Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the statutory framework for home-to-school transport for post-16 learners with SEND.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend for Thurrock to the answer of 11 September 2024 to Question 4162.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that post-16 learners with SEND are able to access transport to education settings.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend for Thurrock to the answer of 11 September 2024 to Question 4162.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the availability of speech and language interventions in early years settings.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Early language skills are vital to enable children to thrive in the early years and later in life, including for all aspects of later attainment in school.
To support these vital skills, the department has funded settings to undertake evidence-based continuous professional development programmes as part of the Early Years Education Recovery Programme, including those focused on speech, language and communication, via a national network of Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs. The Early Years Professional Development Programme phase 3 (PDP3) provides early years educators with training on communication and language, early mathematics and personal, social and emotional development. The programme was designed to ensure early years educators have the skills they need to support young children’s development in the areas that can make a significant difference to long term development and attainment, helping to strengthen children’s foundations for learning and enable them to be school-ready by the time they reach reception.
We have also invested over £20 million on the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), improving the language skills of reception age children who need it most following the pandemic. NELI is an evidence-based programme targeting reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development.
The evaluation of NELI delivery and impact since 2020, which was published by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) in September 2023, shows outstanding results. The evaluation evidences the programme improved the development of oral language skills by four months’ progress for pupils receiving the intervention. Children eligible for free school meals (FSM) made seven months’ additional progress compared to children eligible for FSM that did not receive the intervention. The EEF evaluation can be found here:
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/nuffield-early-language-intervention-neli#:~:text=In%20September%202023%2C%20the%20impact,took%20part%20in%20the%20evaluation.
In addition to this work, and in partnership with NHS England, the department is funding the Early Language and Support for Every Child pathfinders within the Change Programme. The project funds Integrated Care Boards to trial new ways of working to better identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs in early years settings.
Asked by: Jen Craft (Labour - Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help children with SEND to access breakfast clubs.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has taken decisive action by announcing in the King’s Speech that, under the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, every state funded school in England with primary-aged pupils will offer a breakfast club. This includes special schools and alternative provision. Departmental officials are working closely with schools and sector experts to develop a breakfast club programme that meets the needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
On 23 September 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that up to 750 state funded schools with primary aged pupils will begin delivering free breakfast clubs from summer term 2025. Special schools and alternative provision schools were invited to take part in the early adopter scheme. The selected schools will be announced in due course. The funding will allow these schools to run free breakfast clubs for their pupils, starting in the summer term as part of a ‘test and learn’ phase to inform delivery of a national rollout. This will include testing approaches to supporting children with SEND.
The department recognises that there will be barriers, such as staffing and transport, to opening breakfast clubs for some schools, including special schools and alternative provision. The early adopter programme will allow us to test and learn how best to overcome such barriers and refine the department’s support and advice to schools to ensure the programme works for these schools.