Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including lessons on death and bereavement in the National Curriculum.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department wants to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe, and to equip them for adult life so they achieve and thrive.
The statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance makes clear that teachers should be aware of common adverse childhood experiences, including bereavement, and understand when and how these may be affecting of their pupils. This will help teachers to tailor their lessons accordingly, taking decisions on appropriate resources and support to enable them to teach the curriculum effectively. Teachers are free to draw on the support and expertise of subject associations and other providers of curriculum support.
The RSHE statutory guidance, which sets out the specific topics pupils should be taught, is currently under review. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has been clear that children's wellbeing will be the government's priority, in light of which the department is looking carefully at the responses from the period of public consultation which ended on 11 July, engage with stakeholders and consider the relevant evidence before setting out next steps. As part of this process, the department will explore whether any more or amended content is required, including on death and bereavement.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support children diagnosed with dyslexia in Ashford constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department is committed to improving support for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with dyslexia and other neurodiverse conditions.
Early identification of need and support is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND, including those with dyslexia. There is already a number of measures to help teachers do this, including the phonics screening check and statutory assessments at the end of key stage 2.
Measures have also been introduced to support the effective teaching of reading, including for those at risk of falling behind. This includes the English Hubs programme, the publication of the Reading Framework and an updated list of high quality phonics programmes for schools.
The English Hubs programme is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on supporting children making the slowest progress in reading. As part of the continuous professional development provided by the English Hubs, the Reading Ambition for All programme has been launched to improve outcomes for children who need additional support with reading, including those with SEND.
Ashford’s local English Hub is Kingsnorth. Further information is available here: https://www.kingsnorth.kent.sch.uk/english-hub.
Asked by: Sojan Joseph (Labour - Ashford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the provision of SEND services in Ashford constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Following the inspection of Kent’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in January 2019, inspectors reported nine significant areas of weakness, requiring the local area to produce a Written Statement of Action.
A revisit by Ofsted and CQC took place in September 2022. The report was published on 9 November 2022 and judged that the local area had not made sufficient progress in addressing any of its significant weaknesses, which were:
(i) A widely held concern of parents that the local area is not able, or in some cases not willing, to meet their children’s needs.
(ii) A variable quality of provision and commitment to inclusion in schools.
(iii) That parents and carers have a limited role in reviewing and designing services for children and young people with SEND.
(iv) An inability of current joint commissioning arrangements to address known gaps and eliminate longstanding weaknesses in services.
(v) Poor standards achieved and poor progress made by too many children and young people with SEND.
(vi) The inconsistent quality of the education, health and care (EHC) plan process.
(vii) Weak governance of SEND arrangements across the EHC system at strategic and operational level.
(viii) Unacceptable waiting times for children and young people to be seen by some health services.
(ix) A lack of effective systems to review and improve outcomes for those children and young people whose progress to date has been limited by weaknesses in provision.
Every child and young person with SEND should have access to high quality services. Where a council does not meet requirements to provide appropriate support for these children, the department will take action to prioritise their needs and bring about rapid improvement. That is why Kent County Council (KCC) was issued with an Improvement Notice in March 2023, setting out the steps expected of them to raise standards in their SEND services.
After reviewing the actions that KCC has taken to improve its SEND services, the department lifted its Improvement Notice in August 2024 on the basis that KCC has met the conditions set out within it. The department continues to maintain close oversight of services and the further improvements KCC must make to ensure every child and young person with SEND has access to high quality services, including through regular review meetings, close working with NHS England, and the continued support of a department commissioned SEND Advisor.