Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in Barnsley East constituency have been in receipt of free school meals each month since May 2021.
Answered by Will Quince
Data on the number of pupils eligible for free school meals is published annually in the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ National Statistics release, available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics.
In January 2022, there were 4,084 pupils eligible for free school meals in Barnsley East constituency. In January 2021, there were 3,792 pupils eligible for free school meals in Barnsley East constituency.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to plans outlined in the Veterans’ Strategy Action Plan 2022-24 to promote opportunities for service leavers to get into teaching, how his Department plans to measure and evaluate the success of those plans.
Answered by Robin Walker
The department is committed to further promoting opportunities for service leavers to get into teaching. Many veterans already use our services to support service leavers into Initial Teacher Training (ITT) each year.
Through collaboration with the science, technology, engineering and maths communities and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, and in partnership with the Careers Transition Partnership in the Ministry of Defence, we are working to further develop this offer. This will include increased signposting, tailored communications, hosting webinars, careers fairs, and information sessions for service leavers.
The department plans to track several data points through all these activities to determine the success of, and engagement with, the offer, and over the longer term track the wider journey through to ITT. All of this will help us develop and evolve our offer to ensure it meets the needs of service leavers wishing to enter the profession.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding has been allocated to promote opportunities for veterans to go into teaching.
Answered by Robin Walker
For veterans who do not already hold a degree, the department offers a Troops to Teachers undergraduate bursary worth £40,000. This is paid over two years to veterans who undertake an undergraduate initial teacher training (ITT) course in secondary biology, chemistry, computing, languages, mathematics or physics. Veterans who hold a degree can access the postgraduate ITT bursaries and scholarships of up to £26,000 that we offer for secondary biology, chemistry, computing, design and technology, geography, languages, mathematics and physics courses.
Regardless of the subject or phase they train in, veterans can also access student finance to complete undergraduate and postgraduate ITT courses. This includes a tuition fee loan, maintenance loan and additional means-tested funding for trainees in particular circumstances, including those with children, adult dependants, or a disability.
All of the above funding is allocated on a demand-led basis so there is no limit to the number of veterans who can access this funding to enter teaching.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Ofsted inspections for schools previously rated outstanding are taking priority over inspections on other schools.
Answered by Robin Walker
There are no longer any schools exempt from inspection as a result of having been rated Outstanding. The exemption from routine inspection, which applied to 3,446 outstanding schools at the time, was removed in November 2020. The removal took place at a time when Ofsted’s routine inspections were suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
In September 2021, Ofsted resumed its programme of routine inspections and will aim to inspect every state funded school, including previously exempt outstanding schools, by the end of summer 2025. Ofsted will continue to prioritise schools most in need of inspection, particularly those with the lowest Ofsted grades and outstanding schools that have gone the longest without a visit.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools are exempt from Ofsted inspections as a result of having been rated outstanding.
Answered by Robin Walker
There are no longer any schools exempt from inspection as a result of having been rated Outstanding. The exemption from routine inspection, which applied to 3,446 outstanding schools at the time, was removed in November 2020. The removal took place at a time when Ofsted’s routine inspections were suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
In September 2021, Ofsted resumed its programme of routine inspections and will aim to inspect every state funded school, including previously exempt outstanding schools, by the end of summer 2025. Ofsted will continue to prioritise schools most in need of inspection, particularly those with the lowest Ofsted grades and outstanding schools that have gone the longest without a visit.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has a timetable for the re-inspection by Ofsted of schools that were previously rated outstanding.
Answered by Robin Walker
There are no longer any schools exempt from inspection as a result of having been rated Outstanding. The exemption from routine inspection, which applied to 3,446 outstanding schools at the time, was removed in November 2020. The removal took place at a time when Ofsted’s routine inspections were suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
In September 2021, Ofsted resumed its programme of routine inspections and will aim to inspect every state funded school, including previously exempt outstanding schools, by the end of summer 2025. Ofsted will continue to prioritise schools most in need of inspection, particularly those with the lowest Ofsted grades and outstanding schools that have gone the longest without a visit.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure online home-learning options remain available for children who are unable to attend school for health reasons post the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Robin Walker
COVID-19 continues to be a virus that we learn to live with and the imperative to reduce the disruption to children and young people’s education remains. Our priority is for schools to deliver face-to-face, high-quality education to all pupils. The evidence is clear that being out of education causes significant harm to educational attainment, life chances, mental and physical health.
School attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age and it is a priority to ensure that as many children as possible regularly attend school. However, the department’s current guidance for remote education states that schools affected by the remote education temporary continuity direction must provide remote education for state-funded, school-aged pupils whose attendance would be contrary to public health advice or government guidance or law relating to COVID-19 during the 2021/22 academic year.
This means that from September 2021, schools should offer remote education to pupils who test positive for COVID-19 or present with COVID-19 symptoms, where they are well enough to be educated from home.
In terms of considering home education options for children who are unable to attend school for health reasons beyond the COVID-19 outbreak, the department is carefully considering the role that remote approaches could play in the education system longer-term, recognising the opportunities that remote education has presented, alongside the challenges.
The department recognises that technology in education has been essential for continuing to teach remotely during the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent school and college closures. We are building on the department’s significant investment in devices, platforms, training and digital services to develop a sustainable strategy for digital technology in education.