TO BE PUBLISHED January 2025
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This conference focuses on next steps for the education sector in Northern Ireland.
It will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to discuss key priorities following the publication of the Independent Review of Education in Northern Ireland, which outlined key recommendations to tackle educational inequalities, widen educational pathways and bolster the teaching workforce. We are pleased to be able to include a keynote session with the review’s chair, Dr Keir Bloomer.
It also follows the recent response from the Minister of Education endorsing many of the review panel’s recommendations and setting out his approach to education improvement in NI across five core areas: curriculum, assessment, qualifications, school improvement and tackling educational disadvantage. Paul Givan MLA, Minister of Education, is also a keynote speaker at this conference.
Delegates will look at next steps for the implementation of reform, with the Minister also announcing a Review of the Northern Ireland Curriculum and a forthcoming literacy and numeracy strategy, alongside wide-ranging conversation on the qualification system in NI and forthcoming legislation to ensure that young people remain in education until the age of 18, as well as discussing the qualification system in NI and proposed legislation to keep young people in education until the age of 18, including the concerns raised by the NI Children’s Commissioner.
We are pleased to be able to include further keynote sessions with: Lucy Crehan, Lead, Curriculum Review in Northern Ireland; and Pauline Walmsley, CEO, Early Years.
The agenda also looks at priorities for improving educational attainment and the future of the curriculum in NI as the review begins, and qualifications across the education system following the Minister committing to a wide ranging conversation on the qualifications system.
We expect discussion on options for curriculum review and refreshment, and the proposal for separating CCEA’s curriculum and assessment function. Recommendations intended to widen academic pathways for learners will also be considered, such as the impact of the Minister’s proposal to raise the age of compulsory education to 18, opening vocational pathways from the age of 14, and widening measures of assessment beyond exam performance to a broader understanding of learner success.
Looking at supporting educational improvement for all learners across NI, areas for discussion include investing in early childhood education as a means of early intervention to tackle educational disadvantage, as well as priorities for narrowing existing educational disparities and improving student outcomes.
Delegates will discuss implementation of recommendations from the Expert Panel on Educational Underachievement’s A Fair Start report, and improving the understanding of student attainment gaps related to socio-economic background, gender and types of school.
Further areas for discussion include support for vulnerable learners and pupil well-being, remedying impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning progression, and key issues around alternative provision.
Delegates will also look at priorities for the teaching workforce and the potential to develop a workforce strategy, with discussion on teacher training and retention, options for a review of the Jordanstown Agreement and improving working conditions, measures for continuous professional development, and next steps for the establishment of an Education Workforce Council.
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those due to attend include officials from DoE; DfE, UK; DfE; DoF; DfC; DAERA; DoH; NIAO; and the Welsh Government.
