At least I have had it confirmed. There was always speculation that Robbie was related to Paul Butler, who is of renown in West Belfast. I would like to get a DNA test done, but we will not go on to 'The Jerry Springer Show'; we will stay here in the Assembly.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to respond to some of the issues, and I will pick up on some of the Members' contributions in due course.

Every child has a right to high-quality education in a setting of their parents' or carers' choice, where they can be happy learning and succeeding. I am committed to delivering better outcomes for all children and young people across society, and so are the Members who have contributed to the debate. Where disadvantage exists, we must work collaboratively to address the causes and the consequences. Whilst more can and should be done, we must acknowledge West Belfast as an example of an area where there are strong community partnerships and an ongoing commitment to improving educational outcomes despite the challenges.

That is one of the reasons why Belfast has been included in the RAISE programme that I announced last week. It is a new programme of investment in communities and families in the most educationally disadvantaged areas across Northern Ireland. The RAISE programme aims to address a key element of the 'A Fair Start' report by promoting a whole-community approach to education through place-based partnerships. Funding of £20 million is being provided through the Shared Island Fund for a period of two years. It will operate in specific localities across Northern Ireland that have been selected using objective criteria based on data. The RAISE programme offers the opportunity to look afresh at the issues caused by deprivation and to drive forward a whole-community place-based approach to education and the issues that children and young people face.

Northern Ireland is not unique in needing to tackle educational disadvantage. Indeed, the most recent programme for international student assessment (PISA), published at the end of 2023, evidenced a significant attainment gap here between the least disadvantaged quarter of pupils and the most disadvantaged across mathematics, reading and science, but the gap was not significantly higher in Northern Ireland than the average gap across the OECD countries.

I am delighted that my Department has invested in children and young people, families and the community in West Belfast over the past eight years through the West Belfast Partnership Board's Sharing the Learning programme, which has been acknowledged in Members' contributions in the Chamber this evening. That has come about because of the active representation from elected representatives for the West Belfast constituency in the Assembly and at council level and also by having Ministers from different parties responding to that. A total of £1·5 million has been provided during that period. It is an excellent example of a community partnership delivering bespoke interventions to address local issues. It provides essential support from cradle to career. I hope that that way of working can be used as a model as my Department considers how to implement community-informed solutions to help to raise achievement and reduce educational disadvantage.

We should celebrate the work undertaken in West Belfast by the committed teachers and community workers who have delivered significant outcomes in one of the most deprived areas in Northern Ireland. It is an area where 25 of the super output areas are in the 20% most deprived areas in Northern Ireland, and 19 of those are in the top 10%. Despite that, we can see improvements in the educational outcomes in the area. In 2018-19, 63·7% of school leavers resident in West Belfast achieved at least five GCSEs at A* to C grades or equivalent, including English and maths. Whilst that was below the Northern Ireland average of nearly 71%, it represented an improvement of nearly 12 percentage points since 2012-13. During the same period, the Northern Ireland improvement was 8·5 percentage points.

Of course, more can be done. There remains a gap between West Belfast and the Northern Ireland average at GCSE and A level. When we look closer at the data, we can see that the attainment gap between boys and girls is lower in West Belfast than the Northern Ireland average, as is the gap between free-school-meal pupils and non-free-school-meal pupils. The most recent figures, in 2021-22, show that 93·3% of school leavers resident in West Belfast reported going to higher education, further education, employment or training. That is just below the Northern Ireland average of 95·8%.

The overarching message should be that significant work has been done to improve educational outcomes in West Belfast, and that needs to continue. The Sharing the Learning programme is one example of the positive work that is being done. It operates in 24 nursery schools, 19 primary schools, eight post-primary schools and 14 after-school provisions. Its success has been down to the relationships that have been developed over time with and between schools and across all the school sectors and by collaborating effectively with the community and voluntary sector to provide a wide range of support that our children and young people need to succeed.

It is a model that should be further explored in other localities facing similar challenges. The range of projects that are supported and their achievements is impressive. Parent-and-child programmes have supported the transition from home to nursery and from nursery to primary school, thereby supporting readiness to learn. Primary support in literacy and numeracy has been provided to over 3,000 Key Stage 2 pupils, with further support through community-based after-school programmes and participation in programmes such as 'The Irish News' Young Readers critical literacy programme.

The West Belfast Partnership Board has also worked with practitioners in the area, including Sure Start, community-based providers and schools to develop resources such as progression of play, which is from nursery to year 2; year 7 to year 8 transition resources; and special educational needs transition resources from nursery to primary school.

The name "Sharing the Learning" is an apt one. I know that many other voluntary and community groups and schools have benefited from the West Belfast Partnership Board's experience and knowledge. Examples include partnering with the teaching colleges to deliver workshops on community education programmes, as well as the THRiVE programme in Monkstown and Rathcoole, of which Members will also be aware.

West Belfast has also benefited from the Full Service Community Network, which forms part of the fabric of support that is unique to that area. My Department has been able to support the network financially in recent years to deliver programmes that enhance employability, improve the quality of teaching and learning and build collaborative relationships to deliver services for newcomer children and their families. The network has also employed a dedicated Irish-medium support teacher to work directly with children in schools to help support Irish literacy and fluency. Since 2016, the FSCN has worked with schools to support the growing population of children and families from asylum-seeking and refugee backgrounds, with training for entire school communities, as well as dedicated English as an additional language provision for children and families.

In addition to the significant targeted funding and programmes that are designed to tackle disadvantage, all schools are supported and challenged, as appropriate, to raise standards and bring about improvement. The Department's school improvement policy set challenging, system-wide targets for attainment at end of Key Stage assessments and in public examinations at GCSE and A level from 2010 to 2020. While statutory assessment at Key Stages 1 to 3 was disapplied during the 2019-2020 year, pending a review, creating a dearth of data on how our schools and our system are doing, participation in international studies also reassures us that we continue to perform well compared with other OECD averages and exceptionally well in some areas, such as reading. We need to establish improved measures, however. We want to know about pupils' progress, what their educational journey looks like and what value has been added. For example, are pupils happy? Are they learning? Do they go on to succeed when that journey ends? Are they living happy and healthy lives and contributing to the economy and society in a meaningful way?

Educational disadvantage can present in many different ways. More can and should be done to close the attainment gap and to address the wide range of barriers to learning that many children and young people face. Supporting educational achievement in West Belfast is no different from supporting it in any other area. Our expectations and aspirations should be as high for every pupil, every school and every neighbourhood. A school that is connected to its community is one of the four characteristics of a good school, as set out by my Department in its Every School a Good School policy.

West Belfast is an area where community links with schools are well developed. I am committed to delivering better outcomes for all children and young people across our society and to bringing about investment, where possible, to support a more prosperous, harmonious, happier and healthier society. The example of West Belfast shows the value of place-based approaches to tackling educational disadvantage, ensuring that schools, families and community partners all work together to improve outcomes from the cradle to the career.

This approach means that our most vulnerable learners are supported through development from preschool to key transition points at primary and post-primary level.

I assume that I have 15 minutes, Mr Deputy Speaker, or is it 10?