Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many defibrillators are provided in each building her Department manages.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Education provides the following number of defibrillators in each of its buildings:
Building | No. of Defibrillators |
Sanctuary Buildings, London | 3 |
Earlsdon Park, Coventry | 1 |
Bishopsgate House, Darlington | 1 |
2 St Paul's Place, Sheffield | 0 |
Learning & Conference Centre, Nottingham | 0 |
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help prevent loneliness and social isolation among younger people.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Loneliness and isolation in younger people may be due to a variety of complex reasons and there is no single solution; prevention and early intervention are key. The Department for Education’s provisions for early years, schools and vulnerable children all play a part in promoting social contact and assisting families to support children more effectively.
Schools can play a significant role in promoting good mental health and emotional wellbeing, which helps their pupils integrate and get the most out of the education, by supporting children and young people who are facing difficulties. Every state-funded school in England must offer a broad and balanced curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural and physical development of pupils. In doing so, we expect schools to make provision for personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) and to provide a wide range of curricular and extra-curricular opportunities for pupils to develop their character.
When loneliness and isolation leads to mental health difficulties, there is a range of support available to schools. Our Mental Health and Behaviour advice helps teachers to identify and support pupils with mental health needs, including being aware of when children become withdrawn and isolated: www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2. Our blueprint for school counselling services provides schools with practical, evidence-based advice on how to deliver high quality school based counselling: www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools.
The government has made children and young people’s mental health support a priority and we are investing an additional £1.4 billion in children and young people’s and perinatal mental health services over the next 5 years. On top of this the Department for Education is also providing funding worth £4.9 million this year, through a dedicated mental health strand within our VCS programme, which includes supporting children and young people with issues such as bereavement. For those children and young people with caring responsibility, who are particularly at risk of isolation, we have changed the law to make it easier for them to get an assessment of their needs for support regardless of the level or type of care they provide.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children and young people acquire the skills necessary to make healthy food choice.
Answered by Edward Timpson
There are opportunities across the school curriculum for children to be taught the skills they need to make healthy food choices. In science lessons at key stages 1 and 2, children are taught to describe the importance for humans of exercise and eating the right amounts of different types of food and that humans need the right types and amount of nutrition. In secondary science, children are taught about the content of a healthy human diet, such as carbohydrates, fats and oils, proteins, vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre and water, and why each is needed. They also learn about the consequences of imbalances in the diet, including obesity.
In design and technology lessons (key stages 1 to 3), children are taught about food, nutrition and healthy eating and how to cook a repertoire of dishes. Pupils in primary schools are taught about healthy eating and the importance of a good, balanced diet. In secondary schools, children’s knowledge becomes more in-depth as they learn how to feed themselves and others affordably and well and learn where their food comes from.
Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education also provides opportunities for pupils to learn about health and wellbeing, including being taught what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, the benefits of physical activity and healthy eating.
It is important that children eat nutritious, tasty food at school as fuel for learning, to help their growth and development and so that they develop healthy eating habits. The School Food Standards, introduced in January 2015, severely restrict foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods. They help ensure that pupils always have healthy options for their school lunch.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department intends to take to reduce the number of children who do not attend school due to bullying.
Answered by Edward Timpson
No child should be frightened of going to school because they might be bullied.
All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy with measures to prevent all forms of bullying and they are held closely to account by Ofsted for their effectiveness. Inspectors consider pupil behaviour and welfare, including how well schools prevent and tackle bullying, discriminatory and prejudicial behaviour.
We are also providing a total of £1.3 million of funding over 12 months from April 2015 to the Diana Award, Kidscape and the National Children’s Bureau to work with schools to prevent bullying and deal with its impact when it occurs. This is in addition to the £4 million provided in 2013/15. We are also providing £2 million this year to help schools tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.
Good schools create an ethos of good behaviour where pupils treat each other and staff with courtesy and respect. Where bullying does happen schools should move to tackle it and provide support for the bullied child. We issued advice to schools last year to help them identify children that may be most vulnerable to bullying and how to provide support to ensure their mental health and wellbeing. This is available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many defibrillators have been purchased by new schools nationally in accordance with guidance issued in 2014 by her Department; and what assessment she has made of the effect of this guidance.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Department does not hold information on the number of schools which have staff trained in CPR. All schools should have at least one first-aider, and the number of first-aid personnel will be based on local circumstances, considered as part of a first aid needs assessment in the school. Recognised certificated courses ‘First Aid at Work’ or ‘Emergency First Aid at Work’ train staff in the administration of CPR.
The guidance published by the Department in November 2014 promoted a scheme to enable schools to purchase defibrillators at reduced cost. As of 23 October 2015, 735 defibrillators had been purchased by schools through this scheme. The Department does not hold information on the total number of schools with a defibrillator.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in England have (a) staff trained in CPR or (b) a defibrillator on site; and what plans her Department has to ensure that all schools have (i) such staff and (ii) on-site defibrillators.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Department does not hold information on the number of schools which have staff trained in CPR. All schools should have at least one first-aider, and the number of first-aid personnel will be based on local circumstances, considered as part of a first aid needs assessment in the school. Recognised certificated courses ‘First Aid at Work’ or ‘Emergency First Aid at Work’ train staff in the administration of CPR.
The guidance published by the Department in November 2014 promoted a scheme to enable schools to purchase defibrillators at reduced cost. As of 23 October 2015, 735 defibrillators had been purchased by schools through this scheme. The Department does not hold information on the total number of schools with a defibrillator.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding schools in Brigg and Goole constituency received under the pupil premium in 2013-14; and what estimate she has made of how much funding those schools will receive in pupil premium in 2014-15.
Answered by David Laws
Schools and academies in Brigg and Goole constituency have been allocated £2.231 million through the pupil premium for financial year 2013 to 2014, and £2.851 million for financial year 2014 to 2015.
This includes funding through the deprivation and service child elements for financial year 2013 to 2014, and also the children adopted from care element for financial year 2014 to 2015, but excludes the looked-after children element in both years as this is not available at a parliamentary constituency level.
Asked by: Andrew Percy (Conservative - Brigg and Goole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on securing a deal with a defibrillator supplier to facilitate the roll-out of defibrillators to schools.
Answered by David Laws
The Department for Education is currently working in partnership with the Department of Health and stakeholders to finalise arrangements for rolling out defibrillators to schools. We have developed a detailed minimum specification in partnership with stakeholders to ensure that devices are appropriate to schools’ requirements and represent value-for-money. A reverse auction has been held and competitive bids submitted. The outcome of the process remains subject to approval. We expect to make an announcement in early December.