Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the recommendations in the Office of the Schools Adjudicator's annual report 2017-18 on (a) the prevalence of off-rolling and (b) home-educating parents registering with their local authority.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department will give careful consideration to the findings within the Chief Adjudicator’s annual report as it endeavours to ensure that the admissions system continues to work effectively for parents, pupils and schools.
Pupils leave school rolls for many reasons including: permanent exclusion, moving to another school, or changes of circumstances (as when a pupil moves to a new area). All schools must notify the local authority when a pupil’s name is to be deleted from the admission register.
Statutory guidance on exclusions is also clear that ‘informal’ or ‘unofficial’ exclusions are unlawful, regardless of whether they occur with the agreement of parents or carers. Any exclusion of a pupil, even for short periods of time, must be formally recorded.
A consultation and call for evidence on elective home education was held by the Department between April and July 2018. This included the issue of registration of children by local authorities. The responses received are still being considered, and a government response document outlining next steps will be published in due course.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will respond to the report published on 10 January 2019 by the Higher Education Policy Institute entitled The Impact of Selective Secondary Education on Progression to Higher Education.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Selective schools are some of the highest performing schools in the country and an important part of a diverse education system. Almost all of them are rated Good or Outstanding, and they are popular with parents. That is why the Government continues to support their expansion, through the Selective School Expansion Fund, where they meet the high bar that has been set for working to increase the admission of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Department is committed to opening more university-sponsered maths schools, building on the success of King’s College London Mathematics School and the Exeter Mathematics School, to help prepare more of the most mathematically able students to succeed in maths disciplines at top universities and pursue mathematically intensive careers.
The Department currently has no plans to formally respond to this paper.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on reducing teacher workload.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has taken action to tackle unnecessary teacher workload, and address burdensome tasks such as marking and lesson planning.
The most recently published snapshot survey shows that 73% of teachers and head teachers report that their schools have reviewed or updated school policies to reduce workload, 67% had reduced or changed their approach to marking, and 49% had reduced or changed their approach to planning. Of those that had taken action on workload, 47% said unnecessary workload had been effectively reduced. The survey can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-snapshot-survey-winter-2017.
Developed by head teachers, teachers and other sector experts, the workload reduction toolkit published in July 2018 provides accessible materials for teachers. These include practical advice, tools and case studies that head teachers, teachers and other staff can use to address workload issues in their school. To date materials have been collectively downloaded around 84,000 times. The toolkit can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/workload-reduction-toolkit.
The Workload Advisory Group, chaired by Professor Becky Allen, has looked at what unnecessary data and evidence schools are collecting, and what (and who) drives that behaviour. On 5 November 2018, the Government published the report from the Workload Advisory Group and their response accepting all the recommendations in full. This report can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-workload-advisory-group-report-and-government-response.
The Department is continuing to collect and analyse evidence on what drives excessive workload and what works to reduce it, and has committed to a large scale workload survey which will run every 2 years, to improve the evidence base and inform policies.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of parental aspiration on children's progress in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has recently completed an analysis of Key Stage 4 attainment and progress, exploring the relationship of pupils’ personal and family background, including an assessment of parental aspirations and their children’s progress between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4. The analysis draws on data collected through the second Longitudinal Study of Young People in England, which has followed the development of a cohort of young people from Year 9 to the end of Key Stage 4 and beyond. The results of this analysis will be published in October 2018.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of over-capacity in (a) classrooms and (b) school buildings on children's academic progress in schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The information requested is not held centrally.
The latest data[1] shows there are fewer pupils in excess of their school capacity when compared with 2010; reducing from more than 97,000 in May 2010 to 54,000 in May 2017.
[1] The annual school capacity survey 2017, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-capacity-academic-year-2016-to-2017.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of children's progress in specialist maths schools.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Currently, there are two maths schools open, Exeter Mathematics School (EMS) and King’s College London Mathematics School (KCMS), both of which opened in 2014. Early performance data shows that the schools have made a strong start. Ofsted judged both to be outstanding in 2017 and their overall A level progress scores were well above average in 2016.
The relevant data for EMS can be found in: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/140971 and for KCMS in https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/140564. Data for 2017 will be publically available on 25 January but both schools report similarly impressive outcomes for the 2016/17 academic year.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of children's progress in specialist maths schools.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Currently, there are two maths schools open, Exeter Mathematics School (EMS) and King’s College London Mathematics School (KCMS), both of which opened in 2014. Early performance data shows that the schools have made a strong start. Ofsted judged both to be outstanding in 2017 and their overall A level progress scores were well above average in 2016.
The relevant data for EMS can be found in: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/140971 and for KCMS in https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/140564. Data for 2017 will be publically available on 25 January but both schools report similarly impressive outcomes for the 2016/17 academic year.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to allow parents to remove their child from relationships education classes in primary schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The issue of withdrawal from Relationships Education in primary schools was discussed during the passage of the Children and Social Work Bill in March and April, and the House agreed that there would be no right of withdrawal from Relationships Education. This is because the subject will cover topics all children should know. The Secretary of State does not, therefore, have the legal power to provide in statute for a right to withdraw from Relationships Education in primary schools.
The current engagement process we are undertaking with stakeholders will help us to determine the right, age-appropriate content for relationships education and this will be set out in draft regulations and guidance, upon which we will consult and on which, in the case of the regulations, Parliament will debate and vote.
If a primary school chooses to deliver sex education, in addition to Relationships Education, this must be covered in the school’s policy and it must provide for parents to be able to withdraw their child from this education if they wish, except from elements delivered as part of the science curriculum.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress her Department is making on the provision of and parental choice on 30 hours of childcare to working parents in Hampshire.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The department is committed to ensuring all parents who are eligible for the 30 hours free childcare entitlement are able to take up a place that suits their childcare needs. That is why we ran a £100 million early years capital bid round, for which local authorities, in partnership with providers, were invited to submit bids. Over 350 projects across 123 local authorities were successful in this bid round – six of which were located in Hampshire.
Local authorities have a duty to secure childcare provision free of charge to qualifying children. They are, therefore, best placed to ensure parents in their area have a sufficient choice of childcare. As of 31 August, over 216,000 codes were issued for the autumn term, with 90% being validated as of 9 October.
Asked by: Ranil Jayawardena (Conservative - North East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of children's progress in those comprehensives known as groups which have a grammar school culture of strict discipline, smart uniforms, longer school days, competitive sports, classics and all three sciences.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Many schools pride themselves on a strong approach to behaviour management, and teaching all pupils a stretching, knowledge-rich curriculum. The best examples of such schools serve as evidence of what it is possible to achieve, and demonstrate the power of having the highest expectations of all pupils.
The freedoms the Government gives to academies and free schools, such as the ability to design their own curriculum or to set a longer school day, help ensure their pupils can reach their full potential.