Oral Answers to Questions
Steve Brine Excerpts(8 years, 5 months ago)
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Nick Boles
I am very happy to do that and I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving me the opportunity to do so, not just in relation to Scotland but elsewhere in our country. In my Lincolnshire constituency there are certain industries, such as food growing and processing, and the NHS, which would find it very hard to operate without the skills brought in by highly valued migrant workers, not just from the European Union, though importantly also from the European Union. The Prime Minister was very clear yesterday that those people’s position in our country is secure, their working rights are secure, and we remain a member of the European Union. Not only are they secure, but they are valued. We welcome them and we want them to stay here and help us make our society great.
Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)
9. What steps he is taking to improve the quality of higher education.
The Minister for Universities and Science (Joseph Johnson)
The higher education and research White Paper, and now the Bill before Parliament, set out the steps that we are taking to raise the quality of higher education and to help ensure that all students get the teaching experience that they expect and the employment outcomes that they expect from their time at university.
Steve Brine
The University of Winchester is exceptionally strong in degree apprenticeships. It performs consistently well in student satisfaction surveys and regularly tops 90% in graduate prospects figures. Does the Minister agree that these are all key drivers for young people in deciding to make what is a significant investment in higher education, and that Winchester seems well placed for that?
Joseph Johnson
The University of Winchester is leading the way in degree apprenticeships, as in so many other areas. I was delighted, on Friday, to meet its excellent vice-chancellor, Professor Joy Carter, and I will meet her again shortly. Winchester is a good example of a university whose students have excellent satisfaction ratings and excellent employment outcomes, with 95% going on to employment, graduate employment or further study in a very short time.
Education, Skills and Training
Steve Brine Excerpts(8 years, 6 months ago)
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The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)
This has been an excellent debate. I estimate that 31 Members from all parts of the House have spoken, raising a variety of different subjects. One thing on which we can all agree is that everybody has an interest—a passionate interest—in education. It is an honour for me to close this debate, and I thank Members who have spoken for their insightful contributions.
It is clear from the speech by the hon. Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell) that when it comes to education, the differences between us and the Labour party are stark. While we take the side of parents, pupils and students, the Labour party backs stagnation and decline. The hon. Lady cannot even get her basic facts right: the attainment gap has narrowed at both key stage 2 and key stage 4 since 2011, meaning better prospects and a more prosperous life as an adult for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Since 2010, this Government have been relentless in our pursuit of educational excellence at all ages. I note that the hon. Lady did not even mention the Higher Education and Research Bill in her concluding remarks. We have worked to secure the economy, guarantee prosperity and deliver social justice. The Gracious Speech is a continuation of that approach. As many speakers have picked out, we are particularly focusing on opportunity for all.
Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)
On Friday, I visited Oliver’s Battery Primary School in my constituency, which was the last school in my constituency to be neither good nor outstanding. Today, Hampshire County Council has told me that every single school in my constituency is now good or outstanding. That has been achieved through the hard work of the teachers, the parents, the governors and the young people, and that is what education reform is doing in my constituency.
Nicky Morgan
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I am delighted and pleased—perhaps he will pass on my congratulations to the school he mentioned on its recent Ofsted report. We want the opportunities that schoolchildren in his constituency have to be available to all children, right the way across the country. That is why the White Paper talks about “achieving excellence” areas.
“Educational Excellence Everywhere”: Academies
Steve Brine Excerpts(8 years, 7 months ago)
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Nicky Morgan
That is a good question and something that we want to continue discussing when taking measures through the House, including with local authorities. The important thing is a local authority’s ability to have the resources, experience and personnel to offer really good school improvement, and in my experience, most local authorities will be able to judge when they are struggling with that. We know that at least one local authority has already asked us to issue academy orders for its remaining schools.
Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)
I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and willingness to engage on what was, let us remember, a White Paper for discussion. Last Friday afternoon I was in a meeting with the leader and schools leader of Hampshire County Council, and it is fair to say that the first half of the meeting did not go as well as the second half once they had heard her announcement, and I pass on their thanks. My hope is that this compromise will allow us to get on in successful areas—94% of schools in my constituency are already good or outstanding—and allow her to focus ruthlessly on those areas where children do not enjoy the life chances that they do in my constituency. Do I have that right?
Nicky Morgan
The announcement on Friday was not timed exactly for my hon. Friend’s meeting with Hampshire local authority, but he had made clear to me when he was having that meeting. He is right to say that in the White Paper and subsequent discussions it has become clear that children in some parts of the country are getting a great education, but that is not the case everywhere. I cannot say strongly enough how much I feel that we must ensure that such educational excellence is shared by all children in all parts of this country.
Schools White Paper
Steve Brine Excerpts(8 years, 8 months ago)
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Lucy Powell
My hon. Friend makes a very good point.
Only today, Ofsted has reported that the performance of secondary schools in Reading is “not strong”. Eight out 10 secondary schools in Reading are already academies and are directly accountable to the Secretary of State. Why has she failed to improve those academies, and what is the Government’s school improvement strategy for that and other areas?
Lucy Powell
I will take some interventions later, but I am going to make some progress.
The Government claim that there are more children today in good or outstanding schools than there were in 2010, as proof that academisation leads to school improvement. However, the Secretary of State knows that, as ever, she is being selective with her figures. The truth is that the vast majority of those new good and outstanding places are in primary schools, where academisation is limited. Moreover, according to Ofsted, the number of pupils in inadequate secondary schools has risen by a staggering 60% over the last four years where academisation has taken hold significantly. Not for the first time, the Government’s selective use of statistics and their dubious link between cause and effect do not withstand any scrutiny. Perhaps that is why the Conservative majority Select Committee on Education recently concluded, after an extensive inquiry:
“Current evidence does not allow us to draw conclusions on whether academies in themselves are a positive force for change”
and:
“There is…no convincing evidence of the impact of academy status on attainment”.
Lucy Powell
My hon. Friend makes another excellent point.
On curriculum freedoms, the Secretary of State and I both know that the autonomy the Tories say they are providing just does not exist. During the past five years, parts of the curriculum have been personally drafted by the Education Secretary and then circulated for sign-off among Cabinet Ministers. This sort of ministerial diktat on the curriculum puts schools into a straitjacket. In fact, what we are actually seeing with academisation is a further narrowing of curriculums as schools aim to improve their Ofsted judgments on an increasingly narrow set of measurements.
While the academy programme was originally about bringing new partners and innovation into the system, a wholesale academisation programme will undoubtedly create an increasingly sclerotic and one-dimensional system. It is no wonder that the chief executive of England’s largest academy chain, Academy Enterprise Trust, recently admitted that there is in fact less autonomy for schools in multi-academy trusts than there is for local authority schools.
Lucy Powell
If the hon. Gentleman wants to comment on that, I am more than happy for him to do so.
Steve Brine
No, my intervention is not about that, but I thank the hon. Lady for giving way. She is being very generous with her—or probably our—time. She asks us to support the motion on the Order Paper, which is in her name and that of the Leader of the Opposition. This point came up at Prime Minister’s Question Time earlier. She says that the White Paper proposes the removal of parent governors from school governing bodies, but paragraph 3.31 on page 51 of the White Paper makes it very clear that it will not do so. Clearly, she did not have an opportunity to clarify that during PMQs, but will she now take the opportunity to strike that phrase from the motion?
Lucy Powell
I am happy to clarify that the Government propose to remove the requirement for parent governors. If the hon. Gentleman wants to have a semantic debate about that, it is in the White Paper, on the page to which he referred. The Secretary of State will have the opportunity to talk about that in a moment.
That brings me to the evidence for and the performance of multi-academy trusts—MATs—or chains as they have become better known. It may come as a surprise to many Conservative Members that the Government’s free school and academy agenda has quietly but significantly shifted in policy and practice from stand-alone academies to MAT or chain models. That shift was made clear in the White Paper, in which the policy preference is emphatically for schools to become part of chains. Indeed, Department for Education guidance issued yesterday said:
“We expect that most schools will form or join multi-academy trusts as they become academies.”
There is evidence that schools do better working collaboratively with clusters of schools, especially where they are clustered geographically, as many do in local authority areas.
However, the evidence for the performance of chains so far is mixed. There are some notably good academy chains, but there are many more that are not good. Of the 850 current MATs or chains, only 20 have been assessed, and just three have proved more effective than non-academies. The chief inspector of schools, Sir Michael Wilshaw, wrote to the Secretary of State only a week before the Budget highlighting “serious weaknesses” in academy chains. He went on to say that, in many cases,
“academy chains are worse than the worst performing local authorities they seek to replace”.
To continue with forced academisation of all schools after such a damning letter is frankly irresponsible.
There are major questions for the Government on capacity too. Academy chains are in their infancy and clearly require a closer look, yet the Government want them to take on thousands more schools. Maybe that is why the Secretary of State cannot rule out poorly performing chains being given otherwise good schools under the proposals. One of the main reasons why the track record of many chains is not good is the dearth of any real oversight or accountability.
I share the concerns expressed by many Members of all parties, including my near neighbour, the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale West (Mr Brady), who said that we are in danger of creating distant, unaccountable bureaucracies for schools. That the Department for Education, via its small group of schools commissioners, can provide robust oversight and accountability of all schools in the country, is frankly for the birds. It is an impossible job, and it is also not desirable.
The Secretary of State seems hell-bent on cutting out communities, and cutting out parents from having any say over how their child’s school is run. First, let us take the Tories’ plan to scrap the requirement for parents to sit on governing bodies. Abolishing parent governors and removing any role for parents in choosing whether their child’s school becomes an academy and what type of academy it becomes has unsurprisingly been met with a huge outcry. I understand that the Secretary of State wants to take this opportunity to clarify that parents can still be governors. However, as she well knows, under her plans, there will no longer be a requirement for governing bodies to have them. I do not think that that is the kind of clarification parents are looking for. Perhaps she would like to take the opportunity to go further. In any case, she and I both know that in a world of academy chains, the role of the individual school governing body is greatly diminished and key decisions are taken by the two new levels: the board of trustees and the member board above that; bodies that are all too often appointed by the head or the chief executive whom they are supposed to be holding to account.
If we want to avoid more scandals such as Perry Beaches, Kings Science Academy and E-ACT, to name just a few, and if schools are genuinely to be held to account, we need a much more robust governance regime than remote trustee boards appointed by their executive, held to account only by a regional schools commissioner, who is responsible for overseeing thousands of schools.
There are also very real issues on the ground about accountability and responsibility for excluded children, placing children with SEN and admission policies. They all have very real problems under the fragmented schools system. Such a system of oversight also needs to have recourse to the needs of the local community. We cannot have a situation where the needs of the local area are not considered, such as the case of Knowsley, where the last A-level provision across the entire borough is about to be lost, based on a decision taken by one school. There has to be a better-joined up approach to school improvement and local oversight, involving school leaders and councils as well as parents.
The Government claim to lead the devolution revolution, so their centralisation of schools is both wrong-headed and contradictory. In places like my own, Greater Manchester, the Chancellor talks of releasing the combined authority and elected Mayor to create a northern powerhouse. That the skills and education of the next generation are being taken away at the same time shows what a sham that project is.
That point leads me to one last argument the Government make, which is that it would be simpler to have one funding system. That argument is nonsense and certainly does not support the £1.3 billion reorganisation of the schools system that is being proposed. It is also disingenuous of the Government to link the proposals to the fair funding consultation. There is broad support for a fairer funding model, as long as deprived areas and areas that require improvement do not lose out. Forcing all schools to become academies does not need to be linked to that.
Nicky Morgan
Of course we will meet them, and the Schools Minister has agreed to do so.
The hon. Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell) has said previously that she was proud of Labour’s academy programme, which transformed a small number of failing schools. [Interruption.] I am sorry, I intended to give way to my hon. Friend.
Steve Brine
That is very kind of my right hon. Friend; she is being very generous. She knows that as an MP from Hampshire, where 85% of our schools are good or outstanding. I have many questions about this policy, but if I were to sum up the concerns expressed to me by local teachers, it would be with the word “confusion”. They are confused about why something that is so obviously not broken needs fixing. My concern, which I am sure my right hon. Friend can dispel, is that we must not allow the bad to become the enemy of the good. What would her advice be to Hampshire, where the numbers converting to academy status are relatively low because schools are getting a good service from the existing local education authority? Is there any reason why Hampshire should not create, for instance, a new independent organisation, through which services that our schools—including those that are already academies —so value can continue to be delivered?
Nicky Morgan
I thank my hon. Friend very much. He is absolutely right to say that there is a new role for local authorities, for talented individuals in local authorities to set up their own multi-academy trusts to provide services to schools and to build on the excellence that we already have. I shall set out why we think that schools run by front-line professionals is the best and most sustainable model for raising standards for all pupils.
Caroline Nokes (Romsey and Southampton North) (Con)
I appreciate the opportunity to participate in this important debate and to follow the hon. Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Marion Fellows), with whom I served for a while on the Education Committee.
I applaud my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for her statement at the beginning of the White Paper. She says that education
“is a matter of social justice—extending opportunity to every child”.
A headteacher in Romsey wrote to me immediately the White Paper was released, describing it as the best White Paper he had ever read.
As I said, I was a member of the Education Committee until recently, and I have a feeling I might be on my way back at some point. I joined the Committee during work on its 2014-15 Session report on academies and free schools. As part of that inquiry, we met inspirational school leaders and chief executives of academy chains, we visited schools and we met primary heads involved in multi-academy trusts. We did not look just at the good; we also delved into where academy chains were underperforming. We came up with a report that drew some interesting conclusions.
In Romsey, we have two excellent academies, both of which are converter, stand-alone secondary academies led by great headteachers, to whom I pay tribute for their vision and determination. Today, I have received exhortations from not one constituent but many, asking me to speak out against academies because they are supposedly undemocratic and exclude communities from having an input into how they are run. That is not my experience at all. In fact, I would go further: there is enormous community input into both the academies in Romsey, which go out of their way to involve local businesses, to bring in people from outside to take part in how the school is run, and to give the best opportunities and experiences to their pupils. Both academies are members of the Eastleigh consortium of secondary schools and colleges, and both are real leading lights in sharing best practice and spreading their knowledge and expertise. So, no, I will not speak out against academies, because my experience of them is excellent, and I pay tribute to Heather McIlroy of the Mountbatten School and Jonathan de Sausmarez of Romsey School for the fantastic job they do for Romsey’s children.
However, I must emphasise the conclusions the Select Committee report drew. We do not have to dig far into the report to find the quote given by the hon. Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell):
“Current evidence does not allow us to draw…conclusions on whether academies are a positive force for change.”
I fully accept that the report is now a year old, and there will be additional data, so it may now be possible to have a fuller picture. The report certainly called on the DFE to do further research into the impact of academy status on primary schools.
In Romsey and Southampton North, not one primary school has converted to an academy, and that may be for many good reasons. I have certainly spoken to some excellent headteachers—most notably the head of the most outstanding primary school in my constituency, which is repeatedly rated as outstanding by Ofsted—and the response I have consistently received from her as to why the school has not converted is that those involved have looked at the possibility many times and have not thought that it was right for them. They have welcomed the support and the challenge they have had over the years from the local education authority. Far from seeing that as the shackles of local government, they have enjoyed the robust support and challenge they have had from a consistently high-performing children’s services department.
It is of course possible that my view is entirely coloured by the opinions of headteachers who have worked with Hampshire County Council over many years, and that, were the authority less good, I might be faced with headteachers actively seeking liberation from its bonds. However, they have had the freedom to do that, and they have not done so.
In Hampshire, many of our rural schools are already federated, sharing headteachers and best practice incredibly successfully. I point to the example of the brilliant Jo Cottrell, who is executive head of the outstanding Halterworth Primary School and two smaller village schools in Awbridge and Wellow. I would also like to mention Marcus Roe, head of Ampfield School and of John Keble School in Hursley, which is in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester (Steve Brine).
Steve Brine
On that point, my hon. Friend and I have both had a letter from the aforementioned Mr Roe. John Keble School in Hursley is in the federation she mentioned. I was struck, and I wonder whether she was, by one line in his letter:
“Surely, the model of ‘headteachers know best’”—
which we all agree with—
“also applies to whether we believe academy status is right for us or not.”
As I said earlier, many of my primary schools, like hers, do not believe it is right for them, and they have had the choice to become academies, but they have not exercised it. I wonder whether she noted that line in his letter.
Caroline Nokes
I noted that line and that which said:
“Hampshire has been highly regarded by Ofsted for the excellent work it has done to support children in the county and beyond.”
I appreciate that Hampshire may be able to continue to provide services to schools. I urge my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to look at ways that the good can be exempted from a system of prescription.
I want to emphasise an important element of the Education Committee report. Page 64 states:
“Academisation is not always successful nor is it the only proven alternative for a struggling school.”
This morning I spoke to Ruth Evans, headteacher of Cantell school in Southampton, who has emphasised that Cantell is the fastest improving school in Southampton and rated in the top 5% in the country for value added, but it is not an academy and it has not been able to convert, because of the private finance initiative agreement to which it is bound. What happens to such schools, and how many others are in the same boat? Ruth’s view—I will conclude on this point, because I think she is absolutely right—is that what really matter are the staff and the culture. The school pursues partnerships with its cluster of primary schools and undertakes a peer review to ensure that it is at the forefront of improvement.
Term-time Leave
Steve Brine Excerpts(9 years, 1 month ago)
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Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay) (Con)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered an e-petition relating to term-time leave from school for holiday.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe. I understand that this is your first time in the Westminster Hall Chair. It is my first time opening a debate here, so hopefully we can learn together.
It is a pleasure to open this debate on a controversial and unpopular policy that has provoked much public interest, as we can see from the number of members of the public present. The debate is the result of an e-petition calling for parents to be allowed to take their children out of school for up to two weeks for a family holiday; it has been signed by more than 120,000 people. I am leading the debate because I am a member of the Petitions Committee, but I also have a keen interest in the issue and have been campaigning about it for the past 12 months or more. I have been contacted by, and have spoken with, hundreds of parents, tourism-related businesses, charities and campaigning organisations about the issue. In my opening statement, I hope accurately to represent the views of all those people, while making it clear that I share those views.
To begin with, I want to make it absolutely clear that I support the aim that children should attend school regularly. Education is vital, but it is not the only important thing in a child’s upbringing. Although I support that aim, I fundamentally disagree that telling parents when they can and cannot take their children on holiday is a job for the state.
During the election campaign, I became increasingly aware of the policy’s detrimental effects; in my view, its wider economic and social impact outweighs the positive effect on school attendance. I represent the constituency of St Austell and Newquay in mid-Cornwall, and the policy’s impacts are especially felt in Cornwall and other places that depend heavily on tourism. I will lay out three main reasons why the policy is wrong and counterproductive and why it needs to be reviewed.
We have heard an awful lot about fairness in politics over the past few years. My first reason is that, sadly, the policy is blatantly unfair to a number of groups. The first group are those unable to take a holiday during school holiday times, including many who work in tourism and other sectors. Many small tourism-related businesses in Cornwall are too busy to allow their staff to take a holiday during the peak holiday season; many are owner-run and have to make money while people are on holiday. People with such work cannot, therefore, afford to close and take a holiday themselves during the season. In fact, the introduction of the policy has made things even worse for tourism businesses because the season is now even more concentrated, into six or seven weeks of the school summer holidays. That places even greater demand on the businesses during the peak season and makes it even more difficult for them to allow staff to take a holiday.
It is not, however, only those who work directly in tourism who are affected; it is also those who work in the public sector in tourism areas. For example, our local police in mid-Cornwall have for many years restricted police officers’ ability to take holiday during the peak season due to the increased demand for policing in the area. The policy effectively tells people who cannot take a holiday during school holiday times that they cannot have a family holiday, and that seems completely unfair.
The policy is also unfair in other ways—on people who cannot afford to pay for a holiday during the peak holiday season, for example. We all know that holidays taken during the peak season, whether in this country or abroad, are out of the reach of many families on low incomes; in fact, many families we would consider to be on middle incomes struggle to pay the peak season prices. There have been calls for the Government to intervene and bring some sort of regulation into the holiday market, but we have to accept that that is incredibly unlikely—we live in a free market economy and prices are set by supply and demand. But surely we can expect the Government not to introduce policies that make the matter worse, and it is worth noting that that is precisely what is happening.
The restriction on term-time holidays has had the unintended—I am sure—consequence of increasing demand during school holidays and pushing prices up during the peak season. Holiday resorts in Cornwall say that because there is greater demand during the peak weeks and they are also losing business during what we call the shoulder weeks, they are having to increase prices in the peak weeks to make up the difference. The cost differential between term-time and school holiday prices is widening. Far from helping the lower-paid to have a holiday, the policy is exacerbating the situation.
Another group that the policy is unfair to are the many families who rely on charities for a holiday. I have been contacted by a number of charities that have for many years taken groups of disadvantaged families on holiday during September. They do it then because prices are lower and they are often able to get a good deal on a holiday park during periods of lower demand.
An example close to my heart is an organisation called Cornwall One Parent Support. I have been involved with the charity right from its beginnings, almost 20 years ago, since when it has provided support for single-parent families, including taking them on a cheap, subsidised holiday in September. It has often taken groups of up to 40 families away for a week. The holiday provides a great opportunity for the parents and children to have a break and experience a holiday they would otherwise never be able to enjoy. However, since the introduction of the policy, the organisation cannot run the holidays in the same way, as the families are prevented from taking their children out of school. The policy is unfair to a great number of families, and sadly it is the lowest paid and most disadvantaged who appear to be losing out.
I also believe that the policy is detrimental to family life. As a matter of principle, I do not believe that it is the role of the state to tell parents when they can take their children on holiday. Every child is unique, and it should be for parents to decide what is right and best for their child. Some parents will decide that the best thing is for their child to be in school at all times; others will decide that the benefit of a family holiday—the experience of travel, new cultures and meeting new people—is more beneficial than being in school for that week. It should be, however, for the parent to make the choice.
Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)
It is, of course, the state’s right and responsibility to see that children get a proper education, and we know that being in school clearly leads to that. I do not think that the signatories to the petition are saying that taking children out of school for family holidays is an absolute right, and I wonder whether there might be a compromise to be reached for children in the early years of primary school—reception, year 1 and year 2. Would my hon. Friend suggest that the rules could be relaxed for those years?
Steve Double
I agree with my hon. Friend. The vast majority of parents—if not all of them—want a good education for their children. The issue is not about a competition between education and family; it is that many parents, including me, consider that family holidays and the experiences they bring are part of a child’s education. One of the sadnesses of the policy is that it has pitted school and education against family, when we want them to work together for the benefit of the child and to do what is right and best for that child.
If we view education as just what takes place in the classroom, we rather miss the point; education needs to be about much more than that in a child’s life. The point that my hon. Friend made about flexibility is absolutely right—we need some common-sense flexibility brought into this issue. Parents want their children to be in school regularly, and that is what the Education Act 1996 asks for. Let us not forget that the 1996 Act gives parents the option to home educate, which seems to be a bit of a contradiction given the application of the strict rules that I am discussing.
Many parents have contacted me on this matter. It is a widely held view that a child’s upbringing and education are about more than what happens in the classroom. Clearly, formal schooling is a central and critical part of any child’s education, but it is not the only important element. The breadth and variety of experiences that children can gain from travel can enrich and deepen their view and appreciation of the world. I know that from my own upbringing. The times when I travelled with my parents shaped and developed my understanding of the world in a way that the classroom teacher would never be able to provide.
There is a deeper, more concerning aspect of the policy’s impact on families. The policy sends out the message that being in the classroom is somehow more important than being with their family, which is something I fundamentally cannot support. No matter how good a school or individual teacher is, being in school can never be more important, more valuable or more beneficial in a child’s life than a positive and healthy family situation.
We all know that we are living busier and busier lives these days; the pressure and stresses of daily life put more demands on family life than ever before, so the time that parents have with their children is more precious than ever before. The benefit of that week or two away—away from the pressures of life and the domestic and mundane responsibilities of home—can be an oasis for any family, offering the opportunity to regroup, to refresh their relationships and to strengthen the family bond. I know the cliché is often used, but the quality time parents can spend with their children on a holiday can be one of the most positive things a child can experience in the madness of today’s world.
Summer-born Children (Education Guidelines)
Steve Brine Excerpts(9 years, 3 months ago)
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Stephen Hammond
I am unsure that I necessarily followed that exactly, but the hon. Gentleman, as ever, makes a clear point. I am sure that parents in Northern Ireland will be listening carefully.
Going back to my performance on “You and Yours” today, several people have emailed me since and I was particularly struck by a lady who contacted me to say that she had triplets born prematurely at 25 weeks. They should have been born on 1 November, but she was told by her local authority that if she delays their start to school, they will have to go into year 1 rather than reception. That is despite the fact that her children have been diagnosed by paediatricians as having additional needs and developmental delay. Another lady got in touch to tell me about her grandaughter who was born in August 2005 in Dublin. In Ireland, as the Minister will know, parents can choose when a child with an August birthday starts school, so the parents decided to delay her entry into reception. A few years later, it was necessary for the family to move to the UK, where the local authority has insisted that the child starts school with her chronological age group in year 5, thereby skipping year 4. That has caused huge distress and anxiety for the child. Practice differs across the country, but the guidelines are being followed inconsistently and it has become far too much of a lottery.
Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)
I spoke to my hon. Friend before the debate to say that I would intervene, and I thank him for giving way. My youngest son, William, started school today. He was born in November and my wife and I just know that he is ready to start school. Does my hon. Friend agree that the reason for such a response to his stellar performance on Radio 4 this lunchtime is that this is ultimately about parental choice? Parents know what is best for their children and want greater control over when their children enter the education system.
Stephen Hammond
I wholeheartedly concur. I am pleased to see from some comments that the Minister has made already that he, too, understands and accepts that point fully.
We must look at the practice in other countries. In the Netherlands, parents have the right to choose whether a child has one or two years at kindergarten. In the USA, study at kindergarten can be delayed to allow social, emotional, intellectual or physical growth. In some German states, all children are required to be assessed by a paediatrician or educational psychologist to check that they are ready for school. I am not suggesting that we implement all those practices, but it is clear that there is a recognition of these issues across a number of countries.
I have referred a number of times to the guidelines entitled “Advice on the admission of summer born children”, in which the Minister is well versed. I find it difficult to disagree with a statement that came from his Department earlier in the year, which stated:
“Our reforms are raising the quality of early years education”.
It stated that there was
“a greater focus on the key skills children need for a good start in life.”
That is what the guidelines entail.
Paragraph 2.17 of the school admissions code states:
“Parents may seek a place for their child outside of their normal age group… In addition, the parents of a summer born child…may request that they are admitted out of their normal age group—to reception rather than year 1.”
It states that authorities must
“make decisions on the basis of the circumstances of each case and in the best interests of the child concerned”;
that they must
“take into account the views of the head teacher”;
and that they must inform the parent of their decision and
“set out clearly the reasons for their decision.”
Finally, it sets out that any application must be taken into account as part of the normal process and not be given a lower priority.
Those guidelines are a real step forward, but there is always a but. In this case, the but is not about the guidelines; there are issues with how the process is being operated in practice, there are concerns about the attitudes of a number of councils and there is a feeling among many parents that they are not getting a fair hearing or that the system is operating a postcode lottery.
Let me briefly set out the issues with current practice. First, although there is no statutory barrier to a child being admitted outside their normal age cohort, there is no right to insist or to appeal. Although the guidelines state that the rationale must be set out, they do not confer any extra rights. Secondly, some authorities allow delayed entry into education but then insist that the child begins in year 1, rather than in reception, thus removing all the hoped-for benefit of starting a year later. Thirdly, some authorities, as I pointed out when describing the case in my constituency, allow a child to defer entry at primary level but give no guarantee that the child will remain in that cohort post-primary school. Finally, there are any number of similar problems for the parents of premature and pre-term babies. Some local authorities take no account of prematurity or the due date.
The Education Committee noted in a report earlier this year that the number of cases where children were being delayed and then admitted into year 1 rather than into reception had increased and that there was an increase in the number of contentious cases.
Tonight, I ask the Minister for minor tweaks that I think would have a substantial impact on the lives of many children. I hope that those tweaks will address the issues that I have described. I know that the Minister has agreed to a review, so I ask him to look at revising the guidelines in three ways. First, I ask that the due date, rather than the birth date, of premature children be used in the definition or interpretation of compulsory school age. Secondly, I ask him to consider giving the parents of summer-born children an automatic right to defer, given that parents have the best feeling for when their children should enter education, with a similar provision for the parents of premature children. Finally, I ask him to ensure that once a deferral has been agreed, the child stays in the same educational cohort throughout their educational career.
If the Minister feels that that is a “perfect world”, that he cannot necessarily agree to all those suggestions, and that perhaps one would be a step too far—although I do not think they are—then surely the default position must be that the onus is placed on the council to prove why a request should not be granted. I hope the Minister will consider the three tweaks, which I regard as relatively minor. Like supporters of the Summer Born and Too Much, Too Soon campaigns, I have been hugely encouraged by the Minister’s interest in this issue. Tonight—or this morning—we have the chance, through those tweaks, to change many children’s lives for the better. I hope the Minister will agree, in his comments this morning, to look at those tweaks and to revise the guidelines accordingly. We have the chance to make a change that will be of benefit to so many children.