, secondees). Sharing of resourcesand good practice is conducted through theM-STAT system, a voluntary “bottom up”self-help process for teachers. Class sizeshave been driven down, particularly at earlyyears. Pay for teachers is high; work hoursare long.

• Equity: Focus on equity through a Red Zone(underperforming) and Green Zone strategy.Resources are allocated to and targeted onunderperformance. Equitable distribution istaken to mean a requirement fordifferentiated allocation, not equal orformulaic “per head” formulas. There is no“funding formula” at all.

• Accountability: The educationSuperintendent reports to the (political)County Board. There are no schoolgovernors, and no Inspectorate. There is acollaborative leadership, or “sharedaccountability” with the trade unions deeplyinvolved, as well as college and businessleaders. This “blurring lines” strategy isdescribed by Superintendent Jerry Weast“When people help build the barn, they areless likely to burn it down.” There is a highusage of ICT and the system is quite datadriven, based on stages to be reached tomeet the college ready criterion.

• Coalition Building: A key achievement is inconvincing and maintaining a coalition ofmiddle class and working poor, of ethnicgroups (predominantly White, Asian,Hispanic and African American) to “own thestrategy” and to agree the moral imperativethat no one is left behind, as well as thebusiness imperative. Parents and businessleaders are engaged, with town hallmeetings to explain the vision.

50 “Leading for Equity” Childress, Doyle & Thomas, Harvard Education Press, Cambridge, Mass, www.harvardeducationpress.org ISBN 9-781934-742228


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Summary: The particular relevance ofMontgomery County to Northern Ireland is notnecessarily in the way particular aspects of thesystem would translate, but in the way in whicha strong consensus across the education worldhas developed a growing trust and collaborativearrangements to improve the system as awhole. Within the context of a very fragmentedand over-administered system in NorthernIreland, the participants on the study trip cameaway believing that there was much to learnfrom Montgomery County’s education system.

Mark Langhammer


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