A lengthy day of business comes to an end with Stormont Estate in darkness - we're well and truly heading for winter, aren't we?

We'll be back tomorrow morning with coverage of the Education Committee, so do join us then.

But for now it's goodnight from us up here on the hill!

Education Minister Peter Weir says he "cannot be drawn into comment" on Movilla High School's future, and says the focus must be on strategic planning to tackle wider issues in the system that need to be addressed.

Mr Weir concludes that "we need to tackle these steps in a strategic manner".

"We need to ensure our schools are serving our children and young people - that is the key point," he concludes.

The Alliance Party's education spokesperson Chris Lyttle says Movilla High School has a "unique set of circumstances to overcome", including a "higher than average" number of children receiving free school meals and "accommodation that is in need of investment".

He adds that it is "impossible not to note with concern a degree of pattern in terms of potential closures to controlled, non-selective post-primary schools".

"This assembly is entitled to ask why that is occurring and to look for solutions for that."

Strangford MLAs are all "well versed" in the troubles Movilla High School has experienced in recent times, including 440 suspensions it imposed in a single academic year, the DUP's Simon Hamilton says.

But he says some of the issues fall within the context of poor "attainment of young, Protestant working class boys within our education system".

A former governor at the school, he says MLAs "owe it" to the staff Movilla to "work hard, fight for the future of the school and ensure that a town the size of Newtownards has a non-selective secondary school that it can be proud of".

This week's adjournment debate is on the future of Movilla High School in Newtownards, as brought to the chamber by UUP's Mike Nesbitt.

He sits on the board of governors at Movilla, and says he brings the debate as a "plea for information and certainty" about what the future holds for the school in his Strangford constituency.

"The school is celebrating tonight and rightly so with their best ever GCSE results, but nobody is wearing blinkers about the future," he says.

The school's sustainability is under question and he says an "academy with a campus in Bangor and a smaller one in Ards" is one fix that has been identified, one that would offer "excellence in education".

Sinn Féin's Cathrine Seeley, a former teacher, sums up the debate and pays tribute to her party colleague John O'Dowd for his work during his time as education minister.

"Increased class sizes in an era of Tory austerity, red tape and admin demands have undoubtedly impacted most those children from deprived backgrounds," she says.

The motion passes on an oral vote.

Education Minister Peter Weir says he is happy to support the motion, adding that many schools have seen the benefit of co-operation.

He gives an example of business co-operation he saw at St Paul's School off the Falls Road in west Belfast.

"They had the interactive wall, which took the whiteboard to the next level," he says.

The minister questions whether top-down government intervention is always the most effective, adding: "When there is community buy-in I think that is particularly important."

With a nod to the previous debate on SMEs, the DUP's Carla Lockhart says employers in her Upper Bann constituency say they struggle to find young people with the skills they need to grow their business.

There needs to be a "greater link-up between educational establishments, careers advisers and the business community", she says.

"Ultimately, we need to be shaping young people to suit what the needs of our business community will be in the coming years."

Gerry Mullan of the SDLP is another fan of partnership working, and says: "Such links create immeasurable benefits to schoolchildren."

Image source, PA

Chris Lyttle quotes Nelson Mandela when he says: "Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world, and... is an engine room of personal development."

The DUP's Lord Morrow approves of the Sinn Féin motion.

"I sometimes feel that not enough emphasis is placed on the parental role [in education]," he says.

Ulster Unionist Sandra Overend talks about a programme called FAST (Families and School Together) that she saw at work in a Belfast school.

"I was totally impressed by this programme," she says.

Julian O'Neill
BBC News NI Business Correspondent

Jennifer McCann introduces the Sinn Féin motion on partnership-working in education services.

It calls on the assembly to recognise "the value of partnership-working between schools and community services, including the role it can play in increasing educational achievement for pupils".

Ms McCann refers to a piece of research, "The School Inspection in a Polycentric Context", saying it shows "an increase of 11.4% of pupils in west Belfast achieving five GCSE grades from A* to C from 2011 to 2015".

The West Belfast MLA says such success requires co-operation with "other schools, teachers, local community-based services and parents".

Today's decision by the government to approve a third runway at Heathrow Airport is "critical" for Northern Ireland firms "in terms of connectivity", Mr Lyons says.

There is a need for Northern Ireland's planning system to be "responsive to the needs" of small businesses and he calls on councils to speed up that process.

"Let's help SMEs so they can grow and we can build a stronger economy for all," he concludes.

The DUP's motion calling for support for SMEs passes on an oral vote.

Winding his party's motion, Gordon Lyons says many strange things have happened this year, and the unity among all parties on the issue of SMEs is another example.

He points out that some of the smaller parties have recently complained about a lack of speaking time in the assembly, but none of them has appeared to contribute to the debate.

"I don't know if they don't care or if they don't work after 5pm, but we'll leave that to them to answer," he adds.

Responding to the debate, Economy Minister Simon Hamilton says he wants more SMEs to follow the example of the international medical diagnostics firm Randox, which started out as a small operation in a County Antrim henhouse.

He says the executive is "investing in the skills and the infrastructure that enable small and medium enterprises to prosper", and wants to see "more women starting businesses on their own".

Transforming Northern Ireland into a globally competitive economy "will require considerable effort on many fronts", and his department's new economic strategy will be "bold and ambitious", he says.

It will contain "a suite of supports, policies and interventions" helping Northern Ireland's SMEs to "fulfil their potential".

UUP MLA Alan Chambers criticises the "weak wording" of the motion, saying it doesn't address the "biggest challenge faced by our SMEs in recent years that Brexit is presenting to us".

But the DUP's Mervyn Storey says there is "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to "dismantle the regulatory burden on our businesses".

Mr Chambers says he would have liked more "meat on the bone" but adds that in spite of that he will support the motion.

Bureaucracy and regulation "eat up time and resources" and are a big problem for small businesses, Alliance Party MLA Trevor Lunn says.

He adds that delays by the executive in beginning work on public projects also hinders the growth of smaller businesses, which form part of the supply chain for bigger firms that win the contracts to build those government-funded projects.

Gordon Dunne of the DUP says schools, colleges and universities have a "key role" to play in encouraging young people to take up STEM subjects, which provide skills that are valuable to small firms.

Sinead Bradley of the SDLP says her party had put forward an amendment that placed the debate in "the context of Brexit", but it was rejected.

"Brexit has got its problems, not just for growth, but also [for] businesses that may just be considering exporting," she says.

Some businesses are "reluctant" to make that decision, she adds, because there are "so many question marks out there" over what the UK's withdrawal from the EU will; affect them.

Sinn Fein's Caoimhe Archibald says work needs to be done to ensure that young people are being encouraged towards careers that will "provide a skilled workforce" for SMEs.

She adds that adequate infrastructure in terms of roads and broadband connections are also crucial to their success, and the executive must do its bit to ensure those are in place. .

Ulster Unionist Steve Aiken says the sector is "innovative, ambitious and has vision", and a recent survey shows that "80% of SMEs want to grow".

He calls for practical support for them, including an "all-embracing manufacturing strategy that addresses the impediments to all businesses".

Mervyn Storey introduces the DUP's motion on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

It says many small enterprises "are not realising their growth and development potential", and calls on the economy minister to ensure that his economy strategy provides appropriate support.

Mr Storey says the contribution made by SMEs is not purely economic.

"They make a substantial contribution to the socio-cultural fabric of our local communities," he says.