'SCHOOL GATE' INITIATIVE WILL GALVANSIE PARENT POWER'

A new ‘school gate’ initiative aims to galvanise parent power and tackle Northern Ireland’s class size problem once and for all.

It’s the latest weapon in the CrowdedOut? campaign armory, launched recently by teaching unions the UTU and INTO.

At its annual conference this year (March 18 and 19) in Newcastle’s Slieve Donard Hotel, UTU members were being urged to reaffirm their commitment to reducing the number of pupils in Northern Ireland’s ‘over-crowded’ classrooms.

“We have already had a great response to the launch of this campaign from teachers and principals and now we want to throw it open and give parents their say too,” said UTU President, Lexi Scott.

“They know only too well the impact over-crowded classes have on their children’s experience – time and again we have seen research definitively showing the relationship between class size and children’s performance.

“We want parents to know we are addressing this issue at the very highest levels and establishing a route by which we and they can tackle this blight on our education system.”

Members at conference were again re-affirming their commitment to class sizes of no more than 18 in Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1; 24 in Key Stage 2 and 20 in Key Stage 3. And it is likely that this will be extended by a resolution at conference to include nursery class numbers as well.

They were also calling on the Department of Education to issue guidance to schools on class size in composite classes and in those containing pupils special educational needs.

“Effective use of formative assessment has been shown to provide up to eight extra months of educational development per classroom per year, according to research conducted by the Institute of Education, University of London. In other words, smaller class sizes could almost double a year’s educational development for some children,” continued Mr Scott.

“It means that, with a smaller class size, if children are having problems the teacher can spot this earlier and provide the necessary support earlier.

“UK class sizes are among the biggest in the world, behind only Turkey, Brazil and Chile. Within the UK Northern Ireland classes top the league - some with over 35 pupils.

“Class size is surely one of the most straightforward ways in which to improve achievement because it’s relatively easy to implement and does not require changes in teaching or curricula.

“And while we support the Revised Curriculum I wonder if it isn’t disingenuous to expect improved exam outcomes while large class sizes undermine its central tenets such as active participation by the pupils in their own learning and individualised learning.”