Education Minister has lively debate with Friends' School pupils

The Minister first visited Holy Trinity where she toured the school and heard a lively presentation from the children. It was recently awarded a Charter Mark for excellence and is the only nursery school in Northern Ireland to hold the accolade.

Commending the school's child-centred approach, the Minister said: "Holy Trinity Nursery School has a supportive and caring atmosphere that shines through in the relationships between the children and staff. There is a strong emphasis on building children's personal, social and emotional skills during what is a vitally important period in their development.

"The school also provides a high level of support for pupils' communication skills, with specific attention paid to those children identified with speech and language difficulties.

"Holy Trinity's success was recently marked with the award of a Charter Mark, setting it out as a Nursery School of Excellence. I warmly congratulate everyone involved with the school on achieving this distinction and wish them every success for the future."

Ms Ruane then went on to Friends'. There, she took part in a lively discussion with the school's Current Affairs Society, fielding questions on the future of education.

The Minister commented: "I enjoyed an animated debate with the passionate and well-informed young people at Friends' School. The discussion was a valuable opportunity to update them on the range of progressive educational reforms that I am bringing forward, highlighting the ethos of equality that is at their core.

"Indeed, during my visits to both schools, I highlighted that this is a time of great change in the education system which is focussed on the needs of every child and which will contribute to raising educational standards for the whole local pupil population."