by HIP Psychology team | May 2, 2026 | School Wellbeing
Almost every NI principal we speak with is in the middle of, or has just finished, a phones policy review. The 2024 DfE guidance for England, the noise around Australia’s under-16 social media ban, and visible parent campaigns have made this the policy item that...
by HIP Psychology team | May 2, 2026 | School Wellbeing
Five years ago an NI vice-principal could go a full term without a serious school refusal case. In 2026 most post-primaries we work with are juggling two or three open EBSA cases at any one time, and several pupils sitting in the grey zone — attending three days a...
by HIP Psychology team | Apr 29, 2026 | School Wellbeing
Shared Education in Northern Ireland is one of those policies that looks straightforward on paper and gets complicated the moment two staff teams sit down to plan a joint Year 8 trip. The intent is real. So is the workload. And the difference between a partnership...
by HIP Psychology team | Apr 29, 2026 | School Wellbeing
The make-up of Northern Ireland’s classrooms is changing faster than most school policies. In the last decade we have moved from a small number of schools with EAL pupils to a position where almost every post-primary in the greater Belfast and north-west areas...
by HIP Psychology team | Apr 29, 2026 | School Wellbeing
Vaping has moved from a fringe issue into one of the most common discipline and pastoral concerns in Northern Ireland post-primary schools. Toilet doors come off their hinges, smoke alarms get triggered in the middle of double-period maths, and Year 9 form tutors are...
