State Schools: Creative Education
Baroness Keeley Excerpts(1 week, 1 day ago)
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Baroness Keeley
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the value to state school pupils of school visits to theatres, museums and galleries, and of the value of a creative education for all pupils.
The Minister of State, Department for Education (Baroness Smith of Malvern) (Lab)
My Lords, a creative education and enriching experience must be for all, not just the preserve of the privileged few. Drama and theatre studies students at GCSE and A-level are entitled to experience live theatre, and schools can and do decide which other visits to offer to other students. But it is also important that students can benefit during curriculum and lesson time. That is why the independent curriculum and assessment review will seek to deliver a broader curriculum and consider how best to support a young person to develop the knowledge and skills needed to thrive.
Baroness Keeley (Lab)
My Lords, there is evidence that the experience of attending live theatre helps children to learn, while structured arts activities at school increase cognitive skills across all subject areas. Companies like the Royal Ballet and Opera and the RSC are doing amazing work in opening their doors to schools, but the Sutton Trust still reports that state school trips were cut by 68% in the most disadvantaged schools in 2023. Further, since the introduction of EBacc and Progress 8 there has been a systematic downgrading of arts subjects and experiences in state schools. Can my noble friend the Minister tell me if it is a priority for the Government to start to reverse these trends and to ensure access to a creative education and arts experiences for all state school pupils in order to help build their confidence and skills?
Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)
My noble friend rightly identifies that there has been a decline in student entries into, for example, the arts and creative GCSEs, a reduction in the number of staff available to teach them, and a fall-off in the ability of schools to support students with visits and the type of experiences that she rightly outlines. That is why it is so important for this Government that we ensure that creative subjects such as art, music and drama are important elements of the education that every child deserves, and that we do better in ensuring that culture is an essential part of supporting children and young people.
Independent Schools: VAT
Baroness Keeley Excerpts(3 months ago)
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Baroness Keeley (Lab)
My Lords, the Government’s plan, linked to the policy to recruit 6,500 more teachers, is a vital step to solving the crisis in music education in state schools. Since 2010, there has been a catastrophic reduction in the number of children in state schools receiving sustained music tuition. We lost over 1,000 music teachers from state schools in a decade. Last year, the previous Government reached only 27% of their target for trainee music teachers. The number of GCSE music students has fallen by over a quarter since 2010 and the number taking A-level music has fallen by over two-fifths. Middlesbrough was among the areas that did not have a single school offering A-level music in 2021-22. Some 50% of children in independent schools receive sustained music tuition, but the figure for state schools is only 15%. The Government are right to take action to invest so that sustained music education and music qualifications become available to more pupils in state schools.