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Specialist Schools
The core objectives of the specialist schools pilot in Northern Ireland are:
- To provide opportunities for pupils to benefit from wider learning experiences and to ensure maximum impact of the available expertise and resources, by promoting co-operation and collaboration among schools and between schools and Further Education colleges.
- To provide parents with greater choice among a range of schools, which have differing areas of focus.
- To raise standards and realise performance improvement for all young people.
- To develop links between schools, their local communities and the economy to ensure that all young people are given a strong foundation for lifelong learning and work.
The specialist school objectives are closely linked to the key aims of the Entitled to Succeed (e2s) Programme and will contribute significantly to improving choice for pupils and parents and raising standards for all young people.
Specialist schools will identify and build on their particular curricular strengths and, by sharing good practice, secure whole school development and contribute to good school leadership. Specialist schools will also be required to take forward a community dimension by collaborating with other schools, FE colleges, businesses and the wider community.
Schools participating in the pilot will receive additional resources of £100 per pupil for 4 years and a one-off support grant of up to £100,000. The pilot follows the overwhelmingly positive response to the major conference on specialist schools held in November 2004. Over 400 delegates attended the conference where a keynote speech on the context for the specialist schools pilot- PDF 49 KB was made by Gerry McGinn, then Permanent Secretary of the Department of Education. Full details of the conference, including presentations and notes of discussions, are available on the Regional Training Unit’s website.
The opening of the 2nd round of applications for inclusion in the Northern Ireland Specialist Schools Pilot was announced on 30 November 2006 and schools interested in participating should see the Year Two link below.
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