To ask the Minister of Education for his assessment of the capacity of non-grammar schools to meet the challenges of maintaining and improving on the number of students achieving the expected levels of performance in English and maths.

The status or name of a school is irrelevant to the quality of education the school provides. All schools deliver the same curriculum. International reports tell us that we need to have a socially balanced school system to enable all pupils to achieve their potential. However, the continued use of academic selection by some schools presents significant challenges for all schools.

International and local evidence highlights the link between deprivation and educational attainment and shows that schools with the highest concentrations of socially deprived pupils face the greatest challenges in supporting their pupils. In our post primary sector this concentration of deprivation is most evident in non-selective schools and I’m cognisant of the particular challenges these schools face.

It should also be noted however, that a number of non-selective schools have been successful in overcoming this challenge and in delivering improved outcomes for their pupils. Examples can be found in the case studies included in the Education and Training Inspectorate’s (ETI) report entitled ‘The Survey of Best Practice in English and Mathematics in Post-Primary Schools’.

http://www.etini.gov.uk/index/surveys-evaluations/surveys-evaluations-post-primary/surveys-evaluations-post-primary-2013/best-practice-in-english-and-mathematics-in-post-primary-schools.pdf

My aim is to improve equity in our system. I am supporting schools to achieve this through a set of evidence based policies that are designed to raise standards; by taking forward a range of additional interventions; and by working to raise parental and community aspirations.

I have redistributed school funding to target schools with high numbers of pupils from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and injected a further £10 million specifically targeting social deprivation into school budgets from April 2014.

Within schools, I am implementing a range of funded programmes to improve pupils’ outcomes in literacy and numeracy. These include the Delivering Social Change programme to employ additional teachers, a literacy and numeracy CPD Key Stage 2/3 Project, the Strategic Development Fund to Area Learning Communities and the Greater West Belfast Primary Schools Project. In addition, the ETI is delivering a targeted support programme in a number of post primary schools which aims to bring about improvements in the teaching of GCSE English and maths.

The ETI has also worked with ESaGS.tv to identify good practice in the teaching of English and mathematics and working with effective practitioners, shared good practice with other schools. It is through such dissemination of good practice that schools can develop the capacity to raise standards achieved by their pupils.

Alleviating deprivation and its impact cannot be tackled by schools alone. I am also providing additional funding to support recently initiated programmes targeted at socially deprived communities. These include the Community Education Initiatives Programme and the Greater West Belfast Community Project. The Education Works advertising campaign is also aimed at delivering positive educational outcomes.