Betty Carlisle (manager) and Joan Mercer (education manager) at Shankill Women’s Centre join our host Maggie Taggart, former BBC NI Education Correspondent, as part of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland’s series of podcasts to explore tackling inequalities in education.

Betty and Joan talk about the work they do with women and mothers from the Shankill area and the wraparound service they provide to encourage more women to re-enter education. They discuss the barriers to education faced by women in the Shankill community and their firm belief that “if you educate a woman, you’ll educate a family”.

Subscribe to hear the whole series, or check out previous podcasts at https://equalityni.org/podcasts

Ann Pendleton is project manager at the Full Service Community Network, and Sharon Nelson is the family learning manager at Whiterock Children’s Centre. Ann and Sharon join our host Maggie Taggart, former BBC NI Education Correspondent, as part of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland’s series of podcasts to explore tackling inequalities in education.

Ann and Sharon discuss their work and the educational support services provided by their individual organisations, the challenges they face and how they work together in partnership to support children and families in the west Belfast area to tackle inequalities in education.

Subscribe to hear the whole series, or check out previous podcasts at https://equalityni.org/podcasts

Jackie Redpath, Chief Executive of the Greater Shankill Partnership talks about his experience of the designation of the Shankill area as a Children and Young People Zone, and its long-term approach to bringing together home, community and schools to positively impact educational outcomes. 

This is part of a series of podcasts from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, hosted by former BBC NI Education Correspondent Maggie Taggart, exploring how to tackle inequalities in education in Northern Ireland. 

Subscribe to hear the whole series, or check out previous podcasts at https://equalityni.org/podcasts

Michele Janes, Chief Executive of Barnardo’s NI talks about Barnardo’s work with refugee and Traveller families. Drawing on her wide-ranging experience, Michele highlights the importance of community engagement, and getting the right supports in the right place at the right time.

This is part of a series of podcasts from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, hosted by former BBC NI Education Correspondent Maggie Taggart, exploring how to tackle inequalities in education in Northern Ireland.

Subscribe to hear the whole series, or check out previous podcasts at https://equalityni.org/podcasts

Rachel Hogan from the Children’s Law Centre joins our host, former BBC NI Education Correspondent Maggie Taggart, as part of a series of podcasts to explore tackling inequalities in education.

Maggie and Rachel talk about how families in Northern Ireland are coping following the Covid-19 pandemic. They discuss the types of issues that have arisen in relation to education including mental health and what is needed as we move forward to support both families and communities to continue to tackle inequalities in education in Northern Ireland.

Subscribe to hear the whole series, or check out previous podcasts at https://equalityni.org/podcasts

Noel Purdy (Director of the Centre for Research on Educational Underachievement at Stranmillis University College and lead author of the Fair Start report) and Dale Heaney (Head of Tackling Educational Disadvantage at the Department of Education with oversight responsibility for implementation of the Fair Start report) join former BBC NI education correspondent Maggie Taggart.

They discuss how the actions of the Fair Start report will make a difference, particularly to those children facing educational underachievement, and how the Department of Education is working to implement the strategy, what challenges they face and what success will look like.

This is part of a series of podcasts from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland exploring how to tackle inequalities in education in Northern Ireland. Subscribe to hear the whole series, or check out previous podcasts at https://equalityni.org/podcasts

School principals Mary Montgomery (Belfast Boys’ Model School) and Chris Donnelly (St John the Baptist Primary School) join former BBC NI education correspondent Maggie Taggart to discuss how their schools have engaged with their local community and their pupils’ families to improve educational outcomes.

This is part of a series of podcasts from the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland exploring how to tackle inequalities in education in Northern Ireland. Subscribe to hear the whole series, or check out previous podcasts at https://equalityni.org/podcasts

Ulster University’s Susan Morgan and Andy Hamilton join former BBC NI education correspondent Maggie Taggart for the first in a series of Equality Commission for Northern Ireland podcasts exploring how to tackle inequalities in education in Northern Ireland.

Susan and Andy discuss their current research “Taking Boys Seriously – The Next Steps (TBS2)” which explores how to better engage boys in education and how this should impact on community and family engagement.

Subscribe to hear the whole series, or check out previous podcasts at https://equalityni.org/podcasts

Are you a member of the LGBTQI community in Northern Ireland? Do you know how the Equality Commission can support you if you believe you have been discriminated against because of your sexual orientation or gender? As part of this summer’s Pride events, our Senior Legal Officer Mary Kitson talked to Aisling Twomey, Policy and Advocacy Manger at the Rainbow Project about what your equality rights are and how the Commission can help you. Further information available online at https://equalityni.org

Michael Holden MBE, entrepreneur, business man, wheelchair user and disability activist joins us for the first of our Making it Work podcast episodes. Talking about disability and employment, Michael provides some personal and valuable insights from his own experience in the world of work. He talks about being an employer with disabled employees and provides some interesting ideas on how government could help employers improve the employment rate of disabled people through training schemes and support.