Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what resources his Department has made available to secondary schools in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) the North West and (c) England to enable more trainee teachers to be accommodated on work placement positions during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has been working to support schools throughout England to host trainee teachers on placements during the COVID-19 outbreak. We have relaxed the criteria for the delivery of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in the 2020/21 academic year to support schools to host trainees in the current operating environment, for example, by suspending the expectation that trainees train to teach in at least two schools. The criteria is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-initial-teacher-training-itt/coronavirus-covid-19-initial-teacher-training-itt.
We have also suggested roles that trainee teachers can undertake in schools in 2020/21 in the Department’s guidance on the full opening of schools, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools#school-workforce.
For the 2019/20 cohort, we have made funding available for course extensions to enable schools to host trainees for an additional period of time as they work towards qualification.
These measures are intended to support schools throughout England, including secondary schools in St Helens North constituency and the North West, and are set out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-initial-teacher-training-itt/coronavirus-covid-19-initial-teacher-training-itt#trainees-not-recommended-for-qts-in-2019-to-2020.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to (a) support PGCE candidates and others on teacher training programmes in the event that they cannot secure work placement positions due to the ongoing covid-19 outbreak and (b) promote alternative arrangements for those trainee teachers.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has been working closely with initial teacher training (ITT) institutions to support trainees, including postgraduates, to secure training placements in schools this academic year. We have encouraged schools to host trainees, confirmed that trainees are critical?workers, and relaxed the criteria for the delivery of ITT in the 2020/21 academic year. The Department has supported the ITT sector to share innovative approaches to delivering school placements. Further information about the relaxations of the ITT criteria this academic year can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-initial-teacher-training-itt
The Department is continuing to work with the sector to identify what further support may be needed to secure and deliver ITT school placements this academic year, including alternative arrangements for trainees whose placements are disrupted for a reason relating to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to (a) financially support apprentices who cannot finish their programme as a result of the effect of covid-19 restrictions on normal assessment procedures and (b) introduce alternative arrangements for those apprentices.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Apprenticeships are more important now than ever in helping businesses to recruit the right people and develop the skills they need to recover and grow following the COVID-19 outbreak. Ensuring apprentices can continue to progress and achieve their apprenticeships during the disruption caused by COVID-19 continues to be a priority.
We have introduced a range of flexibilities in the delivery of training and apprenticeship assessment to support apprentices and their employers to ensure they can continue with and complete their apprenticeships. These include encouraging the remote delivery of training, introducing flexibilities to end-point assessments, and allowing furloughed apprentices to continue their apprenticeships and end-point assessments. We continue to monitor closely the availability of assessments and to address any identified barriers to participation and assessment.
Where apprentices are made redundant, we have taken steps to support these individuals and ensure more can continue and complete their apprenticeship. The department introduced a redundancy support service for apprentices which provides clear, accessible advice and guidance to individuals on the impact of redundancy, their options and next steps. As part of this service we also launched a vacancy sharing scheme to help redundant apprentices find new apprenticeship opportunities with employers. Over 1000 employers have signed up to the service to offer opportunities to redundant apprentices, including Bupa Dental and Taylor Wimpey.
We have amended legislation so that all apprentices who have less than 6 months of their apprenticeship remaining or have completed 75% of their apprenticeship at the point of redundancy can be funded to complete their apprenticeship. This change will mean more apprentices can complete their apprenticeship, maximising the value of public and employer investment in their training and putting them in a stronger position to secure new employment.
To help support employers to offer new apprenticeships, including to those that have been made redundant, employers are now able to claim £2,000 for every new apprentice they hire under the age of 25, and £1,500 for those 25 and over, until 31 January 2021.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprentices aged (a) 16 to 18, (b) 19 to 25 and (c) above 25 there were in (i) St Helens North constituency, (ii) Liverpool City Region and (iii) England in each year since 2015.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The number of apprenticeship starts in St Helens North constituency, Liverpool City Region and England, by age group, from 2014/15 onwards is shown in the table attached.
Figures for the full, final 2019/20 academic year are due to be published in our next ‘Apprenticeships and traineeships’ statistics publication, later this month. The exact publication date will be announced on gov.uk soon.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to tackle the effect of digital exclusion on the levels of educational attainment among children from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller backgrounds during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has met with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) stakeholders to discuss the issues faced by children and young people during the COVID-19 outbreak. Their input has been shared with teams working on vulnerable children, exclusions and remote education to help inform policy decisions. The Department recognises that GRT children are a particularly vulnerable group at this time.
Laptops and tablets have been ordered for vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people who do not have access to one and are preparing for exams in Year 10, receiving support from a social worker or are a care leaver. Where care leavers, children with a social worker at secondary school and disadvantaged children in Year 10 do not have internet connections, we will be providing 4G wireless routers.
Schools and families are also able to access support from the BBC, which is broadcasting lessons on television, and may choose to draw on the many educational resources offers made by publishers across the country.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of take-up for free school meals vouchers was for eligible pupils in (a) St Helens (b) Merseyside and (c) the North West in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Throughout this period of partial school closures, we are asking schools to support children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals by providing meals or food parcels through their existing food providers wherever possible. However, we recognise that providing meals and food parcels is not a practical option for all schools. That is why, on 31 March we launched a national voucher scheme, with costs covered by the Department for Education.
Schools are best placed to make decisions about the most appropriate arrangements for eligible pupils. This can include food parcel arrangements, provision through the national voucher scheme or alternative voucher arrangements.
As of Tuesday 12 May, Edenred has reported that over £70 million worth of voucher codes have been redeemed into supermarket eGift cards by schools and families through the national voucher scheme. Edenred has also reported that over 16,500 schools had placed orders for the scheme as of Tuesday 28 April. We do not collect data on the scheme at pupil level.
These are rapidly developing circumstances. We will continue to keep the situation under review and to keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of school pupils are in receipt of free school meals in (a) St Helens, (b) Liverpool City Region and (c) the North West.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Information on the number of pupils and schools in local authorities and regions, including free school meal eligibility, is published in the annual Schools, pupils and their characteristics statistical release. The most recent figures, for January 2019, are available at the link below. Table 4c shows breakdowns for different school phases and types by local authority and region.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2019.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of road safety among children in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Primary and secondary schools are able to cover teaching about road safety as part of their duty to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, and many do so through their Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) provision. Schools can draw on resources available from many organisations, including the THINK! Campaign developed by the Department for Transport, available here: https://www.think.gov.uk.
During the stakeholder engagement process about the curriculum content for Relationships Education and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and about the future status of PSHE, the Department for Education engaged with 90 organisations and other government departments, including the Department for Transport.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce the level of social stigma in relation to mental health and (b) promote awareness of mental health issues among young people.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is making teaching about mental health part of compulsory health education in all state-funded schools in England from September 2020. The statutory guidance sets out that pupils will be taught about the importance of good physical and mental health including the steps pupils can take to protect and support their own health and mental wellbeing. The content will also cover understanding emotions; identifying where someone is experiencing signs of poor mental health; simple self-care; and how and when to seek support. The statutory guidance can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
The Department is also working with the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families to pilot setting up peer support approaches in schools and colleges that allow young people to play an active part of creating a mentally healthy and supportive environment. The findings from the programme’s external evaluation will be shared nationally, to help more schools to develop or improve their own mental health peer support programmes.
To support school staff, the Department has set up Expert Advisory Group on teacher and leader wellbeing which has a remit to advise the Department on what it can do to help schools and colleges promote good wellbeing, including tackling stigma around mental health.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department made of the effect of trends in the level of school spending per pupil in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens on pupil educational achievement between 2010 and 2019.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools in St. Helens will attract 4.8% more per pupil next year, a total of £5.9 million of additional funding compared to 2019-20 (subject to changes in pupil numbers). Local authorities’ allocations are provisional at this stage.
The pupil premium was introduced in 2011 as additional funding to help schools improve the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils. In 2019-20, schools in St Helens local authority are being allocated £9,670,780 in pupil premium funding, compared to £2,645,000 in 2011-12. The increase in funding is due to changes in the number of pupils eligible for free school meals, the extension of pupil premium eligibility criteria to cover a wider range of pupils, and increases in pupil premium funding rates per pupil.
The factors correlated with trends in pupil attainment are wide ranging and complex. They include school and pupil characteristics such as gender, ethnicity and disadvantage amongst others. The Department has not undertaken a specific assessment of the trends between school spending per pupil and pupil educational achievement in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens between 2010 and 2019.
Data on the achievement of pupils at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 in each local authority can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-key-stage-2.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4.
Nationally, the Government is investing a cash increase of £2.6 billion to core schools funding next year, with increases of £4.8 billion and £7.1 billion in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively. This is in addition to the £1.5 billion per year the Department will continue to provide to fund additional pension costs for teachers over the next three years, meaning the total core schools budget will rise to £52.2 billion by 2022-23.