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In societies emerging from conflict, education plays an important part in instituting peace and reconciliation, and school leaders are key to this. This paper examines the complexity of school leadership in Northern Ireland. Despite the peace agreement of 1998, Northern Ireland's communities are still deeply divided, and this is reflected in education. The school leaders who were interviewed as part of this research work within school partnerships as part of 'shared education' projects which involve schools working together and with twin aims of improving both educational and reconciliation outcomes for young people. The challenges that school leaders face when working in partnership in post-conflict societies have not been given the attention they deserve in the literature, so this work is significant in that it brings a focus on how school leaders can best be empowered to be agents of change, in turn empowering pupils. While the context is Northern Ireland, the outcomes from this study will be of wider interest and significance for school leaders facing similar challenges in other divided situations.

This paper reports the research findings from an online survey of parents of primary-age pupils in Northern Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aims of the study were to explore how parents supported their child/ren's home learning; to ascertain the communication, guidance and resources between home and school; and to learn from the experiences of parents to enable more effective practices to be established should similar circumstances arise in the future. The survey yielded 2,509 responses and highlighted the divergence of practices in relation to home-school communications across schools as well as the challenges experienced by parents, particularly those who had one or more children with special educational needs and/or those who had Free School Meal Entitlement. The study was guided by Epstein's Framework of the Six Types of Involvement, most specifically the spheres of "parenting," "learning from home," "communication," "collaborating with the community" and "decision-making." Within Epstein's framework, the challenges and tensions between family, school and work are explored. Recommendations are made that will be helpful to parents, schools, teacher-educators, policy-makers and researchers in informing the shape and delivery of education in Northern Ireland and internationally both during and following the challenge of the current COVID-19 pandemic and for similar situations that may arise in the future. The findings and conclusions are relevant not only to the Northern Ireland education context, but also make a valuable contribution to global dialogue on what this experience has revealed about inequities in education systems and how these should be addressed going forward.

The closure of schools worldwide in response to the COVID-19 pandemic required parents to undertake key pedagogical roles to support their children's education and movement to a remote, often virtual world of online teaching presented many challenges for families. For the parents of children attending special schools, the loss of educational, as well as therapeutic provision, added a further layer of complexity unique to this group. This paper presents findings from a Northern Ireland-wide survey undertaken during the first lockdown period. Using Hornby and Blackwell's model of parental involvement (PI), the paper describes parents' experiences relative to their child's needs, family circumstances and societal expectations, and the intersection of these with teacher relationships and the wider school community. The findings reveal those factors that facilitated and inhibited PI and makes suggestions for improvements at school and policy levels in the short and longer term. The results have relevance and reach beyond the Northern Ireland context and should contribute to international dialogue on the synergy between PI and the special school setting.

The impact of Sensory Processing Difficulties across a range of Special Educational Needs is well researched. More recently, the impact on children's mental health and well-being, linked with anxiety, depression and self-injurious behaviours, have redirected international research to consider the holistic benefits of sensory provision, for those with special educational provision and the wider classroom population. A SMART SURVEY was designed to collate empirical evidence regarding current sensory awareness and provision in mainstream primary schools throughout Northern Ireland, in a time efficient manner. Out of 809 schools, 164 (20.27%) fully completed the online survey. Findings indicate that Special Educational Needs Coordinator confidence in developing practice, supporting staff and children was limited and impaired by insufficient and inconsistent training opportunities. While healthcare research recommends provision by trained professionals, Occupational Therapy input was limited (n = 34; 24.8%), resulting in practice that could be detrimental rather than beneficial to children's progress. Respondents identified a need for sensory training for teachers (n = 124; 93.94%) to ensure that the impact of Sensory Processing Difficulties on the holistic development of all children is understood. Pupil voice was undervalued (n = 5; 3.6%). Active involvement of children in the process of evaluation and intervention is recommended to enhance pupil autonomy and well-being.

The article reports on a systematic method of undertaking a literature search on the educational impact of being a young carer (16-24 years old). The search methodology applied and described in detail will be of value to academic librarians and to other education researchers who undertake systematic literature searches. Seven bibliographic databases and Google Scholar were searched between November 2015 and January 2016. Two and three concept search structures were compared, involving 28 search terms plus truncation variants. One hundred and eighty-one relevant articles were retrieved. Sensitivity, precision, and "unique articles retrieved" were used as metrics. Social Care Online and Google Scholar had the greatest sensitivity. As well as meticulous use of AND, OR, and bracket operators, the use of NEAR and NOT operators to increase precision were tested and are recommended as useful tools for conducting systematic searches.

The aim of this scoping review is to explore wider international literature to contextualise the role and deployment of classroom assistants in Northern Ireland. A paucity of research in this regional context has severely constrained understandings of a pivotal workforce in mainstream schools, so the review is unique in its contribution to redressing a significant knowledge gap. A review of studies published between 2012 and 2022 returned 135 unique hits which, after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, yielded 41 final studies. Coding these studies to emerging categories brought to light diverse and complex challenges in the role and deployment of Classroom Assistants as well as recommendations for alternative approaches. Four interlinked roles were identified: pedagogical, pastoral, behavioural and organisational. Deployment models were categorised around withdrawal, itinerant, unit, one-on-one and class support. Findings revealed prevailing systemic, structural and individual challenges that confounded a coherent understanding of this workforce. The contribution of this paper is two-fold. Firstly, it raises essential questions on, and suggests ways forward for, the CA workforce in NI that will be of use to policy makers, practitioners and educational researchers. Secondly, a contemporary update to the growing body of knowledge on assistants and their place within mainstream settings will be of use generally and to other jurisdictions where the topic is similarly under-researched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In societies emerging from conflict, education plays an important part in instituting peace and reconciliation, and school leaders are key to this. This paper examines the complexity of school leadership in Northern Ireland. Despite the peace agreement of 1998, Northern Ireland's communities are still deeply divided, and this is reflected in education. The school leaders who were interviewed as part of this research work within school partnerships as part of 'shared education' projects which involve schools working together and with twin aims of improving both educational and reconciliation outcomes for young people. The challenges that school leaders face when working in partnership in post-conflict societies have not been given the attention they deserve in the literature, so this work is significant in that it brings a focus on how school leaders can best be empowered to be agents of change, in turn empowering pupils. While the context is Northern Ireland, the outcomes from this study will be of wider interest and significance for school leaders facing similar challenges in other divided situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the research findings from an online survey of parents of primary-age pupils in Northern Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aims of the study were to explore how parents supported their child/ren's home learning; to ascertain the communication, guidance and resources between home and school; and to learn from the experiences of parents to enable more effective practices to be established should similar circumstances arise in the future. The survey yielded 2,509 responses and highlighted the divergence of practices in relation to home-school communications across schools as well as the challenges experienced by parents, particularly those who had one or more children with special educational needs and/or those who had Free School Meal Entitlement. The study was guided by Epstein's Framework of the Six Types of Involvement, most specifically the spheres of parenting, learning from home, communication, collaborating with the community and decision-making. Within Epstein's framework, the challenges and tensions between family, school and work are explored. Recommendations are made that will be helpful to parents, schools, teacher-educators, policy-makers and researchers in informing the shape and delivery of education in Northern Ireland and internationally both during and following the challenge of the current COVID-19 pandemic and for similar situations that may arise in the future. The findings and conclusions are relevant not only to the Northern Ireland education context, but also make a valuable contribution to global dialogue on what this experience has revealed about inequities in education systems and how these should be addressed going forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The closure of schools worldwide in response to the COVID-19 pandemic required parents to undertake key pedagogical roles to support their children's education and movement to a remote, often virtual world of online teaching presented many challenges for families. For the parents of children attending special schools, the loss of educational, as well as therapeutic provision, added a further layer of complexity unique to this group. This paper presents findings from a Northern Ireland-wide survey undertaken during the first lockdown period. Using Hornby and Blackwell's model of parental involvement (PI), the paper describes parents' experiences relative to their child's needs, family circumstances and societal expectations, and the intersection of these with teacher relationships and the wider school community. The findings reveal those factors that facilitated and inhibited PI and makes suggestions for improvements at school and policy levels in the short and longer term. The results have relevance and reach beyond the Northern Ireland context and should contribute to international dialogue on the synergy between PI and the special school setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a systematic method of undertaking a literature search on the educational impact of being a young carer (16'24 years old). The search methodology applied and described in detail will be of value to academic librarians and to other education researchers who undertake systematic literature searches. Seven bibliographic databases and Google Scholar were searched between November 2015 and January 2016. Two and three concept search structures were compared, involving 28 search terms plus truncation variants. One hundred and eighty-one relevant articles were retrieved. Sensitivity, precision, and "unique articles retrieved" were used as metrics. Social Care Online and Google Scholar had the greatest sensitivity. As well as meticulous use of AND, OR, and bracket operators, the use of NEAR and NOT operators to increase precision were tested and are recommended as useful tools for conducting systematic searches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a negative association between socio-economic inequalities and health has been established, there is a dearth of robust longitudinal studies examining this relationship in adolescents. This study used a large, nationally representative longitudinal data set to investigate the association between socio-economic inequality, subjective health status and disabilities among young people in Northern Ireland over a ten-year period. Data were from the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study, a census-based record linkage study (N = 46,535). Logistic regression models were estimated in which health and disability variables from the 2011 census were predicted by household deprivation in education, housing quality, housing tenure and employment from the 2001 census. Models were adjusted for health and disability status in 2001. Deprivation in employment, housing tenure and coming from a single-parent household in 2001 independently predicted poorer subjective health and disability status ten years later [ORs = 1.28-1.93]. Deprivation in education in 2001 was also associated with increased risk of disability in 2011 [OR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.06-1.25]. These results show that there is a need to dedicate more resources and support for economically disadvantaged children and young people in Northern Ireland, where child health outcomes are poorer than in the rest of the UK.