Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness Morgan of Cotes and Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston

Monday 2nd March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend has raised an extremely important point. I do not want any young people to feel frightened of attending school or of their journey to and from school, and, sadly, that applies particularly to members of the Jewish community at present. I have had discussions with a number of Jewish organisations about the funds that are required and the estimates that they have provided.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

Given that 30% of Birmingham’s population are under the age of 15, there are enormous pressures on school places, which will continue. However, there is no correlation between teacher training places and demand in regions where that demand will increase. Will the Secretary of State address the problem, and ensure that the availability of teacher training places matches regional demands?

[Nicky Morgan]

That is a very interesting point. I shall need to look into exactly how the teacher supply model is calculated each year, but I can tell the hon. Lady that, during the current Parliament, the Government have invested £5 billion to create new school places, and that, because we continue to recognise that there is pressure on the system, we have announced further funding up to 2021.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness Morgan of Cotes and Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston

Monday 19th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Nicky Morgan]

We want to recognise and share excellent practice in schools in Mid Derbyshire and across the country. I recognise the work that my hon. Friend does with her local schools. I encourage any school doing good work in this area to apply for the character awards, which I have mentioned. Applications close on 30 January, and I look forward to hearing how schools up and down the country are already working to develop well-rounded young individuals.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

On the subject of birthdays, I am sure that you, Mr Speaker, would like to extend birthday greetings to Sir Simon Rattle—the man who put Birmingham on the map in terms of music—who shares a birthday with you today. However, on character building, I encourage the Secretary of State to look at the work of Professor James Arthur at Birmingham university who is doing a lot of work on how character education can be brought into the curriculum at every level in our schools.

[Mr Speaker]

Personally I am inclined to offer up birthday wishes to Stefan Edberg, a six-time grand slam champion and currently coach to the greatest tennis player of all time, Roger Federer.

Birmingham Schools

Debate between Baroness Morgan of Cotes and Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston

Tuesday 22nd July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Nicky Morgan]

There certainly is. Fundamental British values are defined as

“democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs”.

I have taken that definition from the Ofsted inspection handbook, but I suspect that it is in many other publications as well, and so it should be.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

Because the problems in Birmingham were so long standing, I think that the solutions will not be straightforward. I was struck by the Secretary of State’s observation that Ofsted should be more sensitive to the signs of emerging problems, but, as problems emerge, who do governors and head teachers turn to? The difficulty in Birmingham was that they did not have anyone to turn to, and I am not sure that making Ofsted the organisation to turn to is the answer either. Will the Secretary of State flesh this out a little more? Where does she think the remedies for those emerging problems can be identified promptly, rather than at the late stage at which they would be identified by Ofsted?

[Nicky Morgan]

I agree with the hon. Lady. As I said earlier, I think that one of the tragedies was the fact that many very good head teachers, teaching at outstanding schools, were somehow removed from the system by the governors involved. They did not have anyone to turn to, and when they did turn to someone, they were not taken seriously.

The Government recently announced the creation of eight regional school commissioners. Below them will be elected head teacher boards, which will consist of outstanding head teachers. I suggest that they will be the best people for teachers to turn to in the first instance, but I shall be happy to consider the hon. Lady’s comments further.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Baroness Morgan of Cotes and Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston

Monday 21st July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the hon. Lady for her warm words. She will be aware, as a fellow working mum, that women are excellent at multi-tasking. Of course, as Secretary of State for Education, I am interested in child care and the whole range of issues that my Department will be dealing with as well as my brief as Minister for Women and Equalities. I look forward to continuing these debates with the hon. Lady, as does the Minister who will be taking on the specific responsibility for child care. She is absolutely right that the holiday costs are very important and that is why we have increased the number of free hours of child care available as well as introducing tax-free child care, shared parental leave and policies on flexible working, all of which I am sure she welcomes.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

4. What steps she is taking to support school governors.