Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support he is providing to schools to ensure child hunger is prevented as children return after the summer 2021 break.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Schools are now fully open, and all children should be able to access a nutritious meal at school, free to those that are eligible for free school meals (FSM), helping to ensure they are well-nourished, develop healthy eating habits, and can concentrate and learn.
FSM eligibility is monitored through school census data. Currently, under the benefits-related criteria, 1.7 million of the most disadvantaged pupils are eligible for and claiming a FSM. An additional 1.3 million infants enjoy a free, healthy and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the Universal Infant FSM policy in 2014.
Where pupils eligible for benefits-related FSM are required to stay at home due to COVID-19, schools should continue to work with their school catering team or food provider to offer good quality lunch parcels.
During 2021 the department is investing up to £220 million in our Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme. Taking place in schools and community venues across the country, delivery began at Easter, has run across the summer and will run in the Christmas holidays. This programme supports disadvantaged pupils and their families with enriching activities, providing them with healthy food, helping them to learn new things and improving socialisation and well-being.
Beyond this, the Covid Local Support Grant continues to be available until the 30 September. This is being run by local authorities in England to support the hardest hit families and individuals with food and essential utility costs.
Since June 2020, the department has announced more than £3 billion to support education recovery, including over £950 million in flexible funding to schools and £1.5 billion for a national tutoring revolution. This will have a material impact in closing gaps that have emerged.
Recovery programmes have been designed to allow early years, school and college leaders the flexibility to support those pupils most in need, including the most disadvantaged and expand our reforms in two areas where the evidence is clear our investment will have a significant impact for disadvantaged children - high quality tutoring and great teaching.
Education is devolved, and it will be for the Welsh administration to respond regarding the position in Wales.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of breakfast club provision focused on disadvantaged children to help those children settle back into school following the summer break.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The government is committed to continuing support for breakfast clubs, and we are funding up to a further £24 million to continue our programme over the next two years. This funding will support around 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas meaning that thousands of children in low income families will be offered nutritious breakfasts.
The focus of the programme is to target the most disadvantaged areas of the country, including the Department for Education’s Opportunity Areas. Schools will be eligible for the programme if they have 50% or more pupils within bands A-F of the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index scale. When schools join the programme, they will sign a partnership agreement that requires them to identify and target those children that are most in need of support.
The department has seen strong interest from eligible schools so far since we invited expressions of interest, and our programme will make a real difference in terms of children’s health, attainment, wellbeing and readiness to learn. Our provider, Family Action, are currently recruiting schools on the programme through their enrolment process. The department is keen to encourage all schools to consider the benefits of breakfast provision, especially for those children who are most in need.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps will the Department take to ensure those students worst affected by absence in circumstances related to covid-19 receive targeted support in the next academic year to catch-up on any lost learning.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s £3 billion investment in education recovery includes over £900 million that schools can use to best support the children who have been most affected by COVID-19.
Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department has acted swiftly to help minimise the effect on pupils’ education, providing extensive support for schools. The UK was one of few countries to keep schools open for vulnerable children. The Department understands that the COVID-19 outbreak has caused challenges for children who may have disengaged from education. That is why we continue to work closely with local authorities and schools to help them reengage pupils, including providing best practice guidance.
The Government’s recovery programmes, and targeted help through the provision of 1.35 million laptops and tablets and connectivity for over 110,000 families, have been designed to allow nurseries, schools, and further education colleges the flexibility to support pupils most in need.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department plans to take to help ensure that there is an equitable system of assessments for qualifications in 2022.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s firm intention is that exams and other formal assessments should go ahead in 2022.
The Department recognises that those pupils taking exams next year have had disruption to their education because of COVID-19. Together with Ofqual, we are proposing adaptations to the exams and formal assessments to take that disruption into account.
The Department recently carried out a joint consultation with Ofqual on GCSEs, AS and A levels, seeking views on our proposed changes to exams in summer 2022. These include choices about the content pupils will be assessed on for some GCSE subjects, and providing advance information about the focus of exam content for other GCSE subjects, and all AS and A levels. The Department is currently considering the consultation’s responses and will announce its decisions shortly.
The Department also carried out a joint consultation with Ofqual on vocational, technical, and other general qualifications (VTQs). We set out the Department’s policy position and the scope of adaptations to assessments and qualifications that may be necessary to address the ongoing effect of COVID-19 in the 2021/22 academic year and consulted on the equalities effect of this policy. Ofqual consulted on the necessary changes to the Vocational and Technical Qualifications Contingency Regulatory Framework to update it for the 2021/22 academic year. The Government published its response on 6 August 2021.
In deciding on the approach to grading next year, the Department will be asking Ofqual to be as fair as possible to pupils taking qualifications in future years, and to those who took them in previous years. Ofqual will announce its planned approach to grading in the autumn term.
The Government has invested over £3 billion in a package of measures to support education recovery, including tutoring, summer schools and mental health support, as well as further training and development for teachers. This will help to ensure that exams and formal assessments in 2022 are as fair as possible.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that educational initiatives in (a) schools and (b) universities promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The conflict in the Middle East has caused grave concern around the world. The Department is committed to tackling all forms of hate and prejudice and promoting tolerance throughout the education system.
On 28 May 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, sent a letter to schools regarding the increase in antisemitic incidents, with advice on teaching about the conflict. The letter reminded schools of their legal duties on political impartiality. When political issues are brought to the attention of pupils, schools should offer them a balanced presentation of opposing views. The letter also stated that schools should not present materials in a politically biased way, and signposted reputable organisations that schools could work with to teach about the conflict in a balanced manner: https://twitter.com/GavinWilliamson/status/1398374786871537664.
The Department is developing further guidance on political impartiality in schools that we hope will serve to reemphasise these points across the curriculum and help to ensure that educational initiatives in schools are appropriate.
More broadly, schools play an important role in supporting pupils to understand the world, teaching about respect for other people and for differences. Through the ‘Educate Against Hate’ website, resources have been made available to provide teachers, head teachers and parents with the information, guidance and support they need to challenge radical views.
Regarding higher education, on 14 May 2021, the Secretary of State for Education sent a letter to all universities reinforcing the Government's position on antisemitism and urging the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to monitor schools’ ability to maintain remote support for pupils who are not attending school as a result of covid-19.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department recognises that head teachers and staff have worked hard to provide high quality on site and remote education, where it has been needed, to pupils.
School attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age. The Department expects schools to provide remote education for pupils who test positive for COVID-19, where they are well enough to be educated from home, for the 2021/22 academic year.
The Department issued a new remote education temporary continuity direction for the 2021/22 academic year, providing clarity about what is expected and ensuring consistency with the last academic year, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/remote-education-temporary-continuity-direction-explanatory-note. Schools affected by the temporary continuity direction must provide remote education for state funded, school aged pupils whose attendance would be contrary to local public health advice, Government guidance or law relating to COVID-19. Schools must also have regard to the expectations for remote education, published here: https://get-help-with-remote-education.education.gov.uk/statutory-obligations. These remain the same as the last academic year.
A comprehensive package of support continues to be available to schools and colleges to help them meet the remote education expectations: https://get-help-with-remote-education.education.gov.uk/.
Ofsted will return to a full programme of routine inspections from September 2021. As set out in the school inspection handbook, where remote education remains in place, inspectors may observe remote teaching and review materials.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department’s most recent statistics on attendance in education and early years settings, what assessment his Department plans to make on the impact of high absence rates in the weeks leading up to the summer 2021 holidays on learning.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Children and young people’s education has been significantly disrupted because of COVID-19. Bubbles, contact tracing and isolation requirements have been the major drivers of this. The latest attendance figures are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
The Department commissioned Renaissance Learning to provide a baseline assessment of education disruption for pupils in schools in England and monitor progress throughout the year to help target support across the system. The interim report for the 2020/21 academic year is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/962330/Learning_Loss_Report_1A_-_FINAL.pdf.
Since June 2020, the Department has announced more than £3 billion to support education recovery in schools, colleges and nurseries. This funding includes more than £1.5 billion for a national tutoring revolution, £400 million for training and professional development, £200 million for summer schools this summer, a £650 million universal catch up premium, a recovery premium worth over £300 million in the coming year, and £17 million to support language development in the early years. These recovery packages provide a balance of flexible funding for schools and funding for those interventions that evidence tells us will make the most difference.
The Government is committed to an ambitious, long term education recovery plan. The next stage will include a review of time spent in school and 16 to 19 education and the effect this could have on helping children and young people to catch up. The findings of the review will be set out later in the year.
The Government’s priority is for all children and young people to continue to be able to attend schools, colleges, and nurseries. The evidence is clear that missed face to face attendance can cause significant harm to children and young people’s education, life chances, and mental and physical health. This harm disproportionately affects children and young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. To keep schools, colleges, and nurseries open and maximise the opportunity for children and young people to attend, head teachers, staff, pupils, and parents have worked tirelessly to implement measures which have helped to minimise the transmission of COVID-19 and to support the safety and wellbeing of children, young people, and staff.
Ensuring that attendance is maximised in the new year remains a high priority for the Department. We will continue to work closely with local authorities and schools to help them reengage pupils, provide best practice advice and support families where attendance is a concern. In supporting the attendance of vulnerable children, the Department continues to provide schools and local authorities with resources to help them overcome barriers to attendance. Social workers are expected to support the attendance of children in need, as well as looked after children, by working with schools to follow up on absences.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the average length of time that individual students in each year group have been absent in circumstances resulting from the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The COVID-19 attendance rate for pupils eligible for free school meals, from 8 March 2021 to 7 June 2021, is published on Explore Education Statistics (Table 1B) which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Year group is not collected as part of the daily data collected from educational institutions and rates for this groups are not available.
Based on the Autumn Census, 60% of pupils had some period where they did not attend in circumstances relating to the COVID-19 outbreak. Further details on this can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.
The Department understands that the COVID-19 outbreak has caused particular challenges for different groups of children and has acted swiftly to minimise its impact and ensured that schools remained open for vulnerable children throughout.
The Department has also continued to work closely with local authorities to support them to re-engage absent pupils and share good practice. The £3 billion investment in education recovery includes over £900 million that schools can use to support the children who have been most impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Government's Supporting Families programme continues to work with families where absence is a specific concern.
Data for autumn 2020 on pupil absence and not attending in circumstances relating to COVID-19 outbreak is published at https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term. This includes data broken down by free school meals, special educational needs and ethnicity. Attendance data is not published by disability.
National data on the attendance of pupils during the COVID-19 outbreak is published weekly at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
There are breakdowns of attendance rate by pupils eligible for free school meals and those with special educational needs (educational health care plan). The coverage is from 8 March 2021 to 7 June 2021.
The COVID-19 attendance rate at local authority and regional levels is published on Explore Education Statistics (Table 1C) which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
The Department collects the number of sessions recorded as not attending in circumstances related to the COVID-19 outbreak via the school census. This is collected as a total for each pupil across each term. It is possible to calculate the average number of sessions missed in a term but it is not possible to calculate the average length of each spell of non-attendance. 7% of sessions in Autumn Term 2020 were recorded as not attending due to COVID-19 circumstances. This represents 5 days (one week) per pupil. Data on pupil absence in schools in England, autumn term 2020/21 is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the pupil absence rate is by local authority.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The COVID-19 attendance rate for pupils eligible for free school meals, from 8 March 2021 to 7 June 2021, is published on Explore Education Statistics (Table 1B) which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Year group is not collected as part of the daily data collected from educational institutions and rates for this groups are not available.
Based on the Autumn Census, 60% of pupils had some period where they did not attend in circumstances relating to the COVID-19 outbreak. Further details on this can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.
The Department understands that the COVID-19 outbreak has caused particular challenges for different groups of children and has acted swiftly to minimise its impact and ensured that schools remained open for vulnerable children throughout.
The Department has also continued to work closely with local authorities to support them to re-engage absent pupils and share good practice. The £3 billion investment in education recovery includes over £900 million that schools can use to support the children who have been most impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Government's Supporting Families programme continues to work with families where absence is a specific concern.
Data for autumn 2020 on pupil absence and not attending in circumstances relating to COVID-19 outbreak is published at https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term. This includes data broken down by free school meals, special educational needs and ethnicity. Attendance data is not published by disability.
National data on the attendance of pupils during the COVID-19 outbreak is published weekly at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
There are breakdowns of attendance rate by pupils eligible for free school meals and those with special educational needs (educational health care plan). The coverage is from 8 March 2021 to 7 June 2021.
The COVID-19 attendance rate at local authority and regional levels is published on Explore Education Statistics (Table 1C) which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
The Department collects the number of sessions recorded as not attending in circumstances related to the COVID-19 outbreak via the school census. This is collected as a total for each pupil across each term. It is possible to calculate the average number of sessions missed in a term but it is not possible to calculate the average length of each spell of non-attendance. 7% of sessions in Autumn Term 2020 were recorded as not attending due to COVID-19 circumstances. This represents 5 days (one week) per pupil. Data on pupil absence in schools in England, autumn term 2020/21 is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of absences due to covid-19 on schooling for (a) disadvantaged, (b) special educational needs, (c) disabled and (d) ethnic minority pupils.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The COVID-19 attendance rate for pupils eligible for free school meals, from 8 March 2021 to 7 June 2021, is published on Explore Education Statistics (Table 1B) which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Year group is not collected as part of the daily data collected from educational institutions and rates for this groups are not available.
Based on the Autumn Census, 60% of pupils had some period where they did not attend in circumstances relating to the COVID-19 outbreak. Further details on this can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.
The Department understands that the COVID-19 outbreak has caused particular challenges for different groups of children and has acted swiftly to minimise its impact and ensured that schools remained open for vulnerable children throughout.
The Department has also continued to work closely with local authorities to support them to re-engage absent pupils and share good practice. The £3 billion investment in education recovery includes over £900 million that schools can use to support the children who have been most impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. The Government's Supporting Families programme continues to work with families where absence is a specific concern.
Data for autumn 2020 on pupil absence and not attending in circumstances relating to COVID-19 outbreak is published at https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term. This includes data broken down by free school meals, special educational needs and ethnicity. Attendance data is not published by disability.
National data on the attendance of pupils during the COVID-19 outbreak is published weekly at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
There are breakdowns of attendance rate by pupils eligible for free school meals and those with special educational needs (educational health care plan). The coverage is from 8 March 2021 to 7 June 2021.
The COVID-19 attendance rate at local authority and regional levels is published on Explore Education Statistics (Table 1C) which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
The Department collects the number of sessions recorded as not attending in circumstances related to the COVID-19 outbreak via the school census. This is collected as a total for each pupil across each term. It is possible to calculate the average number of sessions missed in a term but it is not possible to calculate the average length of each spell of non-attendance. 7% of sessions in Autumn Term 2020 were recorded as not attending due to COVID-19 circumstances. This represents 5 days (one week) per pupil. Data on pupil absence in schools in England, autumn term 2020/21 is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-autumn-term.