Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the provision of online tuition adequately educates those children and young people, particularly those who live in poverty or who are otherwise vulnerable, who are not in school due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Since Friday 20 March, schools have been closed except for children of critical workers and vulnerable children. Attending school can be a protective factor, which is why vulnerable children are eligible for continued provision.
We recognise that many schools have already shared resources for children who are at home, and are grateful for this.
We are working with the BBC and other partners to provide access and support directly to parents, including online resources they can access for their children at home, and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has announced a package of high-quality resources:
We will consider accessibility throughout the development of any advice, and ask that schools do the same.
Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to the reports by Save the Children, <i>Untapped Potential</i> published in October 2016, and <i>Early Development and Children's Later Educational Outcomes </i>published in February 2016, concerning the impact of having qualified Early Years teachers in nurseries on children's early development.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government agrees that the first few years of a child’s life are fundamentally important. Evidence tells us that they shape children’s future development and influence how well children do at school. They also affect their on-going health and wellbeing and their achievements later in life.
In 2013 we introduced the early years initial teacher training programme which leads to the award of Early Years Teacher Status. We have made a significant investment in this programme, funding is available for training course fees, with additional funding for nursery employers to help them support graduates in their setting to become early years teachers. To encourage the best graduates into the early years workforce we provide bursaries to eligible trainees.
On 3 March the Department for Education published an early years workforce strategy which seeks to remove the barriers to attracting, retaining and developing staff. For graduates we have begun the process to amend regulations so that early years teachers can lead teaching in nursery and reception classes in maintained schools. Over the longer term, we are going to consider how plans to strengthen QTS could offer positive opportunities for early years teachers. We also want to make sure that all settings serving disadvantaged children can access specialist graduates, so we are commissioning a feasibility study to explore how best to achieve this.
A copy of the early years workforce strategy is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will ensure that sex and relationship education will form part of a wider programme of personal, social and health education, including skills for life and character building.
Answered by Lord Nash
We want all schools to provide young people with a broad and balanced curriculum that equips them for success in modern Britain. High quality personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education has an important role to play in this by helping young people understand the world around them, building resilience and helping them to make positive choices and stay safe.
Sex education is compulsory in secondary maintained schools. The Government is clear that all schools should make provision for high quality, age-appropriate sex and relationship education (SRE) which is a vital part of preparing young people for life.
The Government’s current approach is for schools to develop their own local PSHE programme to reflect the needs of their pupils. For some schools, their PSHE programme may include elements of SRE.
The Secretary of State agrees that we need to look again at the case for further action on PSHE and SRE provision, as a matter of priority with particular consideration to improving quality and accessibility. We are actively considering all our options and will give a view soon.
Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the report by the Fair Admissions Campaign in 2015, and in particular its recommendations that an independent body be established actively to monitor and enforce schools' admissions arrangements.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government will shortly consult on a package of changes to the School Admissions Code which will both respond to concerns from parents and to the findings in the Chief Adjudicator’s Annual Report. That package will include measures to improve fairness and transparency.
We want the Schools Adjudicator to be able to focus on objections raised by those who will be affected by admission arrangements. Local Authorities will continue to have a right to object on behalf of the local community.
The Government supports the need for an independent body to respond to concerns raised about the fairness of school admission arrangements. The Schools Adjudicator is that body and we are confident of both the independence and rigour of the adjudication process.
Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to comments made by Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, Chair of the Accord coalition, opposing proposals to prevent organisations from objecting to the admission arrangements of schools.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government will shortly consult on a package of changes to the School Admissions Code which will both respond to concerns from parents and to the findings in the Chief Adjudicator’s Annual Report. That package will include measures to improve fairness and transparency.
We want the Schools Adjudicator to be able to focus on objections raised by those who will be affected by admission arrangements. Local Authorities will continue to have a right to object on behalf of the local community.
The Government supports the need for an independent body to respond to concerns raised about the fairness of school admission arrangements. The Schools Adjudicator is that body and we are confident of both the independence and rigour of the adjudication process.
Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what additional steps, if any, they will take to monitor and enforce compliance with the School Admissions Code in the light of their decision to limit those who can formally object to school admission arrangements; and what estimate they have made of what percentage of the objections submitted to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator by (1) parents, and (2) groups or organisations, were successful between 2012 and 2015 inclusive.
Answered by Lord Nash
The School Admissions Code exists to ensure that places in all state funded schools are allocated in a fair and transparent manner. The Department for Education will shortly be consulting on a package of changes to the Code, which will include measures to assist parents and promote fairness and transparency. The proposed changes in relation to objections are designed to ensure that the Schools Adjudicator is able to focus on the concerns parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school and is not held up by the need to also consider large numbers of objections referred by interest groups from outside the area. Local authorities will continue to have the right to object so that they are able to act on behalf of the local community.
Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their policy that all schools should follow the School Admissions Code, and if so, why objections to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator that have been upheld have been described by the Secretary of State for Education as "vexatious".
Answered by Lord Nash
All maintained schools and academies are required to comply with the School Admissions Code.
Currently, legislation allows ‘any person or body who considers that a maintained school or academy’s arrangements are unlawful’ to refer an objection to the Schools Adjudicator. However, the Adjudicator raised concerns in her recent annual report that, in some instances, groups and individuals appear to have referred objections in an attempt to influence government policy.
We want to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on the concerns that parents may have about their local school’s admission arrangements, and is not held up by the need to also consider large numbers of objections referred by interest groups from outside the area. We are, therefore, proposing that only local parents and local authorities should be able to refer objections to the Schools Adjudicator.
We will be conducting a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.
Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether proposed changes to who can object to school admissions arrangements will have a disproportionate impact on parents from low income backgrounds.
Answered by Lord Nash
Our proposed changes are intended to ensure that the Adjudicator is able to focus on the concerns parents may have about the fairness of the admission arrangements of their local school. We do not want parents’ objections to be held up by the need to also consider objections referred by interest groups from outside the area.
It will remain open for local authorities to object to the Adjudicator about schools’ admission arrangements as the champion of local parents. Preventing interest groups from submitting objections will not have a detrimental impact on lower income families.
We will conduct a full public consultation in due course and will give careful consideration to all the views expressed in that consultation.
Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pupils in Pupil Referral Units are reintegrated into mainstream education annually, and what support is available for that to happen.
Answered by Lord Nash
Every child, including those who have been excluded, should receive a good quality education to allow them to achieve their full potential. Information on the number of pupils in pupil referral units (PRUs) reintegrated into mainstream education annually is not readily available and it could only be determined at a disproportionate cost.
PRUs and other alternative providers should work with commissioners to develop a clearly defined set of objectives for each pupil’s time in alternative provision and their reintegration into mainstream education. Progress against these objectives should be frequently monitored and assessed to ensure that pupils’ needs are being addressed and they return to mainstream school when they are ready. An appropriate package of support should be in place to assist in the reintegration process.
The Department has published statutory guidance in 2013 on alternative provision with clearly defined objectives for commissioners of PRUs and alternative provision (AP) to support pupils back into school after an alternative education placement. A copy has been attached to this answer.
Asked by: Baroness Massey of Darwen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why pupils not attending school due to health needs are not entitled to the pupil premium.
Answered by Lord Nash
This Government is determined that all children, regardless of their circumstances, should receive a good education. Where a child of compulsory school age would not receive suitable education due to health needs, local authorities have a duty to ensure that alternative arrangements are put in place. Local authorities are funded to make these arrangements through their high needs budgets.
The pupil premium is additional funding that recognises the further barriers to educational achievement faced by disadvantaged pupils. Disadvantaged pupils who are unable to attend school because of health needs continue to attract the pupil premium. The premium is paid to all state funded schools with eligible pupils, including special schools, special academies, pupil referral units and alternative provision academies. Where eligible pupils are recorded on the alternative provision census as receiving other forms of alternative provision then the pupil premium is paid to the local authority. Information about pupil premium funding arrangements can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and-alternative-provision-settings