Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is taking steps to encourage independent schools to reopen on 1 June 2020.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As a result of the huge efforts everyone has made to adhere to strict social distancing measures, the transmission rate of COVID-19 has decreased and the Government’s five tests have been met. Based on all the evidence, the Department asked primary schools to welcome back children in nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6, alongside priority groups (vulnerable children and children of critical workers), from 1 June. From 15 June, secondary schools can invite year 10 and 12 pupils (years 10 and 11 for alternative provision schools) back into school for some face-to-face support with their teachers, to supplement their remote education, which will remain the predominant mode of education for these pupils this term. Priority groups can continue to attend full-time.
To support schools the Department has published guidance on GOV.UK:
The guidance makes clear that we expect all mainstream schools, including independent schools, to follow the same approach.
Both officials and ministers are in frequent contact with the Independent Schools Council about the wider opening of schools.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to extend free school meal provision into the (a) spring half-term and and (b) summer holidays.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As both my right hon. Friends, the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer, have made clear, the government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID-19.
Our latest guidance for schools is set out below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings.
Provision for free school meals is ordinarily term time only. However, during the Easter holidays the department met the costs of offering free school meals to eligible pupils not attending school during term time weeks. This was in recognition of the unprecedented levels of disruption and uncertainty for schools during this time. Whether or not such a measure continues to be appropriate in future holiday periods will be confirmed in due course.
These are rapidly developing circumstances. We continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he place in the Library the Government guidance issued to schools on what support schools must provide to children who come from families without recourse to public funds.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Guidance for schools regarding the temporary provision of free school meals for children from certain groups of families with no recourse to public funds is currently available online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/guidance-for-the-temporary-extension-of-free-school-meals-eligibility-to-nrpf-groups.
We will place the guidance in the Libraries of both Houses.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many secondary school places were available in (a) Edmonton constituency and (b) Enfield borough in each year since 2010.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department collects pupil forecasts, existing school capacities, and plans to deliver additional school places from each local authority via the annual school capacity survey which can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-capacity.
The Department only collects data at local authority and planning area level, and so do not hold constituency level data. Over 5,000 new school places have been created in Enfield local authority since 2010.
Table 1: Secondary capacity in Enfield since 2010
Academic Year | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | 2014/15 | 2015/16 | 2016/17 | 2017/18 |
Enfield | 23,914 | 24,585 | 24,615 | 24,000 | 28,230 | 27,901 | 28,533 | 28,717 | 29,394 |
The statutory duty to provide sufficient school places sits with local authorities. We provide basic need funding for every place that is needed, based on local authorities’ own data on pupil forecasts. They can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools, and can work with any school in their local area, including academies and free schools. Enfield has been allocated £122.7 million to provide new school places from 2011-2021.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department issues to schools on the (a) use and (b) recycling of plastics.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Department for Education is encouraging schools, as well as suppliers of goods and services to schools, to reduce their consumption of single-use plastics throughout the supply chain. Further information regarding this can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/schools-challenged-to-go-single-use-plastic-free-by-2022.
We urge schools to consider finding reusable alternatives wherever possible.
As part of the science curriculum, children are taught about the scientific concepts that relate to the environment. At key stage 2, pupils should explore examples of the human impact on environments, which can include the negative impact of litter. This is built upon in key stage 3 chemistry where pupils are taught about the efficacy of recycling.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will carry out and publish an assessment of the effect of changes on levels of funding for schools on (a) well-being of teachers and and (b) school results.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We have made a significant investment in our schools by providing an additional £1.3 billion across 2018-19 and 2019-20, over and above existing plans. As the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has confirmed, overall funding per pupil will now be maintained in real terms up to 2020. The national funding formula will deliver higher per pupil funding in respect of every school, and every local area.
More schools are currently judged as good or outstanding by Ofsted than ever before. There were 1.8 million more pupils in schools judged to be ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in England as of August 2016 compared to August 2010. And the attainment gap between disadvantaged students and those who are better off is closing.
We appreciate teachers’ dedication and hard work and understand that they need to be able to do their job well without sacrificing their personal life or compromising their wellbeing. Removing unnecessary workload for teachers is a priority for this government. We recognised the problem of unnecessary workload when we launched the Workload Challenge in 2014. On 24 February 2017 we published the results of our workload survey and a clear action plan setting out the steps we will take to help tackle this issue, including targeted support for schools.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of costs arising from a school becoming an academy on (a) school budgets and (b) educational standards.
Answered by Edward Timpson
There are no changes to an individual school’s core funding when it converts to academy status, since academies are funded on an equivalent basis to maintained schools in the same area. Schools take on additional functions when becoming an academy, which local authorities provide for maintained schools; academies receive funding for those functions on an equivalent basis to local authorities.
On educational standards, we continue to see the positive effects of academisation. Results in primary academies open for two years have improved, on average, by 10 percentage points since opening, a result which is double the rate of local authority maintained schools over the same period. Similar results are seen for secondary schools where the recently opened academies are matching or bettering their performance year on year.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of the (a) level of provision of spaces in SEN schools and (b) rising number of children with SEN statements in mainstream schools on the educational rights and attainment of children with SEN.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Our vision for children with Special Educational Needs and disabilities (SEND) is the same as for all children and young people – that they thrive in their early years, at school and in college, and lead happy and fulfilled lives. We have made extensive changes to the SEND system to improve prospects for these students.
The Children and Families Act 2014 secures the general presumption in law of mainstream education in relation to decisions about where children and young people with SEN should be educated and the Equality Act 2010 provides protection from discrimination for disabled people. The presumption of mainstream education is supported by provisions which safeguard the interests of all children and young people and ensure that the school preferences of the young person or their parents are met wherever possible.
Local authorities must review the educational provision for children and young people with SEN and disabilities in their areas and whether this meets the needs of those concerned. The Department produces national projections for the number of pupils in England, which help inform local authority decision-making over school capacity. Local authorities have the freedom to choose to use some of their capital funding on new places in special schools where that is a local priority and we continue to welcome applications for new special free schools where there is a particular need or demand for new provision.
The proportion of pupils with a statement of SEN or Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan has remained at 2.8% since 2007. There are 236,165 children with statements or EHC plans. Of those children with statements, 57% were in mainstream places in state-funded schools in January 2015. The proportion in special schools was 43% in January 2015.
The educational attainment of pupils with SEND has generally been improving, but a significant gap remains between their attainment and that of those with no identified SEND. At Key Stage 2 for example, in National Curriculum assessments in 2014 38% of all pupils with SEN achieved the expected level in the combined reading, writing and mathematics measure in 2014, compared with 90% of pupils with no identified SEN, resulting in an attainment gap of 51 percentage points. This represented an improvement of 2 percentage points since 2013 (when the equivalent figures were 34% of pupils with SEN and 88% of those with no identified SEN). We will continue to support schools and local authorities in their efforts to support improvement of the attainment of those with SEND.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of the Government's proposed reductions in tax credits on the pupil premium.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
As my Rt Hon Friend the Chancellor announced on 25 November, the government is not proceeding with the changes to the tax credit threshold and taper announced at the Summer Budget 2015.
We are determined to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their potential. That is why we are delivering on our commitment to continue providing the pupil premium, protected at current rates, so schools receive additional money for pupils from the poorest backgrounds.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that reviews into Ofsted's conduct are conducted by an independent body.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Ofsted has well-established policies and procedures to investigate thoroughly and objectively any concerns received about its work. From August 2015, when a complaint about an Ofsted inspection is escalated to internal review, the handling of the case will also be assessed by a new scrutiny committee. For added independence, the scrutiny committee will include an external panel member who is a senior education practitioner or other sector leader not involved in carrying out inspections for Ofsted.
If a complainant remains dissatisfied after this process, they can request an external review of the handling of their concerns by the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted.