Congratulations! We are thrilled to celebrate the achievements of the ‘centenary cohort’ who were the first to be awarded the Certificate in Religious Education as part of the well established partnership with St Mary’s University College. Professor Patricia Eaton commented ‘Our trail-blazing students demonstrated dedication and a genuine passion for expanding their knowledge in the field of Religious Education’. Although Covid-19 considerably impacted the first couple of years of this programme, the students and staff worked through the difficulties together and, after three years of dedicated study in addition to their undergraduate programs, students have emerged as certified and competent teachers of Religious Education.
The Certificate in Religious Education is validated by the Church Authority and is required by those seeking appointment to a permanent teaching position in a maintained primary school.
Download the report by clicking on the image above.
Today, a group of researchers from Ulster University, Stranmillis University College, Newcastle University, and Queen’s University Belfast have launched a report outlining the catastrophic consequences of the cuts to education for children and young people in Northern Ireland.
The authors make the case for immediately ending the reliance on civil servants to make policy decisions.
The report argues that cuts to education are being made with minimal input from the UK Government and little say from Northern Ireland’s own elected representatives, undermining the principle of political accountability and public sector equalities duties.
The authors paint a devastating picture of how the cuts will disproportionately impact the most disadvantaged children and young people in our communities. The short-term savings will be dwarfed by the costs of poverty, deprivation, and mental health issues in the longer run.
New Decade, New Approach committed the NI Executive ‘to establish an expert group to examine the links between persistent educational underachievement and socio-economic background and draw up an action plan for change that will ensure all children and young people, regardless of background, are given the best start in life’.
The expert group’s action plan, ‘A Fair Start’, was published in June 2021 and provided a fully costed roadmap to closing the educational attainment gap.
However, the report launched today argues that the removal of, or deep cuts to, schemes such as those to alleviate holiday hunger, period poverty and digital inequalities, as well as to initiatives to support children’s mental wellbeing and reduce the pandemic learning gap, undermines the realisation of the recommendations made in ‘A Fair Start’.
The report suggests that the situation for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) is particularly severe. The Education Authority’s budget for the transformation of the SEN system is due to be cut by 50% despite the fact that there has been a 24% increase in the number of children with statements over the past 5 years, with hundreds of children awaiting specialist placement for September.
The report’s overarching finding is that cuts will have an unfair cumulative impact on groups which are already disadvantaged, in terms of their experience of education provision. There is a clear and unequivocal breach of educational rights contained in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Dr Ciara Fitzpatrick (Ulster University), who convened the group of researchers, said:
“The cuts to education will undoubtedly increase poverty and hardship for many households in Northern Ireland, but particularly those with the lowest incomes – such as those children entitled to Free School Meals.”
“These cuts are coming at a time when high inflation doggedly persists, with food prices rising at a startling rate. The loss of holiday hunger payments will cause significant harm to children and their families, and there will undoubtedly be children who will not receive the nutrition they need to thrive.”
“The high costs of school uniforms will add further stress to finances that are stretched to the limit. Despite the 20% increase in the uniform allowance last year, NI still lags provision in England, Scotland and Wales.”
Professor Noel Purdy (Stranmillis University College) lead author of ‘A Fair Start’ said:
“This is a catastrophic situation for the provision of education in Northern Ireland. It is the most punitive budget that has ever been delivered to the Department of Education, at a time when more support is needed to account for the pressures caused by the cost-of-living crisis.”
“The cuts will further exacerbate educational underachievement for those children already identified as having persistent low attainment rates, including children entitled to Free School Meals, ethnic minority children and children in care.”
“Furthermore, the Special Educational Needs system is on its knees and is failing to ensure appropriate access to education for the most vulnerable children in our society. Unless we see urgent transformation, policy progression and real investment, the system faces collapse.”
The ‘rapid response’ report was completed between May-June 2023.
The researchers received no external funding or payment for this work; however, we are grateful to have received an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration grant from Queen’s University, Belfast, which allowed us to organise a launch event at Currie Primary School.
Each contributor wrote or co-wrote at least one section of the report corresponding to their specific research expertise and experience and have drawn together research evidence from a wide range of primary and secondary sources.
The cuts the researchers are aware of are:
An end to Free School Meal Payments during holiday periods (‘Holiday Hunger Scheme’) which provided 96,300 children with £27 a fortnight.
An end to Happy Healthy Minds
An end to Engage
An end to the Digital Devices scheme
An end to the Baby Book scheme
A pause on capital development
28 New school projects paused
A 40% cut to Free Period Products budget
A 50% cut to the Shared Education budget
A reduction in Nurture funding from £70 million to £62 million
An end to schools coaching programme run by Irish Football Association (IFA) and Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA)
An end to funding available to Young Enterprise NI
A pause on a cashless scheme for schools
A depletion of funding available to Extended Schools
A significant shortfall in resource for pupils with SEN
A pause on the recruitment of school crossing patrols
The recently announced King’s Birthday Honours List recognises those who have made a very significant contribution to society. In Northern Ireland this year, the list includes many honoured for their services to Education.
Commenting on the announcement of the list, Prof. Jonathan Heggarty, MBE, Principal and CEO of Stranmillis University College said.
“On behalf of Stranmillis University College, I would like to congratulate all those whose dedicated service to education has been recognized this year. Education touches everyone in Northern Ireland and plays a key role in building better futures for all. The number of honourees for their services to education reflects the vital role played by teachers, leaders, officials and all others involved in education.”
“Our special congratulations go to Queen’s University Belfast Vice Chancellor Professor Ian Greer DL, who was Knighted in the Honours List. A world-renowned academic and leader who has lead Queen’s University since 2018, Professor Greer has made a significant impact on Queen’s University, the wider education landscape and the reputation of Northern Ireland, nationally and internationally.”
“We are also particularly delighted that one of our Board of Governors, Mrs Heather Miller has been awarded a MBE for her services to education.”
“Our sincere congratulations also go to:
Professor Vincent Fusco, Queen’s University Belfast, awarded the CBE; Shirley Jones, Department of Education; Roisin Marshall, Chief Executive Officer, Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education; Fiona McDonald, Principal, Drumnamoe Nursery School and Sharon Tennant, lately Principal of Sandelford Special School, who were all awarded the OBE
Professor Ruth Fee, Ulster University; Catherine Humphrey, Principal, Groggan Primary School; Sean Dillon, Principal, Primate Dixon Primary School; and Wilson McCluggage, Queen’s University Belfast, who were all awarded the MBE
Gillian Gough, for services to education in Co. Armagh, Veronica Hammersley, School Crossing Patrol Officer, Patrick McCullough, Queen’s University Belfast and Dorothy Moore, Crumlin Integrated Primary School, who were all awarded the BEM.”
Would you like to share your experiences of school transfer without tests in 2021?
Stranmillis University College and the Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement (CREU) would like to hear about the experiences of school pupils and parents of school pupils who were in P7 when transfer tests were cancelled due to Covid-19.
This research project is entitled Transfer Talk: Exploring the lived experiences of NI school transfer without tests in 2021, and has been funded by the Office of the Mental Health Champion for Northern Ireland, a follow up to our recent Nuffield-funded project entitled “Testing Times”.
To gather your views, we have created two online surveys.
If you are the parent of a pupil who was P7 in 2020/2021, please click here.
If you are a pupil who was P7 in 2020/2021 please click here to access the survey for you
When you enter the survey you will find more information on the research.
Surveys close at midnight on Friday 30th June 2023.
If you have any questions, you can email the lead researcher Prof Noel Purdy (n.purdy@stran.ac.uk).
As part of our Centenary celebrations, the College was delighted to welcome back over 30 former Students’ Union Presidents for a special celebratory dinner. A hugely enjoyable evening of reconnecting and reminiscing, one of the highlights was a highly entertaining “On the Couch” interview session with Past Presidents Ronnie Barron (1953), Heather Lyle (nee Brown, 1988), Sara Stewart (nee Lindsay, 2009) and Chris P0llock (2019).
On 28th April 2023, the Department for the Economy announced the appointment of seven new members to the Board of Stranmillis University College.
Paula Leitch, Kim Scott, Robert Drennan, Aaron Diver, Una Nic Eoin, Wilma Fee and Sam Snodden have been appointed to serve as members from 1 April 2023 for a period of four years. We are also expecting the appointment of Matthew Cupples as the new Student Representative on the Board from 1st June 2023. All of our new members are wished every success as they embark on their roles. Pen Portraits for all current members of the Governing Body can be accessed via the following link Pen Portraits.
On 3rd May 2023, they had an opportunity to visit the University College for an Induction event where they met with some of the existing members of the Board, a former member, Ken Nelson, and the Directors of the College. They heard from the Chair about Governance and Accountability and Committee membership and the Principal and Directors provided an overview of the University College and its strategic direction, as well as the challenges and opportunities ahead. This was followed by lunch and a tour of our fantastic campus.
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