Post Easter update - progress made...

12 April 2010

Dear Parents & Guardians,

Welcome back after the Easter break! Even though we have been off school & the Assembly have likewise been on recess for the same 2 weeks, progress continues to be made in a number of areas.

The Executive

To recap, the Executive are the 10 Ministers at Stormont (eg Minister for Education, Minister for Finance etc.). Of these 10 Ministers, 7 belong to political parties who supported the motion at the Assembly on 15 March, 6 being Unionist & only 3 are Sinn Fein.

In the weeks running up to the Easter holidays we asked you to write to the Office of the First & Deputy First Minister (‘OFMDFM’) requesting & giving your reasons why you believed the matter of Prep school funding should be addressed at Executive level. The aim of this was to ensure the Executive determine whether the Education Minister’s failure to refer her proposals to them for consideration is a breach of the Ministerial Code (ie under the following categories: novel, contentious and cross-cutting, the latter 2 being particularly applicable).

It was important to try to progress this next step in the political process prior to Easter, bearing in mind the ensuing 2 week recess. This ‘letter-writing’ campaign which was initiated by RHS, was spread to & supported across the Prep school population of NI, resulting in the matter being on the Executive’s agenda on the Thursday before the Easter break. Thank you so much for your support for this effort!

The First Minister has now, as a result of this meeting, referred the matter to OFMDFM’s Departmental solicitors regarding whether the matter should, indeed, be dealt with by the Executive. We await feedback on this after the Assembly resumes this week.

Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA)

Your responses to the EQIA were sent to Chris McRoberts by 4 March 2010. To recap, DENI advised that before the Minister for Education made her decision, she would be supplied with a report summarising the points raised in the responses submitted to the EQIA.

The Forward Work Plan of the Education Committee of the Assembly was updated on 31 March to indicate that the 14 & 21 April agendas include a ‘Departmental briefing on the outcome of the draft EQIA on proposal to withdraw funding from Prep School Departments of Grammar Schools’.

We are also aware from the Minister for Education’s written responses to questions tabled at the Assembly on 26 March that:

“To date, my Department has catalogued: 432 responses to the draft Equality Impact Assessment; 70 Ministerial Correspondence letters; 27 General Mail letters; 15 Departmental Web Mail letters; and 6 General Correspondence letters.” (Source:

http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/qanda/2007mandate/writtenans/2009/100326.htm#4)

That's 550 responses/letters! A very encouraging response, I’m sure you will agree.

We remain in close contact with the Chair & other representatives on the Education Committee in this regard, & will update you as information is received.

Northern Ireland Children’s Commissioner (NICCY)

We have progressed the issue further with external bodies, including NICCY, thereby heightening their awareness & concerns regarding the particular issues faced by the Preparatory Departments of the 3 Controlled schools. We have asked the Children’s Commissioner to comment on these issues specifically & provide an addendum to their original response to the Department of Education.

Legal

Preparations have been made to seek redress through the Courts by means of judicial review immediately should the Minister for Education make an adverse decision. Anyone wishing to become involved in this process or having any queries in this regard, should contact Michelle Edgar at John Ross & Son on 02891 813173

Budgets

You may be aware that all Northern Ireland schools, & indeed many other public sector Departments, did not receive their budgets for the financial year commencing 1 April by that date. We understand this is not an unusual occurrence in the public sector, but clearly one that causes consternation & inconvenience to the Education Boards. Those of you who subscribe to rhsprepfunding.blogspot.com will have noted the comments of Michelle McIlveen MLA in this regard & know that this is being pursued to conclusion by MLAs.

Other Schools

As alluded to above in respect of OFDFM lobbying, we remain in close contact with the other 15 affected schools &, in particular, the 2 other schools in the Controlled sector, to ensure our efforts are effective & co-ordinated.

We still need your help……….

It is vitally important we continue to all we can to ensure this issue is kept in the spotlight as much as possible ie to ensure it remains ‘contentious’.

In the incoming weeks, we are mounting a fresh ‘assault’ on the media. Already press releases have been issued at national level to TV, press & radio, but we are aware front page news is not possible on a daily basis.

The Education Minister has 1 argument being ‘equality of access; we have many more in our favour & we are keen to drive home those messages on the editorial column inches & ‘letters to the editor’ sections of as many national & local newspapers as possible. We have a complete list of these publications & are keen to have a co-ordinated approach, encompassing as many of these papers on as many related topics as possible. Some of you may have noted our own Alison Montgomery’s letter to the editor of the Belfast Telegraph last weekend! If you feel strongly about any particular area or, if directed towards a topical area, you would be willing to type up a few lines to a newspaper, please contact Liz Breadon on 07720 275452, Sarah Schűtzler on 07809 373385 or Nicola Hunter on 07971 874940. You have proved to be highly effective letter lobbyists in the past weeks – please continue to help us to help you!

As we all pick up the pace again in the incoming weeks, we thank you for your ongoing support. As parents ourselves, we do appreciate you may still naturally have some concerns, but, as a group, we continue to be encouraged by the nature & speed of progress at all levels.

Yours sincerely

RHS Parents’ Group