AQW 28220/22-27

Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 05/06/2025
Answered On Date: 13/06/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education if he has considered introducing Mindfulness as part of the Emotional Health and Wellbeing curriculum.

Answer:

The current Northern Ireland Curriculum emphasises the development of the whole child including focusing on emotional wellbeing. While Mindfulness is not a statutory requirement, schools have the flexibility to teach it as a tool to support pupil wellbeing within the existing curriculum framework.

At primary level, Mindfulness can be integrated into the statutory Personal Development and Mutual Understanding area of learning. At post-primary level, it can be incorporated into the Personal Development strand of Learning for Life and Work.

The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) has also created a Wellbeing Hub to show how delivery of the statutory requirements of the Northern Ireland Curriculum, and CCEA qualifications, can support emotional wellbeing. The Hub contains CCEA guidance and links to other relevant support from the Education Authority, the Public Health Agency and other organisations.

As you may be aware, the Strategic Review of the Northern Ireland Curriculum was published on 3 June 2025. It recommends that my Department develops a new curriculum framework for Northern Ireland which has greater specificity about the important knowledge, concepts and skills that children should learn at each stage of their education.

A key recommendation in the report is the establishment of a Taskforce to oversee the design and development of the new curriculum framework. I have committed to establishing this Taskforce by Autumn 2025. The Taskforce will work collaboratively to translate the Review’s recommendations into a practical, ambitious framework that reflects our shared vision for education.