Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a home education register.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to the introduction of statutory children not in school registers, maintained by each local authority in England. These registers will include those children who are being educated at home, and parents will have a duty to provide information about their children and where and how they are receiving their education. These measures are part of the recently announced Children’s Wellbeing and School Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on Tuesday 17 December. As part of that Bill, we are also taking steps to require parents of some of our most vulnerable children to obtain local authority consent before they can move to home education. This will apply to children who are subject to ongoing enquiries under section 47 of the Children Act 2004, children who have a child protection plan, and children who are attending a special school. Where those children are already being educated at home, local authorities will be able to consider whether that is in their best interests and to assess the suitability of their home learning environment. If that leads to a determination that home education is not in the child’s best interests, the local authority will be able to issue a school attendance order.
Local authorities currently maintain voluntary registers of home educated children in their area. This will be made a legal requirement and authorities also required to share data from their registers with my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. This will allow us to develop a stronger understanding of home education numbers and drivers at local and national levels and determine policy responses where home education has been chosen for reasons other than the provision of suitable education to a child.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average staff to student ratio was in secondary schools in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire in each year since 2010.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Information on the school workforce, including the pupil to adult and pupil to teacher ratios at national, regional, local authority and individual school level, is published in the ‘School Workforce in England’ statistical publication here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.
In the 2023/24 academic year, which is the latest data available, the ratio of pupils to teachers (qualified and unqualified) was 16:8 in state-funded secondary schools in England, the same as the previous year.
The attached table provides the pupil to adult ratio and the pupil to teacher ratio for state-funded secondary schools in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency, Staffordshire local authority and England for the 2010/11 to 2023/24 academic years.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to extend free breakfast clubs in primary schools in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Staffordshire for pupils in (i) special schools and (ii) alternative provision.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is clear on the impact that breakfast clubs can have to support children to arrive at school ready to learn, which is why we are committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every school with primary aged pupils.
From April 2025, free breakfast clubs will be available in up to 750 early adopter schools, as part of a ‘test and learn’ phase, in advance of a national roll out.
The new breakfast club offer, once rolled out nationally, will be available to every state funded school with primary aged children. It will both provide parents with more affordable childcare choices, supporting families with the cost of living, and support school attendance and attainment, ensuring children are set-up for the day and ready to learn.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to visit (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (b) Keele University.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and other governmental Ministers visit a wide variety of education settings across a broad geography. Ministers are grateful to receive many invitations to different establishments and will continue to regularly visit nurseries, schools, colleges and universities.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support (a) children with SEND and (b) their parents, families and carers in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.
Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) reinspected Staffordshire SEND services on their eight areas of significant weakness in February 2022. The inspectors assessed each area of weakness and concluded that sufficient progress had been made to address six. Staffordshire produced an Accelerated Progress Plan (APP) to address the remaining two areas of significant weakness. The APP is being monitored on a 6-monthly basis and the next review is due to take place in November 2024.
The department is committed to supporting and monitoring progress of the identified areas for improvement and have put in place regular monitoring and challenge meetings with SEND advisors from the department and NHS England.