State-funded Schools: Special Educational Needs

Baroness Bull Excerpts

Wednesday 11th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

Ollie is very lucky to have the noble Baroness as his great-aunt. But she raises an important point about the speed with which it is possible to carry out assessments. It is for that reason that we are supporting local authority educational psychology services by investing over £20 million to train 400 more educational psychologists, because they play a particularly important role in supporting those services and contributing to statutory assessments. As the noble Baroness said, we must ensure that more children are able to succeed in our mainstream schools, as I am sure Ollie will.

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords, one in 20 people in the UK are estimated to have dyscalculia, yet it frequently goes undiagnosed and therefore without the support that would enable these young people to overcome the challenges in processing and dealing with numbers. Currently, there is no requirement for maths teachers to learn about dyscalculia, and even special needs teachers are not always trained to recognise and deal with it. Will the Government consider introducing a statutory requirement for maths teachers to learn about dyscalculia in initial teacher training? Can the Minister confirm that these specific challenges will be addressed through the curriculum and assessment review?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Baroness makes an important point about the responsibility of all teachers to be able to identify special educational needs. All teachers are special educational needs teachers and that is why, although I cannot be completely clear on her point about dyscalculia, I can assure her that we are supporting improved teacher training throughout teachers’ careers, starting with changes to initial teacher training coming in from September 2025, and continuing through their careers from early career teachers into leadership roles. I will follow up the particular point the noble Baroness made in her question.

Vocational Training

Baroness Bull Excerpts

Monday 9th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Baroness makes an important point. Whether young people—and older people—have success in their careers and can access the skills they need starts before the age of 16. It starts with the school curriculum. It is with that intention that we have set up the curriculum and assessment review, to look precisely at how we can maintain and improve our standards of numeracy and literacy, while also ensuring that we enable the curriculum and schools to have the space to develop precisely the sort of skills and aptitudes that the noble Baroness outlined.

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords, I turn the Minister’s attention to vocational training for exceptionally talented dancers and musicians, which starts at a much earlier age than we are discussing. She will know that the kind of training required is not available in the state system but is provided by schools on the Music and Dance Scheme, which are able to recruit on talent alone, regardless of financial circumstances. What are the Government doing to ensure that the legislative agenda will not impede the ability of those schools to be blind to finance and look only at talent; so that anybody with the drive and the capability can enjoy their full potential, and our creative industries will remain fully inclusive of the broad diversity of our society?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Baroness has contributed considerably to my education, while I have been in this place, on the crucial role played by those really excellent music and dance schools. That is why the Government’s Music and Dance Scheme enables enormously talented young people, regardless of their background, to access that education—to ensure that we can continue that pipeline of completely brilliant and elite musicians and dancers, who are so important to this country’s creative sector.

Schools: Absenteeism

Baroness Bull Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

My assessment is that it is concerning that parents, for whatever reason are becoming relaxed about their children’s attendance at school. As the noble Lord suggested, this has partly been linked to the pandemic. We know that each day of lost learning can do serious harm. Days missed can add up quickly. There is a link between absence and attainment, and pupils who are persistently absent are less than half as likely to achieve good GCSEs as those who attend every day. We need to give that message loud and clear to parents who, in being relaxed about their children’s attendance at school, are fundamentally damaging their future prospects.

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords, numerous studies have demonstrated the positive impact of arts and creative programmes on attendance and engagement, which is especially true for pupils from at-risk populations, where absenteeism of course creates an even longer shadow. Will the curriculum and assessment review take account of this evidence in considering the value of arts subjects, and will the Government encourage more schools to take up Artsmark, given that 96% of Artsmark schools report positive improvements on attendance, punctuality and engagement?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right that we need a curriculum in schools that will encourage all children to flourish and to be engaged. That is why, in setting up the curriculum and assessment review led by Professor Becky Francis, we have specifically asked it to consider how we can ensure that the curriculum meets the needs of disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs, and that it does that through creating space for exactly the sort of creativity for which the noble Baroness is a strong advocate.

Independent Schools: VAT Exemption

Baroness Bull Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords, the disparity of outcomes between private and state school pupils is well evidenced, and I welcome the commitment to equalise opportunities by rebalancing investment, but I hope Ministers will heed calls for more nuance in how proposed changes are applied.

As we have heard, “private schools” is a catch-all term, encompassing both schools paid for by choice and schools providing specialist education for pupils whose needs cannot be met in the state sector. I share concerns already expressed in relation to special educational needs, but I will use my time to expand on the concerns that the draft legislation inadvertently captures a small number of schools providing education for another group of children whose needs cannot be met by the state sector—by which I mean schools providing world-class music and dance vocational training to exceptionally talented children, regardless of background or ability to pay.

Successive Governments since the 1970s have recognised that if gifted dancers and musicians are to achieve their potential, they need a level and intensity of training that is impossible to achieve within the structure of a standard curriculum. In 1973, the Yehudi Menuhin and Royal Ballet Schools became direct grant aided, with means-tested DfE support for talented children from low-income families.

I declare an interest here, as I was one of those children. I joined the Royal Ballet School in 1974. The fees were well beyond my parents’ means, but they had no choice, because professional ballet training must start young if a dancer is going to compete in a global marketplace. It takes 10 years of daily practice under expert tuition to achieve the flexibility, speed and strength that characterise world-class performance, and those 10 years must take place before puberty sets in.

DfE’s music and dance scheme was established in 1981 as the successor to direct grant aid. The nine designated schools in England and Scotland have little in common with typical private schools. They recruit on talent first, and the majority of parents would not, in other circumstances, choose private education. At non-specialist private schools, around 7% of students receive a bursary or means-tested support. At music and dance scheme schools, it is 90%. The schools are costly to run, requiring specialist, world-class teachers, equipment, studios and theatre spaces, but there is no wealthy parent body, no large endowments and no eligibility for government building maintenance grants.

Earlier this year, the now Prime Minister spoke of the country’s

“huge talent … waiting to be unlocked”,

promising that people from every background and every region would have the opportunities they deserve. The Music and Dance Scheme is pivotal to this ambition, removing barriers to entry and allowing children from diverse backgrounds to dream of a career at the highest level. But 12 years of funding freeze mean the schools are already operating at full stretch. Further financial pressure will impact on quality of training, reduce diversity in the student body and severely impact the UK’s ability to produce the home-grown, world-class talent for which it is renowned.

This legislation aims to break down barriers to opportunity, but including these specialist schools in its scope will have the opposite effect. Prodigiously gifted children with the potential to become world-class artists need specialist education from a very early age, education that will never be possible in the standard curriculum. Raising barriers to entry will mean that only the most advantaged children will be able to access the training fundamental to career success. I would not have become a ballet dancer.

I join the noble Baroness, Lady Fraser, in asking the Minister: will she convene a round table with interested parties and experts to explore how this legislation can avoid irreparably damaging the schools that underpin the UK’s success on the world stage?

Schools: Mental Health and Poor Attendance

Baroness Bull Excerpts

Wednesday 24th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right, of course, that, for many children, schools are the stable part of their lives, but teachers, although they provide enormous levels of support along with other school staff, need to be able to focus on teaching children. Family hubs indeed play an important role in helping families to access vital services to improve the health, education and well-being of children and young people. We are already considering the overall approach to early childhood and family support, and how it can support this Government’s opportunity mission. That includes reviewing the future vision and intentions for family support, including the core role played by family hubs.

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords, may I press the Minister on what the Government will do to ensure access to mental health support for those children with disabilities and special educational needs? We know that they are disproportionately represented in absence and persistent absence figures, and that mental health is often a contributing issue. She spoke in her Answer about the evidence link between absenteeism and life chances. Does she agree that failing to address this risks widening even further the existing gap between attainment and life chances for those children who live with disabilities and educational challenges and those who are fortunate not to live with those challenges?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right that, where special educational needs come alongside mental health problems and other issues in children’s lives, they are more likely to be absent from school. Of course, while they are absent from school, they are not learning and it is also likely that mental health issues will increase, not reduce. That is why, for the vast majority of children with special educational needs who are being educated in mainstream schools, early intervention through the use of access to mental health support workers will be an important first way to support them and prevent conditions from becoming worse.

King’s Speech

Baroness Bull Excerpts

Friday 19th July 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords, I join the rest of the House in welcoming the Minister, congratulating the noble Baroness, Lady Jolly, and noting the contribution of the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, over the last Parliament. I also declare my registered interests.

Wicked problems required joined-up thinking, so it is encouraging to see cross-departmental working underpinning delivery of the mission to break down barriers to opportunity. The poverty strategy is one example of this; the children’s well-being Bill is another. Children born into poverty have the odds stacked against them from the start, with early disadvantage impacting through the years on educational outcomes, employment prospects, career progression and earnings potential. Measures to tackle this, such as early years investment, free breakfast clubs and “not in school” registers, are very welcome.

Education should be the great equaliser, but when 6% of children attend schools where the spend on education is three times higher than for the other 94%, it can have the opposite effect. I therefore support the Government’s intention to rebalance investment through measures on VAT, but I hope there will be nuance in implementation. SEND provision has already been raised. I ask the Minister: what assessment has been made of the impact on specialist performing arts schools and, by extension, on the future diversity of the workforce?

Success in the performing arts requires 10 years of daily practice under expert tuition—10 years that take place before puberty sets in if you are to develop the extreme flexibility, speed and accuracy that characterise the world-class skills of a Kanneh-Mason or a Darcey Bussell. This type of professional training is not available in the state sector, so parents like mine have no choice but to enter a fee-paying school. Further cost increases for specialist performing arts schools will have the opposite effect to that which government intends, reducing access to talent for less affluent families. Unless talent has access to the best training at the right age, it will not be competitive in a global marketplace—as the noble Lord, Lord Vaizey, said, we are very good at the arts; let us make sure we continue.

I turn to curriculum reform. Speaking in March, the now Prime Minister promised to undo

“14 years of arts subjects being diminished and devalued”,

and so the curriculum review announced today is warmly welcome, as is the expert leadership of Becky Francis. However, cultural and creative education does not happen only in the curriculum. It takes place in theatres, galleries, museums and libraries, in partnership with arts, heritage and youth organisations, charities, local authorities, trusts and foundations, and faith bodies.

This networked delivery model has benefits, in that it enables local and culturally relevant experiences and encourages place-based partnerships across multiple agencies. Sunderland’s Culture Start is one example, aiming through culture to mitigate the impacts of growing up in poverty—Ministers should note this in relation to the poverty strategy. However, networked delivery also presents challenges. First and foremost, the disintegration of structures such as creative partnerships for join-up over the last decade makes it difficult for commissioners to know what is available and providers to know what is needed. Music education has a series of hubs to do this connecting, funded to the tune of £101 million in 2024-25. The other art forms share nothing. Government has announced an additional national music education network, but I ask the Minister whether her department will fund similar services for dance, drama and other art forms.

There is also lack of clarity on the aims for cultural education, making it difficult for multiple providers to target programmes towards agreed outcomes. Different regimes have espoused different reasons: pathways to creative careers; understanding cultural heritage; or a lifelong love for the arts.

With this Government comes a welcome return of the core justification for universal provision of cultural and creative learning: the well-evidenced personal, social, learning and employability skills it engenders—problem solving, curiosity, communication and confidence. I hope this review will articulate a clear set of outcomes for cultural learning that shifts ambition from a tick-box list of things pupils should do or see towards measurable change in the child—change that might equally be achieved through engagement with dance, drama, literature or music. I look forward to this review and its recommendations. I hope it will take account of the contribution of these multiple partners, as well as the needs of the army of freelancers vital to the delivery jigsaw.

The Prime Minister has put his personal commitment behind creative and cultural learning, promising

“from day one … to make sure arts count”.

If this Government turn promise into policy, they will have my full support.

Educational Trips and Exchanges

Baroness Bull Excerpts

Thursday 25th April 2024 Grand Committee

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords, last month I spoke at the launch of the European Economic and Social Committee’s opinion on youth engagement, and, as my noble friend Lady Coussins has already noted, educational exchange was a key theme. The opinion represents the views of young people across Europe, and there was universal and overwhelming support for UK reintegration into Erasmus+, with 86% of young people believing that educational exchange has been negatively impacted since we left. They spoke of its benefits in broadening horizons, connecting across cultures, enhancing career prospects, personal growth, and the learning of new languages. This lent a grim irony to the comments of the UK’s deputy head of mission to the EU, who, on the same platform, justified the UK decision to leave Erasmus+ on the basis of our

“inability to speak languages very well”.

The UK Young Ambassador to the European Youth Forum, a wonderful young man named Maurizio Cuttin, spoke of a less well-recognised casualty of the exit from Erasmus+: the British Youth Council. It relied on Erasmus+ for some 40% of its budget and is now closing after 75 years. Can the Minister say whether the Government have any plans to fill the gap left by the British Youth Council, which had such a key role in engaging young people in the process of democracy?

I sit on the Parliamentary Partnership Assembly, where there is a shared appetite across all its parts—MPs, Peers and MEPs—to address youth opportunities. At its last session, it formally recommended to the Partnership Council that the UK and the EU negotiate a comprehensive and reciprocal youth mobility initiative, which would allow young people to live, work and study across our shared continent. Your Lordships’ European Affairs Committee has recommended the same, so it was briefly thrilling to hear the EU open this conversation last week and devastating to hear it closed so peremptorily by the Government and, indeed, the Opposition. A mobility programme is not a return to free movement and there are precedents: the UK has such an arrangement with Australia. Does the Minister not agree that a mobility arrangement with a block of countries on our doorstep would be far more inclusive of all young people, not just those who can afford long-distance air fares?

Young people had the least voice in the UK’s decision to leave the EU, but they will feel its impact for the longest time. When the TCA review comes around in 2026, I hope that the Government of the day will listen to what future generations want and be willing to think again.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education (Baroness Barran) (Con)]

My Lords, I share the noble Baroness’s reflections on the tragic events in Ammanford in Carmarthenshire. I will not try to attempt her expert Welsh pronunciation. I too congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, on securing this debate and thank noble Lords for their contributions.

A number of noble Lords, including the noble Baronesses, Lady Coussins, Lady Stuart and Lady Garden, and the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty, focused on the importance of modern foreign languages in our curriculum. Of course, the Government absolutely agree. Rather like the noble Viscount, Lord Stansgate, I agree with everything that has been said and is about to be said. That is why we have made modern foreign languages part of the EBacc. The Committee is well aware of the recruitment challenges in that area, some of the reasons for which were explored in speeches this afternoon.

If I may, I will start with a bit of good news and reflect on some of the achievements of the Turing Scheme, which is backed by £110 million of funding for the next academic year. The scheme allows schools, colleges and universities to provide students from across the UK the chance to develop new skills, gain international experience and boost their employability by undertaking a study or work placement.

The Turing Scheme has funded tens of thousands of UK students to gain international experience. It is currently funding more than 41,000 participants—including nearly 7,000 school pupils—to undertake placements in more than 160 countries. Around 24,500, or 60%, of these opportunities are for students from disadvantaged backgrounds—something that was raised, rightly, by my noble friend Lord Effingham. An application assessment for the fourth year of the scheme, which will begin in September, is currently under way. The appetite for the scheme is clear, for the reasons that your Lordships set out, with an increasing number of applications every year that the scheme has been available; the number has risen from 412 applications across all sectors in the first year to 619 applications for the current academic year.

The Government recognise the difficulties that schools, colleges and universities have faced in recent years when it comes to organising international visits and exchanges. We are taking steps to address this. Although we are, sadly, not yet in a position to have a Minister directly responsible for this issue—I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, for her kind words—we are working closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Home Office to make sure that we have a joined-up approach; that was, I know, the spirit of the APPG’s recommendation.

The noble Lord, Lord Storey, said that some institutions have found the administration of the scheme particularly cumbersome. This is something that we are aware of and have heard from stakeholders about. We will take the administration of the scheme in-house—that is, back into the department—in the next year to make sure both that we have the most streamlined experience and that the new online application process is as user-friendly as possible.

I move on to where I shall, perhaps, disappoint your Lordships. The DfE is not currently exploring the possibility of adding a reciprocal element to the Turing Scheme. We believe that it is right to use taxpayer money to prioritise international opportunities for students, learners and pupils at UK education providers over placements in the UK for students from other countries. Of course, it has always been the case that other countries and their students make their own arrangements to support study and work in the UK. We have seen a strong appetite across the globe for placements, which indicates that the Turing Scheme’s focus on outward mobility funding has not inhibited its success.

I turn now to some of specific issues raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, from the All-Party Parliamentary Group’s recommendations. We are grateful to the APPG on Modern Languages for its work. The noble Baroness referred to the paperwork and costs for both outgoing groups and groups coming into the UK. For incoming students, the standard visa route allows individuals to come to the UK and take part in either educational exchanges or visits with a state-funded school, be it an academy, a maintained school or an independent school. All of that is permitted activity under the Immigration Rules.

Regarding group travel paperwork, since October 2021, the EU, the EEA and Swiss nationals have required a passport to travel to the UK. We provided almost a year’s notice for this change, allowing people to plan ahead and obtain a passport if they needed to do so. On the same date, we ended the use of the list of travellers, which was in the EU scheme.

Similarly—to respond to some of the points raised by the noble Lord, Lord Hannay—the European Commission ceased to accept the list of travellers from the UK from January 2021, although some EU countries have since decided to allow visa-free travel for visa national children on their trips to the UK.

The noble Lord, Lord Hannay, asked about trends in trips from France, particularly following the agreement between the Prime Minister and President Macron. We do not have detailed data on that yet but, if that emerges, I will be very happy to update the noble Lord.

The noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, said that schools needed clear and consistent guidance. Of course, this is not something that the FCDO provides, as the noble Baroness knows, but schools should contact the Department for Education or their partner school’s travel forum to get specific information and guidance when taking school groups overseas.

I thank the noble Baroness for acknowledging the flexibilities around the use of DBS checks from other organisations. The example she gave of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme is absolutely appropriate.

A number of noble Lords, including the noble Earl, Lord Clancarty—almost all noble Lords, in fact—mentioned issues about Erasmus+. The Government do not intend to negotiate resuming participation in any aspect of Erasmus+ with the EU, as a programme country; that includes e-twinning. We just do not believe that it is necessary to do that to facilitate education exchanges between the UK and the EU.

We are working beyond the Turing Scheme. We have opportunities such as our Mandarin Excellence Programme trip to China this summer, when 1,300 pupils are expected to visit the country—most, I imagine, for the very first time. We also continue to work with the British Council on the annual language trends survey, to make sure that we incorporate further school trip data and promote the work of the British Council, particularly its international school award, to all schools.

A number of your Lordships, including the noble Baroness, Lady Bull, asked about an EU-wide youth mobility scheme. We are not planning to introduce such a scheme. Free movement within the EU has ended. We have successful schemes with 13 countries, and we remain open to agreeing them with more.

The noble Baroness, Lady Coussins, asked about proactive bilateralism. We understand the arguments for that, and, as I said, we are open to negotiating similar agreements with other countries.

The noble Baroness, Lady Bull, discussed the importance of the fact that disadvantaged children might be prevented from making long-distance trips. In the company of so many foreign language aficionados and advocates, I hesitate to say this, but the evidence suggests that, for some children from disadvantaged communities, going to a country where English is spoken is a help in seeing the wider world. It is not just about languages; it is also, as noble Lords said, about taking children out of their comfort zone and seeing the way that other communities live.

I thank the noble Baroness again for securing this debate. I will write to noble Lords, including the noble Viscount, Lord Stansgate, on musical exchanges. The Government absolutely recognise the importance of educational trips and will continue to work to promote them.

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

As we are slightly under time, can the Minister say something about the closure of the British Youth Council, particularly the resulting loss of international exchange and the young voice in the democratic process? The British Youth Council was responsible for the UK Youth Parliament.

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

As the noble Baroness is aware, the responsibility for the British Youth Council relationship sits with DCMS. I met and worked with the British Youth Council many times when I was a Minister in that department. I am not aware of whether there are plans to address the gap—I do not think that the noble Baroness used the word “replace”—left by its closure. From the perspective of the DfE, I can say that having a youth voice at the centre of our policy and its development is absolutely critical.

Schools and Colleges: Special Educational Needs

Baroness Bull Excerpts

Monday 15th April 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The national funding formula is structured, as the noble Baroness is aware, to make sure that funding is targeted towards pupils who need additional support. In 2024-25, over £4.5 billion, or about 10% of the formula, is allocated according to deprivation factors, and £7.8 billion, almost 18%, will be allocated for additional needs factors. Both those elements correlate with the prevalence of SEND.

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords, the Minister will know that there are many thousands of individual special needs teachers who go that extra mile in meeting the very individual needs of young people with special needs. What is the department doing to ensure that, where people have come up with innovative ways to address needs, learning is both retained within the institution, as in the original Question, and shared with other schools across the sector?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

That is precisely what we are aiming to do through our practitioner standards. The noble Baroness will be aware that we are starting with the biggest areas of additional needs: speech, language and communication; autism; and mental health and well-being. We have a twin approach; we partly have academic researchers looking at the evidence base, but we are also working very closely with practitioners to make sure we capture the best practice, and then publish and share it.

Pupil Mental Health, Well-being and Development

Baroness Bull Excerpts

Thursday 22nd February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak in this debate and I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, for focusing her seemingly inexhaustible energies on this important topic. It is a complex topic that invites multiple approaches. I intend to focus narrowly on one area, and, given that intended focus, I must start by declaring my interests as noted in the register. Of particular relevance to this debate is my role as chair of an expert advisory panel convened by government to offer non-binding advice to the DCMS and DfE on the development of their plan for cultural education.

My own education was far from usual in that I entered professional training at the age of 11 as a student at the Royal Ballet School. I will always count myself fortunate to have been educated in a place where there was never any sense that art was an extra, a “nice to have”, or peripheral to the main purpose. Art and arts-based approaches were integrated throughout a broad-based education that would equip us with a set of skills as important in life as they are in dance: curiosity, courage, perseverance, confidence, teamwork, personal responsibility and a creative hinterland on which to draw. Over the years, my increasing awareness of just how effectively that arts-enriched education prepared me for life beyond the stage has inspired an ongoing quest to better understand the role of the arts, culture and creativity in personal and social development, educational attainment, and health and well-being.

It is a field of research that has blossomed over recent decades. In 2016, the AHRC published a landmark report, Understanding the Value of Arts & Culture, which analysed, among other things, how arts engagement contributes to community cohesion, civic engagement and educational attainment. Three years later, the World Health Organization published the largest report to date on the underlying evidence base for the contribution of arts and culture to health and well-being. Of particular relevance to this debate is that the report found strong evidence of a positive correlation between arts engagement and the social determinants of health, child development and healthy behaviours.

Alongside evidence that childhood engagement in arts activities can predict academic performance across the school years, the report’s authors also found that it promotes pro-social classroom and playground behaviour, enhances emotional competence and reduces bullying. The behavioural benefits are shown to extend to groups with diverse needs. Children from less advantaged backgrounds, those with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and those with physical or learning disabilities experienced reductions in anxiety, depression or aggression, with associated improvements in self-esteem, confidence, communication and personal empowerment. The authors also report a sizeable literature on the arts’ role in building social and community capital, fostering co-operation across different cultures, reducing prejudice, enhancing social consciousness and increasing civic behaviours such as voting and volunteering.

Dr Daisy Fancourt, one of the authors of the report, has worked forensically over many years to investigate the ways in which these outcomes occur: how the component elements of arts activities trigger psychological, physiological, social and behavioural responses that are themselves causally linked with positive health and well-being outcomes. In addressing the question that the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, has introduced today, it is worth considering each of these in turn.

Fancourt’s work points to how the aesthetic and emotional components of art provide opportunities for understanding and exploring emotions. They allow opportunities for emotional regulation and stress reduction, and all these are key to how we manage mental health. The cognitive stimulation in art supports learning and skills development, which is beneficial in itself but is also interrelated with mental illnesses such as depression. Group interactions through arts activities improve social capital and reduce prejudice and discrimination between different groups. The physicality of arts activities reduces sedentary behaviours, improving fitness, flexibility and bone health and linking to reductions in depression. This is what the research tells us.

Schools taking part in the Artsmark programme show us what this looks like in action. Artsmark offers schools a framework and support to embed creativity across the curriculum, addressing school improvement priorities, and 89% of Artsmark schools report improvements in pupils’ well-being and resilience. They point to positive impacts on mental health, enhanced intercultural understanding and stronger connections forged between staff, pupils, families and local communities. Schools also report improvements in punctuality, student engagement and attendance, underlining the important point noted earlier by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, about creating environments that encourage children and their parents to engage with school.

Partnership working is key to success and, in the best-case scenarios, a network of commissioners, providers and agencies across education, culture, voluntary and faith sectors, as well as local authorities, work together to provide children with rich, culturally diverse and locally connected arts opportunities. I urge the Minister to follow the progress of Culture Start, a three-year city-based cross-sector partnership launching this year in Sunderland, which will span social housing and the voluntary, cultural and youth sectors, as well as education, to provide young people with cultural experiences that help to mitigate some of the impacts of growing up in poverty.

Research and lived experience demonstrate how arts activities and experiences can support schools in caring for the mental health and well-being of children and in fostering family and community connections. The evidence is clear, the outcomes evident. There are, of course, other routes for children to access arts activities, at home and in the community, but if we want all children to enjoy the developmental, educational and social benefits associated with arts engagement, school—a universal experience—is surely the best route to ensuring universal access.

I know that, in responding, the Minister will reiterate her commitment to ensuring that all children have access to these opportunities through education. I will finish by welcoming that commitment in advance.

Ofsted: Pupil Absence Rates

Baroness Bull Excerpts

Tuesday 13th February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I would be delighted to meet with the charities and families to which my noble friend refers. She makes an important point, and it goes back to the point made earlier by the noble Baroness—that parents need to feel that the response they are getting from their school is about their child. To every parent, their child is very special.

[Baroness Bull (CB)]

My Lords, we know that children with profound and multiple learning difficulties, physical disabilities and social, emotional and mental health special educational primary needs have the highest rates of school absence. In spring 2023, 384,202 children with some form of identified special educational need were persistently absent. Given what we know about the link between persistent absenteeism and life chances, does the Minister agree that this risks widening the gap between the more advantaged and the less advantaged in our society? What are the Government doing to support children with special educational needs and disabilities to succeed in school?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The Government are doing a great deal, starting with their investment in a dramatic increase in the number of specialist places for children with the kinds of special needs and disabilities the noble Baroness refers to, through our attendance hubs programme in particular. I met a group of chief executives of specialist multi-academy trusts which are working with children with special educational needs and those in alternative provision. We are seeking to identify best practice and making sure it is a shared peer to peer.