Schools: Outdoor Classroom Day

Baroness Byford Excerpts

Thursday 15th March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, I very much agree with the noble Baroness that connection to nature is vital. I grew up on a farm. At 14 years old I was sent out by the farm manager to do some straw burning on my own and I ended up needing 13 fire engines to deal with the issue. I learned on that day that you do not light a fire with the wind behind you and that if you cut a firebreak it needs to be commensurate with the strength of the wind. I learned that smoke is as dangerous as fire. So you do not have to convince me. We are moving forward: in the January environment plan we announced £10 million of funding for initiatives including school visits to natural environments, the nature-friendly schools programme and an expansion in care farm places, which I hope I can expand on in a moment.

[Baroness Byford (Con)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware of the enormous work that is done between the farming community and local schools, in particular with the agricultural societies that are all around the country? They host open days at their shows to which schoolchildren, particularly those of primary school age, are encouraged to go. One difficulty is the cost of getting a bus to transport the children, but it is a very good scheme. There is a lot going on apart from on the day that my noble friend Lady Miller mentioned.

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, I agree with my noble friend. Open Farm Sunday is a very good example of this. Last year, 270,000 visitors visited more than 350 farmers on one day and it is happening again this year. Indeed, it happened with my own farm manager on his farm. He had 4,000 visitors, mostly children. Such initiatives are educating children about life in the countryside.

Education and Society

Baroness Byford Excerpts

Friday 8th December 2017 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Byford (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the most reverend Primate for introducing this debate today. Having listened to all the contributions, I think what a wonderful variety we are going to have. I would like to reflect on three things: first, the role of education, with particular reference to agriculture; secondly, as many others have, on apprenticeships; and, thirdly, on enabling those with learning difficulties to achieve their potential.

Having left school at 16 to study a one-year general farming course at Moulton, Northamptonshire, I am only too keenly aware of the enormous changes that have taken place within the farming industry. Yes, unskilled labour is still needed, but the many changes that we have seen have been caused by the expansion of modern machinery, scientific research, technology, engineering, improvements in digital equipment, robotics and, indeed, the development of drones. Those advances reflect the skills of the workforce and the dedication of teachers in schools and colleges. Teachers have the ability to inspire and challenge pupils, and this debate reinforces that point. I only wish that more teachers would encourage students to consider agriculture as a worthwhile career.

The work done at Harper Adams University, formerly an agricultural college, this last year is a very good example of what I am talking about. It has resulted in the university, only this week, being awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education, recognising their Hands Free Hectare initiative. The university, working alongside Yorkshire-based Precision Decisions, grew a crop of barley using robotics and drones, no manpower being in the field at any time through the various operations. Today, GPS systems and drones can pinpoint the amount of dressing needed in certain parts of the field, and even on individual plants.

Secondly, I congratulate the Government on their commitment to apprenticeship schemes but, like others, I am concerned about falling numbers. These schemes enable students to gain skills while working. The businesses that I have visited value their apprentices, speaking of their commitment to gaining skills, thus bringing benefits to the company and to the individuals concerned. I welcome the recent announcement in the Budget of the national retraining scheme, which helps older people to gain new skills necessary for their advancement, and for the provision of some £384 million to increase the number of fully qualified computer science teachers. I am sorry that my noble friend Lord Baker is not in his place at the moment, because I think that he would be very pleased at that announcement. They will be working with a new national centre for computing, which is particularly good news. As I said, my only concern is the reported decline in the numbers taking up apprenticeships, and I hope that the Minister will give an explanation and can give some reassurance to us today.

It is surely right that those with learning challenges should have the opportunity to achieve as well. They may not become high flyers but with care, encouragement and skill, they can occupy important jobs in future years. I know that some special schools are coming under increasing threat of closure. Indeed, in Leicestershire, my home county, Maplewell Hall School, which I understand was recently reported as outstanding, may have its residential element closed. Has there been any recent national analysis or review?

In the time that I have had, it has not been possible to include something that is very dear to me, or talk about it at great length—the importance of values, spoken about by others. However, I hope that all those involved in teaching and training will stress the worth of lifelong learning. I would also add the importance of co-operation and honesty in whatever one is doing. Our present system is based on Christian beliefs of shared values, and I believe that it is as deeply important today as it was when it started. Indeed, other noble Lords have spoken about the importance of the support of loving and supportive families. But that is not so for everybody. I remember when my husband was a governor of a local primary that one of the children was referred to the headmaster and he, as chairman of the governors, sat in. He was trying to encourage the mother to help with reading out of hours in their own home, to which she turned round and said, “That’s not my business; it’s your business to teach my child”.

I think that in some ways we have gone a long way away from having the support which was there originally, and I hope that this debate will encourage everybody to realise that it is not just about education and learning but about how the values and the way in which we deal with each other and help each other along the line will bring greater benefits to society as a whole.

Education: Citizenship

Baroness Byford Excerpts

Thursday 27th June 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Byford]

My Lords, my noble friend Lord Cormack is to be congratulated: he has picked a perfect day for this short debate as it coincides with the launch today of the independent Campaign for Youth Social Action, to which other noble Lords have referred. I declare an interest as president of what was formerly known as the Leicestershire Clubs for Young People, which only 10 days ago became Young Leicestershire. This new organisation brings together many groups and voluntary organisations which all work with young people. We believe that joining together will give added strength and support to the various programmes.

The former Leicestershire Clubs for Young People has some 25 clubs that offer a range of activities to around 4,000 young people. We have proactive members who volunteer locally and nationally, and three very special carers’ clubs which give their members, who often have to cope with particular deprivation, a much-needed break from their home responsibilities. Most of the clubs have between 20 and 40 young people, but the recently opened centre in Hinckley will see anywhere between 200 and 400 people. The challenge for the success of Young Leicester will be dependent on identifying and obtaining funding needed to enable individuals to get special training to aid their work with young volunteers.

However, my noble friend’s question that we have been debating today asks about what plans the Government have to develop a citizenship programme in schools. What input, therefore, will schools have within the campaign which is being launched today? I also wonder how much schools will link in with their local community.

My noble friend, many other noble Lords and I take part in the Lord Speaker’s outreach programme, visiting schools to discuss the work of Parliament and in particular the work within this House. Only two weeks ago I had the pleasure of being with Danny Smith, the principal of the Dukeries Academy in Ollerton, which I know my noble friend Lord Norton of Louth visited some years ago. If one needed to be convinced about the advantages of the community working together across all ages, it was to be found there.

I will give a short insight into some of the facilities that it has. It was built in the 1960s as a comprehensive school, but in 1985 it was redesignated as a community college, with a broader reach within the Dukeries complex. This complex, under the leadership of the principal, rapidly became a federation of organisations providing education for all, recreation, youth work, information and library services, with care services for the young and the elderly. The theme is: a place for all the family. It is a quite remarkable place and, in a way, they are lucky to have the facilities to be able to do what I think the citizenship programme is trying to do in its broadest terms.

When I was there, we had the usual presentation of the outreach programme and questions afterwards. I always think that it is those questions which make one realise how important the Lord Speaker’s outreach programme is, because I was asked some very topical questions. On Syria, I was asked whether we should give extra resources to arm those fighting the Government. I was asked whether the voting age was right or whether it should be reduced to 14. I was asked about Parliament itself and how it works. It was very clear that there was little understanding of how Parliament works at all.

However it is important that we recognise, as my noble friends have said, the influence that teaching staff have on their pupils. They inspire, encourage and enthuse those young people, which in turn helps them to help others. I pay great tribute to those teachers who have gone the extra mile to do just that. I suspect that all of us will remember somebody in our lives who made an impression on us. Making a difference and giving service to the community, knowing one’s rights and responsibilities, come from within the family or from our school days. From my point of view, I am still glad to see the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme going from strength to strength and that so many schools still have Armed Forces cadet groups as a focus of school life. Many go on to join our armed services and in this Armed Services Week we give thanks for those young people who have committed their lives to serving this country.

I believe that citizenship should not be thought of as “do-gooding” or, as a lot of young people say, “That is for other people; it could not possibly be for me”. Through school and these programmes we can help and inspire young people to believe in themselves and to take a broader look than perhaps they would do normally. They should not just come to the fact that it is something that they should do, but something that they actually enjoy doing. That is what will make volunteering in the future a greater success. My question for the Minister is this: will he tell us how the citizenship programme will fit in with community activities already going on out there? I am sure that we need a link between the two. Academic learning is one thing, but practical input on the ground is what it should be. Let us hope that this campaign launched today will have a successful future. I again thank my noble friend for giving me the opportunity to speak in this debate.