Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans are in place to provide structured physical education for any children returning to school before the 2020 summer break.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We want to get all children and young people back into education as soon as possible because it is the best place for them to learn, and because we know how important it is for their mental wellbeing to have social interactions with their peers, carers and teachers.
We are working to ensure that schools are fully supported when they open more widely. Schools are free to organise and deliver a PE curriculum that suits the needs of all their pupils whilst following COVID-19 government guidelines. Our latest guidance for schools can be found here:
We want every child to be able to do the 60 minutes a day of physical activity recommended by the UK Chief Medical Officers. This is important for their physical and mental wellbeing and will be especially important for children who have had restricted opportunity to exercise while at home. The government is working closely with nurseries, schools, physical activity experts and sport providers to ensure that there is advice and resources to support everyone to participate in regular exercise. We are advising schools to use outside space for exercise where possible and encourage activities such as supervised non-touch running games.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, working alongside Sport England, launched a £195 million package to help the sport and physical activity sector through the COVID-19 outbreak, with more recent guidance published on the phased return of grassroots sport and recreation:
These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of vulnerable students who are not attending the available school places for those with special educational needs.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
69,000 of the children and young people in attendance on Thursday 7 May were classed by schools as vulnerable. Of these, around 20,800 were children and young people with special educational needs who have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, and 35,000 were children in need (reported by schools as having a social worker). The remainder were unknown, where schools either did not provide this information or the children were classed vulnerable for other reasons.
The department is working with educational settings and local authorities to improve our understanding of the total number of vulnerable children for whom continued attendance at educational establishments would be beneficial and appropriate. We are asking local authorities to work with educational providers, families and the child or young person to carry out a risk assessment to judge whether the child or young person’s needs cannot be met safely at home. Many children and young people with EHC plans can have their needs safely met in the home environment. Attendance may not be appropriate for some children, including because of health considerations for them and their family. Full guidance on the definition of vulnerable children and options for continued attendance can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the long-term educational benefits of educational material provided by public service broadcasters to children who cannot attend school during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We have no current plans in place to review the long-term educational benefits of material independently developed and provided by public sector broadcasters for children unable to attend school during the COVID-19 outbreak. For most children who benefited from materials offered by public sector broadcasters, this would only have been part of their overall educational provision, and it would be extremely difficult to isolate the impact of just this one element.
Many schools have set work for pupils and shared resources for children who are at home; the Department has issued guidance for schools which signposts to an initial list of free online resources identified by educational experts and teachers; many educational suppliers have also helpfully made their resources available for free.
Additionally, leading state schools collaborated to open The Oak National Academy, which was launched online on 20 April. This initiative is led by 40 teachers who have assembled video lessons and resources for any teacher in the country to make use of if they wish to do so. 180 video lessons will be provided each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to Year 10.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic related school closures and social distancing measures on those with identified special educational needs but who do not have an Education Health and Care Plans.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We have published guidance on supporting vulnerable children and young people at this time:
We have also published guidance on how risk assessments should be carried out for children with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-send-risk-assessment-guidance.
This guidance sets out the practicalities for local authorities and other providers in undertaking risk assessments for vulnerable children and young people with EHC plans, in light of school and college closures. Schools remain open to the vulnerable, and children in care and local authority Virtual School Heads are actively tailoring their expert offer of advice and support to the current circumstances. This includes the provision of additional resources such as online learning – in addition to our offer of laptops and tablets – and support for carers where children are unable to attend school. We are asking local authorities to work with educational providers, families and the child or young person to carry out a risk assessment to judge whether the child or young person’s needs cannot be met safely at home. Where the risk assessment determines a child or young person with an EHC plan will be as safe or safer at an educational setting, it may be more appropriate for them to attend the educational setting.
These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the provision of support to children with dyslexia, autism and other neuro diverse conditions who are undergoing education at home.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We have published guidance on supporting vulnerable children and young people at this time:
We have also published guidance on how risk assessments should be carried out for children with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-send-risk-assessment-guidance.
This guidance sets out the practicalities for local authorities and other providers in undertaking risk assessments for vulnerable children and young people with EHC plans, in light of school and college closures. Schools remain open to the vulnerable, and children in care and local authority Virtual School Heads are actively tailoring their expert offer of advice and support to the current circumstances. This includes the provision of additional resources such as online learning – in addition to our offer of laptops and tablets – and support for carers where children are unable to attend school. We are asking local authorities to work with educational providers, families and the child or young person to carry out a risk assessment to judge whether the child or young person’s needs cannot be met safely at home. Where the risk assessment determines a child or young person with an EHC plan will be as safe or safer at an educational setting, it may be more appropriate for them to attend the educational setting.
These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice and guidance they have provided to parents of children who do not qualify for school attendance and who have dyslexia, autism and other neuro diverse conditions about how to support those children successfully at home; whether such guidance is published; and if so, where.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We have published guidance on supporting vulnerable children and young people at this time:
We have also published guidance on how risk assessments should be carried out for children with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-send-risk-assessment-guidance.
This guidance sets out the practicalities for local authorities and other providers in undertaking risk assessments for vulnerable children and young people with EHC plans, in light of school and college closures. Schools remain open to the vulnerable, and children in care and local authority Virtual School Heads are actively tailoring their expert offer of advice and support to the current circumstances. This includes the provision of additional resources such as online learning – in addition to our offer of laptops and tablets – and support for carers where children are unable to attend school. We are asking local authorities to work with educational providers, families and the child or young person to carry out a risk assessment to judge whether the child or young person’s needs cannot be met safely at home. Where the risk assessment determines a child or young person with an EHC plan will be as safe or safer at an educational setting, it may be more appropriate for them to attend the educational setting.
These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that those applying for Disabled Students Allowance who need formal diagnosis, normally provided through one-to-one assessments, will have that Allowance in place before the start of the next academic year.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) Assessment Standards Committee (SASC) published revised guidance on diagnostic assessments on 4 May 2020. The department is working with the Student Loans Company on how best to take account of the revised guidance in administering Disabled Students Allowances, and will communicate the approach to stakeholders shortly.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the attendance figures for those schools that are teaching pupils entitled to attend during the COVID-19 pandemic; and how many such pupils there are.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
On Monday 21 April, national data on pupil attendance in educational establishments between Monday 23 March and Friday 17 April was published, and is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many pupils were offered a loan computer during the COVID-19 pandemic; and of those, how many took up that loan.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Schools across the country are already lending school-owned devices to children who need them.
On 19 April, the Government announced further support for vulnerable and disadvantaged children and young people who do not have access to a digital device. Laptops and tablets will be ordered for the most disadvantaged children who would otherwise not have access and are preparing for exams (in year 10), receive support from a social worker, or are a care leaver.
Local authorities, trusts and other relevant organisations overseeing schools and social care have been sent information on how they can request a device.
Asked by: Lord Addington (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made use of support services provided by charities to support children with Special Educational Needs who do not have education and health care plans; and if not, what plans they have to do so.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
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.
The COVID-19 guidance on vulnerable and young children was published on 22 March, and explains the practicalities for local authorities and other providers in light of school and college closures. Which is available at:
Further guidance on risk assessments was published on 19 April: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-send-risk-assessment-guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-send-risk-assessment-guidance.
We are asking local authorities to work with educational providers, families and the child or young person to carry out a risk assessment to judge whether a vulnerable child or young person, including those with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, is able to attend a school or other educational setting or can be supported more safely at home. They will need to judge how best to meet the needs of these children and young people, including whether some of the support they require can be provided at home. Local authorities will also need to consider how to ensure they can continue to assess children’s needs, including conducting EHC needs assessments through virtual means, whether those children are school or home based at this time.
We are working closely with a range of charities and other organisations to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, such as the Council for Disabled Children, Contact and the National Network of Parent Carer Forums, and have taken on board their views when framing guidance.
These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.