Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether free school meal vouchers will still be sent to parents and carers who decide to not send their child back to school as covid-19 lockdown restrictions as eased.
Answered by Vicky Ford
As schools open more widely, and their kitchens reopen, we expect schools to make food parcels available for collection or delivery for any children that are eligible for free school meals who are staying at home.
Arranging food parcels helps ensure that eligible children have access to a healthy free meal and can also help the school to stay in contact with those families. We know that many schools have made excellent food parcel arrangements throughout this period.
If a school cannot provide meals or food parcels for children who are at home, they can continue to offer vouchers to families of eligible pupils.
Our guidance on free school meals during this period is available here:
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many disadvantaged pupils have been provided with a laptop for homeworking during the period of school closures due to the covid-19 outbreak in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) the North East and (c) England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government has committed over £100 million to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in England to access remote education, including by providing laptops, tablets and 4G routers.
We are providing laptops and tablets to disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for examinations 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 are providing 4G wireless routers.
Local authorities and academy trusts are best placed to identify and prioritise children and young people who need devices. The Department is agreeing the number of devices allocated to each local authority and academy trust based on its estimates of the number of eligible children that do not have access to a device.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he has provided to (a) primary and (b) secondary schools on helping to ensure a smooth transition for Year 6 pupils in September 2020.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is asking primary schools to invite back Year 6 pupils to support their transition to secondary school.
Primary schools should ensure that information is transferred to destination secondary schools as soon as possible. If practical in the absence of examination results, primary schools should ensure that secondary schools are briefed in as much detail as possible about the attainment profile of pupils.
The Department’s latest guidance for primary schools can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-schools-from-1-june/planning-guide-for-primary-schools.
The Department is working to publish further guidance for secondary schools shortly.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support he plans to provide to special school pupils who are due to finish their studies in the current academic year to ensure those pupils are on a level playing field with pupils who are receiving predicted GCSE grades.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Our ambition is for every child, no matter what challenges they face, to have access to a world-class education that sets them up for life. We want to support children and young people with education, health and care plans and ensure that they are able to access all the same opportunities as their peers.
Due to the cancellation of exams, students who were due to sit GCSEs this year, including those who attend special schools, will receive calculated grades.
Students in special schools may also be studying a range of vocational qualifications. The department has been working with the regulator, Ofqual, to ensure that as many students as possible receive results for any exams or assessments they were due to take this summer and it is our policy that pupils taking vocational or technical qualifications alongside or instead of GCSEs (or A levels) should receive calculated results, in a similar way to their peers taking GCSEs. Ofqual is working with awarding organisations to implement this. These students should also receive their results on the same day as GCSE (or A level) pupils. We recognise that some courses do not lend themselves to calculated grades and so may need to have their assessments adapted, or in minority of cases, delayed.
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the Government's policy is on the implementation of social distancing measures in early years primary school.
Answered by Nick Gibb
From the week commencing 1 June, at the earliest, we will be asking primary schools to welcome back children in nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6, alongside priority groups. We will only do this provided that the five key tests set by the Government justify the changes at the time. We are asking school to plan on this basis, ahead of confirmation that these tests are met.
We have published guidance on implementing protective measures in education and childcare settings:
By returning pupils gradually, settings can initially reduce the number of children and young people in classrooms compared to usual and put protective measures in place to reduce risks.
Eligible children – including priority groups - are strongly encouraged to attend their education setting, unless they are self-isolating or they are clinically vulnerable. Parents will not be fined for non-attendance at this time and schools and colleges will not be held to account for attendance levels. Further guidance for parents and carers can be found here:
Asked by: Kate Osborne (Labour - Jarrow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the covid-19 outbreak, whether parents or carers will be fined if they do not send their children to school in the remainder of academic year 2019-20.
Answered by Nick Gibb
From the week commencing 1 June, at the earliest, we will be asking primary schools to welcome back children in nursery, reception, year 1 and year 6, alongside priority groups. We will only do this provided that the five key tests set by the Government justify the changes at the time. We are asking school to plan on this basis, ahead of confirmation that these tests are met.
We have published guidance on implementing protective measures in education and childcare settings:
By returning pupils gradually, settings can initially reduce the number of children and young people in classrooms compared to usual and put protective measures in place to reduce risks.
Eligible children – including priority groups - are strongly encouraged to attend their education setting, unless they are self-isolating or they are clinically vulnerable. Parents will not be fined for non-attendance at this time and schools and colleges will not be held to account for attendance levels. Further guidance for parents and carers can be found here: