Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Period product scheme for schools and colleges, published 9 September 2024, what methods she uses to highlight to eligible schools and colleges the availability of (a) environmentally friendly and (b) reusable products.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The period product scheme provides a wide range of products for organisations to choose from. These include environmentally friendly tampons and pads, alongside reusable products such as menstrual cups and period pants. Schools and colleges know their learners best and therefore have the freedom to select the most suitable products for their learners, considering the cost and type of product.
When choosing products, girls and women will inevitably have a range of priorities including whether the product is familiar, comfortable and whether it is environmentally friendly. The department therefore offers a range of products to allow organisations and learners a choice. We will be monitoring product choice closely, while continuing to seek opportunities to encourage the use of sustainable products as the scheme develops.
In the 2024/25 academic year up to February 2025, 45% of ordering organisations had ordered environmentally friendly or reusable products.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Period product scheme for schools and colleges, published 9 September 2024, what proportion of organisations have ordered (a) environmentally friendly and (b) reusable products during the 2024-25 academic year to date.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The period product scheme provides a wide range of products for organisations to choose from. These include environmentally friendly tampons and pads, alongside reusable products such as menstrual cups and period pants. Schools and colleges know their learners best and therefore have the freedom to select the most suitable products for their learners, considering the cost and type of product.
When choosing products, girls and women will inevitably have a range of priorities including whether the product is familiar, comfortable and whether it is environmentally friendly. The department therefore offers a range of products to allow organisations and learners a choice. We will be monitoring product choice closely, while continuing to seek opportunities to encourage the use of sustainable products as the scheme develops.
In the 2024/25 academic year up to February 2025, 45% of ordering organisations had ordered environmentally friendly or reusable products.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department has made on developing updated guidance for schools on tackling sexual harassment.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The department has previously committed to non-statutory guidance on sexual harassment, sexual violence and violence against women and girls. This is pending whilst the department carries out the review of the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance, and the department will be considering how best to support teachers in this area.
A draft of the amended RSHE statutory guidance will be published for consultation as soon as possible. The department will take responses carefully into account, including any relating to content on sexual harassment and violence, in finalising new guidance prior to publication.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of schools in (a) Oxford, (b) Oxfordshire, (c) the South East and (d) England are expected to offer A-Levels in modern foreign languages in the next five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The department does not produce future trends of the number of students taking specific qualifications, or future trends in the number of schools or colleges offering specific qualifications.
The department recognises the importance of the study of languages in Britain and is taking steps to increase the number of pupils studying languages at GCSE level and beyond. This is particularly important given that languages were made non-mandatory in 2004. The department’s Language Hubs programme is comprised of 15 lead hub schools across England, all of which will work with other schools in their area to improve standards of language teaching, in line with recommendations of the Teaching Schools Council’s 2016 modern foreign languages pedagogy review.
Managed by the National Consortium for Languages Education, the programme provides high-quality teacher Continuing Professional Development and includes improving transition from key stage 2 to key stage 3, increasing opportunities among disadvantaged pupils to study languages, and increasing the access to home, heritage, and community languages.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of future trends in the level of student uptake in A-Levels in modern foreign languages in (a) Oxford, (b) Oxfordshire, (c) the South East and (d) England.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The department does not produce future trends of the number of students taking specific qualifications, or future trends in the number of schools or colleges offering specific qualifications.
The department recognises the importance of the study of languages in Britain and is taking steps to increase the number of pupils studying languages at GCSE level and beyond. This is particularly important given that languages were made non-mandatory in 2004. The department’s Language Hubs programme is comprised of 15 lead hub schools across England, all of which will work with other schools in their area to improve standards of language teaching, in line with recommendations of the Teaching Schools Council’s 2016 modern foreign languages pedagogy review.
Managed by the National Consortium for Languages Education, the programme provides high-quality teacher Continuing Professional Development and includes improving transition from key stage 2 to key stage 3, increasing opportunities among disadvantaged pupils to study languages, and increasing the access to home, heritage, and community languages.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of future trends in the level of student uptake for GCSE level modern foreign languages in (a) Oxford, (b) Oxfordshire, (c) the South East and (d) England.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The department does not produce future trends of the number of students taking specific qualifications, or future trends in the number of schools or colleges offering specific qualifications.
The department recognises the importance of the study of languages in Britain and is taking steps to increase the number of pupils studying languages at GCSE level and beyond. This is particularly important given that languages were made non-mandatory in 2004. The department’s Language Hubs programme is comprised of 15 lead hub schools across England, all of which will work with other schools in their area to improve standards of language teaching, in line with recommendations of the Teaching Schools Council’s 2016 modern foreign languages pedagogy review.
Managed by the National Consortium for Languages Education, the programme provides high-quality teacher Continuing Professional Development and includes improving transition from key stage 2 to key stage 3, increasing opportunities among disadvantaged pupils to study languages, and increasing the access to home, heritage, and community languages.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of schools in (a) Oxford, (b) Oxfordshire, (c) the South East and (d) England are expected to offer A-levels in (i) art and design, (ii) dance, (iii) drama, (iv) music, (v) film studies and (vi) media studies in the next five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The department does not produce future trends of the number of students taking specific qualifications, or future trends in the number of schools or colleges offering specific qualifications.
The requirement on all state-funded schools to teach a broad and balanced curriculum encompasses the arts. Alongside drama as part of the English curriculum and dance as part of the physical education curriculum, music and art and design, remain important pillars of the knowledge-rich national curriculum. This is also reflected in the reformed GCSEs and A levels in art and design, dance, drama, music, film studies and media studies which were introduced for first teaching from 2015 for A levels and from 2016 for GCSEs. The government also introduced parallel reforms to Technical Awards at level 2 to ensure these were high-quality and fit-for-purpose.
Examining recent trends over the past five years, between 2019 and 2023, around half of pupils at Key Stage 4 have taken at least one approved arts qualification, which includes GCSEs set out above and Technical Awards.
The department has committed over £714 million of funding between 2016 and 2022 in a diverse portfolio of music and arts education programmes to ensure all children, whatever their background, have access to a high quality education in music and arts. Over and above school core funding, the department will continue to invest around £115 million per year in cultural education up to 2025.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of future trends in the level of student uptake for A-level (a) art and design, (b) dance, (c) drama, (d) music, (e) film studies and (f) media studies in (i) Oxford, (ii) Oxfordshire, (iii) the South East and (iv) England.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The department does not produce future trends of the number of students taking specific qualifications, or future trends in the number of schools or colleges offering specific qualifications.
The requirement on all state-funded schools to teach a broad and balanced curriculum encompasses the arts. Alongside drama as part of the English curriculum and dance as part of the physical education curriculum, music and art and design, remain important pillars of the knowledge-rich national curriculum. This is also reflected in the reformed GCSEs and A levels in art and design, dance, drama, music, film studies and media studies which were introduced for first teaching from 2015 for A levels and from 2016 for GCSEs. The government also introduced parallel reforms to Technical Awards at level 2 to ensure these were high-quality and fit-for-purpose.
Examining recent trends over the past five years, between 2019 and 2023, around half of pupils at Key Stage 4 have taken at least one approved arts qualification, which includes GCSEs set out above and Technical Awards.
The department has committed over £714 million of funding between 2016 and 2022 in a diverse portfolio of music and arts education programmes to ensure all children, whatever their background, have access to a high quality education in music and arts. Over and above school core funding, the department will continue to invest around £115 million per year in cultural education up to 2025.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of schools in (a) Oxford, (b) Oxfordshire, (c) the South East and (d) England are expected to offer GCSEs in (i) art and design, (ii) dance, (iii) drama, (iv) music, (v) film studies and (vi) media studies in the next five years.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The department does not produce future trends of the number of students taking specific qualifications, or future trends in the number of schools or colleges offering specific qualifications.
The requirement on all state-funded schools to teach a broad and balanced curriculum encompasses the arts. Alongside drama as part of the English curriculum and dance as part of the physical education curriculum, music and art and design, remain important pillars of the knowledge-rich national curriculum. This is also reflected in the reformed GCSEs and A levels in art and design, dance, drama, music, film studies and media studies which were introduced for first teaching from 2015 for A levels and from 2016 for GCSEs. The government also introduced parallel reforms to Technical Awards at level 2 to ensure these were high-quality and fit-for-purpose.
Examining recent trends over the past five years, between 2019 and 2023, around half of pupils at Key Stage 4 have taken at least one approved arts qualification, which includes GCSEs set out above and Technical Awards.
The department has committed over £714 million of funding between 2016 and 2022 in a diverse portfolio of music and arts education programmes to ensure all children, whatever their background, have access to a high quality education in music and arts. Over and above school core funding, the department will continue to invest around £115 million per year in cultural education up to 2025.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of future trends in the level of student uptake for GCSE level (a) art and design, (b) dance, (c) drama, (d) music, (e) film studies and (f) media studies in (i) Oxford, (ii) Oxfordshire, (iii) the South East and (iv) England.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The department does not produce future trends of the number of students taking specific qualifications, or future trends in the number of schools or colleges offering specific qualifications.
The requirement on all state-funded schools to teach a broad and balanced curriculum encompasses the arts. Alongside drama as part of the English curriculum and dance as part of the physical education curriculum, music and art and design, remain important pillars of the knowledge-rich national curriculum. This is also reflected in the reformed GCSEs and A levels in art and design, dance, drama, music, film studies and media studies which were introduced for first teaching from 2015 for A levels and from 2016 for GCSEs. The government also introduced parallel reforms to Technical Awards at level 2 to ensure these were high-quality and fit-for-purpose.
Examining recent trends over the past five years, between 2019 and 2023, around half of pupils at Key Stage 4 have taken at least one approved arts qualification, which includes GCSEs set out above and Technical Awards.
The department has committed over £714 million of funding between 2016 and 2022 in a diverse portfolio of music and arts education programmes to ensure all children, whatever their background, have access to a high quality education in music and arts. Over and above school core funding, the department will continue to invest around £115 million per year in cultural education up to 2025.