Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of funding available for Music Hubs.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The government has committed £79 million per year for the Music Hubs programme, inclusive of the 2024/25 academic year. The 43 Music Hubs partnerships across England offer a range of services, including musical instrument tuition, instrument loaning and whole-class ensemble teaching. To widen access to musical instruments, the government is investing £25 million in capital funding for musical instruments, equipment and technology from the 2024/25 academic year. This funding enables Music Hubs partnerships to better cater to the needs of the children and young people they work with.
The government believes creative subjects like music, art and drama are important elements of the rounded and enriching education every child deserves. Future programme budgets will be considered as part of the spending review and subsequent business planning process.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the prevalence of incidents relating to dysphagia in SEND settings; and what steps she is taking to manage dysphagia safely in those settings.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. Some children with medical conditions may be considered to be disabled under the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010. Where this is the case, governing bodies must comply with their duties under that Act.
Governing bodies should ensure that all schools develop a policy for supporting pupils with medical conditions that is reviewed regularly and is readily accessible to parents and school staff. They must ensure that the arrangements they put in place are sufficient to meet their statutory responsibilities and should ensure that policies, plans, procedures and systems are properly and effectively implemented.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of ensuring all (a) teachers and (b) support staff in SEND settings receive training on dysphagia.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on maintained schools, academies and pupil referral units to make arrangements for supporting pupils with medical conditions. Some children with medical conditions may be considered to be disabled under the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010. Where this is the case, governing bodies must comply with their duties under that Act.
Governing bodies should ensure that all schools develop a policy for supporting pupils with medical conditions that is reviewed regularly and is readily accessible to parents and school staff. They must ensure that the arrangements they put in place are sufficient to meet their statutory responsibilities and should ensure that policies, plans, procedures and systems are properly and effectively implemented.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2024 to Question 8936 on Religion: Education, whether locally agreed syllabuses on religious education must also take into account the teaching and practices of (a) humanism and (b) other principal non-religious worldviews.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Following the ruling in the Bowen vs Kent County Council case, the department published additional guidance for local authorities regarding the membership of Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education (SACREs). The guidance sets out the department’s view on the ruling and makes clear that, where an application has been received, representatives from non-religious belief systems may be appointed to Group A of a SACRE and/or to an Agreed Syllabus Conference (ASC). The non-religious beliefs adhered to by the person/s to be appointed must be analogous to a religious belief, in accordance with case law under the European Convention of Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998, and attain the necessary level cogency, seriousness, cohesion, and importance to attract protection under the Convention Rights. The final decision on appointment of persons to a SACRE or ASC, however, is a matter for local authorities.
Locally agreed syllabuses should take account of non-religious worldviews. As referenced in the department’s 2010 guidance, religious education (RE) should encourage pupils to explore their own beliefs, whether they are religious or non-religious. Inclusion of non-religious worldviews should be seen as part of a well-rounded RE curriculum.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October 2024 to Question 8936 on Religion: Education and with reference to her Department's Guidance for local authorities about membership of Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education, published in September 2023, whether membership of (a) Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education and (b) Agreed Syllabus Conferences must also be drawn from non-religious worldviews analogous to a religious belief.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Following the ruling in the Bowen vs Kent County Council case, the department published additional guidance for local authorities regarding the membership of Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education (SACREs). The guidance sets out the department’s view on the ruling and makes clear that, where an application has been received, representatives from non-religious belief systems may be appointed to Group A of a SACRE and/or to an Agreed Syllabus Conference (ASC). The non-religious beliefs adhered to by the person/s to be appointed must be analogous to a religious belief, in accordance with case law under the European Convention of Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998, and attain the necessary level cogency, seriousness, cohesion, and importance to attract protection under the Convention Rights. The final decision on appointment of persons to a SACRE or ASC, however, is a matter for local authorities.
Locally agreed syllabuses should take account of non-religious worldviews. As referenced in the department’s 2010 guidance, religious education (RE) should encourage pupils to explore their own beliefs, whether they are religious or non-religious. Inclusion of non-religious worldviews should be seen as part of a well-rounded RE curriculum.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has carried out research into the impact of AI in education settings on children's wellbeing.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Artificial intelligence (AI) represents an opportunity to give our schools’ leaders and teachers a helping hand with classroom life, but only if the technology is safe and reliable and risks are managed appropriately.
The department has undertaken a range of research and engagement to understand the risks and opportunities posed by AI in education. The call for evidence on generative AI in education sought views and experiences from practitioners across all stages of education, as well as the education technology sector and AI experts. The report highlights the opportunities and risks of AI, including consideration of the impacts on pupils and concerns around the quality and reliability of tools.
In partnership with The Responsible Technology Adoption Unit within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the department commissioned research to understand parent and pupil attitudes to the use of AI in education. This research can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research-on-parent-and-pupil-attitudes-towards-the-use-of-ai-in-education/research-on-public-attitudes-towards-the-use-of-ai-in-education.
Parents and pupils were found to be supportive of opportunities for teachers to use AI to help reduce workload and allow them to focus on face-to-face interactions with pupils, but had concerns about pupil use of AI, including the impacts on wellbeing through over-reliance on technology and privacy and safeguarding risks.
The department’s approach to AI in education is informed by these insights. We have committed to publish expectations for the safety of generative AI products used in education to address concerns around safeguarding and privacy. Our project to develop a store of educational content optimised for use with AI aims to drive up the reliability and quality of tools. We are providing funding for innovation to develop tools which will help to reduce everyday feedback and marking workload for teachers, whilst avoiding AI use for high stakes marking, responding to parent and pupil views.
The department will continue to gather feedback and evidence on AI in education to inform the policy direction and remains committed to working in partnership with the sector to respond to technological developments.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of creating a statutory requirement to log centrally incidents of hate at (a) schools and (b) colleges.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has published guidance for schools on how to comply with their duties under the Equality Act 2010. The Public Sector Equality Duty also requires public bodies, including maintained schools and academies, to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and other conduct prohibited by the Act, advance equality of opportunity for people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it, and foster good relations across all characteristics.
Education is a key component of building a fairer and more equal society. As part of a broad and balanced curriculum, there are opportunities in the curriculum for children to learn about:
The department is making sure that all children in England will learn about respectful relationships, in person and online, as part of mandatory relationships, sex and health education. These subjects are designed to give pupils the knowledge they need to lead happy, safe and healthy lives, and to foster respect for other people and for difference.
The department has published ‘Respectful School Communities’, which is a self-review and signposting tool to support schools to develop a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline. This can combat bullying, harassment, and prejudice of any kind, including hate-based bullying. This tool is available here: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/resources/respectful-school-communities-self-review-signposting-tool-2/.
Educate Against Hate provides education settings with access to free, quality-assured teaching resources that build students’ resilience to all forms of extremism and hatred. These resources help settings discuss sensitive topics with students, including discrimination, hate-crime and holding classroom debates and discussion.
Non-crime hate related incidents are often managed under school and college behaviour policies and procedures. The Home Office’s statutory guidance on Non-Crime Hate Incidents is clear that if a report is made to the police about an incident that occurs in a school and does not amount to a crime, the appropriate police response would be to refer the matter to the school management team and to offer advice to the complainant about available support.
The school management team will assess the risk and decide on a proportionate response. When considering resolution of such incidents, the school management team should implement safeguarding measures for any children involved, and in appropriate circumstances ensure that a parent or guardian is notified and present when a child may be questioned.
Ofsted inspectors will expect to see records and analysis of bullying incidents, discriminatory and prejudiced behaviour, either directly or indirectly, which puts the onus on schools to keeping these records already. Where bullying, aggression, discrimination and use of derogatory language has occurred, inspectors will expect that this is dealt with quickly and effectively and is not allowed to spread. Ofsted’s school inspection handbook sets out that the behaviour and attitudes judgement is likely to be inadequate where such incidents are frequent, and pupils have little confidence in a school’s ability to tackle them successfully.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) teachers are given training in and (b) schools have high-quality resources to support teaching on Hinduism in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in Aylesbury constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Religious education (RE) is an important subject that should provide pupils with an opportunity to learn about a wide range of religious and non-religious beliefs. RE should help pupils to better understand the values and traditions of different religious communities, which is why it remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools in England for each pupil up to the age of 18. To support high-quality teaching, the department offers a £10,000 bursary for those undertaking RE postgraduate initial teacher training in the 2024/25 academic year.
The government does not specify of what a local RE curriculum should consist. These considerations, in relation to mainstream state funded schools, are a matter for individual schools or for Agreed Syllabus Conferences (ASCs), which review and recommend a locally agreed syllabus to their local authority for approval.
Academies and most maintained schools with a religious designation are permitted to develop their own RE syllabus. In the case of schools with a religious designation these may be in accordance with their trust deeds or tenets of their faith. For other schools, and in locally agreed syllabuses, schools must reflect: “the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain”.
Legislation requires each locally agreed syllabus for religious education to be reviewed at least once every five years by an ASC established by the local authority. Membership of the ASC must be drawn from Christian denominations and such other religions and religious denominations as, in the opinion of the local authority, will appropriately reflect the principal religious traditions in the area. Membership must also be drawn from the Church of England, teacher associations and the local authority. This ensures that all relevant faith groups can be consulted.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure faith groups are regularly consulted on locally agreed syllabuses for religious education.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Religious education (RE) is an important subject that should provide pupils with an opportunity to learn about a wide range of religious and non-religious beliefs. RE should help pupils to better understand the values and traditions of different religious communities, which is why it remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools in England for each pupil up to the age of 18. To support high-quality teaching, the department offers a £10,000 bursary for those undertaking RE postgraduate initial teacher training in the 2024/25 academic year.
The government does not specify of what a local RE curriculum should consist. These considerations, in relation to mainstream state funded schools, are a matter for individual schools or for Agreed Syllabus Conferences (ASCs), which review and recommend a locally agreed syllabus to their local authority for approval.
Academies and most maintained schools with a religious designation are permitted to develop their own RE syllabus. In the case of schools with a religious designation these may be in accordance with their trust deeds or tenets of their faith. For other schools, and in locally agreed syllabuses, schools must reflect: “the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain”.
Legislation requires each locally agreed syllabus for religious education to be reviewed at least once every five years by an ASC established by the local authority. Membership of the ASC must be drawn from Christian denominations and such other religions and religious denominations as, in the opinion of the local authority, will appropriately reflect the principal religious traditions in the area. Membership must also be drawn from the Church of England, teacher associations and the local authority. This ensures that all relevant faith groups can be consulted.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that Hinduism is taught in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Aylesbury constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Religious education (RE) is an important subject that should provide pupils with an opportunity to learn about a wide range of religious and non-religious beliefs. RE should help pupils to better understand the values and traditions of different religious communities, which is why it remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools in England for each pupil up to the age of 18. To support high-quality teaching, the department offers a £10,000 bursary for those undertaking RE postgraduate initial teacher training in the 2024/25 academic year.
The government does not specify of what a local RE curriculum should consist. These considerations, in relation to mainstream state funded schools, are a matter for individual schools or for Agreed Syllabus Conferences (ASCs), which review and recommend a locally agreed syllabus to their local authority for approval.
Academies and most maintained schools with a religious designation are permitted to develop their own RE syllabus. In the case of schools with a religious designation these may be in accordance with their trust deeds or tenets of their faith. For other schools, and in locally agreed syllabuses, schools must reflect: “the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain”.
Legislation requires each locally agreed syllabus for religious education to be reviewed at least once every five years by an ASC established by the local authority. Membership of the ASC must be drawn from Christian denominations and such other religions and religious denominations as, in the opinion of the local authority, will appropriately reflect the principal religious traditions in the area. Membership must also be drawn from the Church of England, teacher associations and the local authority. This ensures that all relevant faith groups can be consulted.