Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many new (1) academies or free schools that are part of a chain, (2) stand-alone academies or free schools, (3) voluntary aided schools, and (4) community schools, have opened since May 2010.
Answered by Lord Nash
Between May 2010 and 1 December 2014: 2476 academies and free schools opened as part of a chain and a further 1985 stand-alone academies and free schools opened. 58 voluntary aided schools and 72 community schools also opened.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many local transition plans reflect the legal requirement of the Children and Families Act 2014 to carry out a full educational, health and care needs assessment for every child moving to the new system of support.
Answered by Lord Nash
All local authorities have now published information about their plans for transition. Local authorities are accountable for ensuring that there are clear processes for carrying out education, health and care needs assessments for children and young people with statements of special educational needs or learning difficulty assessments, in accordance with the Children and Families Act and associated regulations, when they are transferred to Education, Health and Care plans. Each child or young person’s needs must be considered individually.
To support local authorities, the Department for Education is now working through all 152 transition plans and providing guidance for authorities where necessary.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how the Department for Education is monitoring the local transition arrangements set out in the Children and Families Act 2014.
Answered by Lord Nash
All local authorities have now published information about their plans for transition. Local authorities are accountable for ensuring that there are clear processes for carrying out education, health and care needs assessments for children and young people with statements of special educational needs or learning difficulty assessments, in accordance with the Children and Families Act and associated regulations, when they are transferred to Education, Health and Care plans. Each child or young person’s needs must be considered individually.
To support local authorities, the Department for Education is now working through all 152 transition plans and providing guidance for authorities where necessary.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is a requirement of the universal infant free school meals provisions that a hot meal should be provided for certain infant pupils.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Department for Education expects all schools to be routinely offering a hot meal option to all their infant pupils. We know that over 98.5% of schools were on track to do so at the start of the autumn term. The Department is working with the small number of schools that were not, so that they can do so as quickly as possible.
There is no legal requirement that meals should be hot, but it is much harder to meet the requirement to comply with the School Food Standards through the provision of cold food.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the nutritional requirements of the universal infant free school meals provided from September 2014.
Answered by Lord Nash
The nutritional requirements for school meals, including universal infant free school meals, are currently set out in the Education (Nutritional Standards and Requirements for School Food) (England) Regulations 2007, which are published online at:
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/2359/contents/made
These regulations set out the food groups to be provided, and how frequently, along with the levels of key nutrients (such as iron, zinc and calcium) that the meals should contain. They also restrict the amounts of saturated fat, salt and sugar that can be served in meals.
From 1 January 2015, a new set of school food regulations will come into force for school meals (including universal infant free school meals). The regulations are published online at:
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1603/contents/made
The new regulations are based on food groups, to make it easier for cooks to create tasty, nutritious menus. They also restrict the amounts of fried foods, salt and sugar that can be served.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest calculation of the number of infant classes of over 30 pupils in schools in England.
Answered by Lord Nash
As of January 2014, there were 2,985 infant classes with over 30 pupils in schools in England.
This data is taken from the January 2014 School Census, published online at: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2014
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have plans to provide additional training and resources to support primary school teachers teaching foreign languages.
Answered by Lord Nash
As stated in the answer to the noble Lady’s question at HL Deb, 24 October 2014, c113W, the Government is providing funding of £1.8 million over two years for continuing professional development for primary and secondary teachers to support delivery of the new modern languages curriculum. The training is being funded through nine organisations whose performance will be monitored against the agreements the Department for Education is making with them.
In addition, the National College for Teaching and Leadership is funding a number of teaching school alliances to develop and deliver a range of post-initial teacher training subject knowledge enhancement courses in shortage subjects. Five of these alliances have included modern languages as a subject focus for their provision, and one of these is primary phase.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what overall assessment will be made of the quality of foreign language teaching in primary schools following such teaching becoming compulsory in September 2014.
Answered by Lord Nash
Ofsted makes a judgement on the quality of teaching, including teaching of languages, when carrying out a school inspection.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the terms of the Academies Financial Handbook allow an academy chain to outsource all non-teaching staff to a profit-making provider.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Academies Financial Handbook is not prescriptive about where academy trusts buy the services that they need. Trusts are free to choose, but in doing so they have important responsibilities. Paragraph 1.5.11 of the Handbook explains that trusts must exercise their discretion reasonably and in a way that commands broad public support. Paragraph 1.5.21 explains that the accounting officer is personally accountable for regularity, propriety and value for money in the trust’s financial conduct. Section 3.3 sets out that trusts must seek prior approval from the EFA for transactions that are novel or contentious.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will reconsider the abolition of AS level qualifications in the light of the representations from the A-Level Content Advisory Board about the effect on the take-up of mathematics.
Answered by Lord Nash
We are not abolishing the AS level. It will be available as a stand-alone qualification taught over one or two years. The full A level will become a linear qualification with assessment at the end of two years’ study, so that students can benefit from more time spent on teaching and are encouraged to make connections between topics.