Vicky Ford
Main Page: Vicky Ford (Conservative - Chelmsford)Department Debates - View all Vicky Ford's debates with the Department for Education
(3 years, 9 months ago)
Commons ChamberIt is important that pupils have access to a healthy breakfast meal to enhance their learning potential. That is why we are investing up to £38 million in the national school breakfast programme, which is providing breakfast meals in up to 2,450 schools in disadvantaged areas across the country.
I thank the Minister for her response, but unfortunately the Government’s current school breakfast programme only provides for 7% of schools that meet the Government’s deprivation criteria, and it ends in July. Pre-pandemic, up to 2 million children were starting their school day without a breakfast. My School Breakfast Bill would extend and scale up provision via funds from the soft drinks levy. Please can she ask the Chancellor to implement my Bill and get breakfast into the Budget?
I completely agree that a healthy and nutritious breakfast sets a child up for a learning day. We have extended our programme until July this year and we are considering options for breakfast provision beyond that date. We are engaging with the market to help develop those options, and we expect to be able to say more very soon.
All settings must comply with health and safety law. They should follow our guidance so that systems of control are in place to reduce the risk of transmission for pupils and staff, and we have bespoke guidance for special schools, alternative provision and early years settings. Furthermore, to keep covid out of the classrooms and other settings, we have expanded testing to schools, pre-schools and nurseries.
Covid cases in early years providers have nearly doubled since the first week of January to the highest level so far seen during this pandemic, and many nursery workers and childminders have been understandably worried about continuing to look after all children in lockdown, without a proper explanation of why this is safe and without a clear plan to ensure that providers can access proper mass testing and the personal protective equipment they need. Why have the Government done so little to reassure them?
The earliest years are the most crucial point of a child’s development, and we know that caring for our youngest children cannot be done remotely. The current evidence continues to show that pre-school children under the age of five are less susceptible to covid and unlikely to have a driving role in transmission. All the data that we base decisions on is public, and further scientific evidence was shared just last week.
Ten days ago, there were five covid cases in different nursery settings in Warwick and Leamington—the worst for many months. If the Government want to keep early years open, how does the Minister think nurseries can remain viable without mass testing, FFP3-grade PPE or, indeed, the financial support that was available in the first lockdown?
This Government are committed to supporting the early years, and we will be spending about £3.6 billion on early years funding this year, but to provide extra safety, we are rolling out home test kits for all those in nurseries and pre-schools—the staff in nurseries and pre-schools—from 22 March.
Social distancing is impossible in early years settings and special schools, where staff often provide close contact care, and it has been a nightmare for them to operate at high capacity in lockdown, with many staff off sick or self-isolating. Vaccinating school staff over half-term and prioritising key workers such as early years staff, once the most vulnerable have been jabbed, would have relieved this pressure, protected staff and helped to keep children learning, so why did the Government miss this open goal?
The top priority for vaccines must be to protect those most at risk of dying or being hospitalised by this hideous disease. It also involves protecting those who are caring for those most at risk. That could include, for example, a carer of a clinically extremely vulnerable child, but it would not necessarily include everyone who is working in an early years setting.
The pandemic has been especially hard for children with special educational needs and disabilities, and their families. We have increased high-needs funding by £780 million this year, with another £730 million next year—a 24% increase. Our SEND review is well under way, and focuses on ensuring that the system supports and delivers for every child.
What particular educational support is being provided to children with dyslexia through the covid-19 pandemic restrictions?
That is an excellent question. We know that for children with special education needs, including dyslexia, the impact of school closures may have been greater than for other children. The additional £700 million of recovery funding announced last week, on top of the £1 billion already provided, can be used by schools for extra support for those with SEND. Of the 33 providers on the national tutoring programme, 26 have specific expertise in supporting children with special educational needs.
I know from the three special schools in my constituency what an amazing job the teachers do to support children and young people with complex disabilities, as well as special educational needs. Will the Minister confirm that all teachers in those settings are entitled to a covid jab? What else can the Government do to support schools to be covid-secure?
I thank all schools, especially those special schools that have helped to care for vulnerable children throughout the pandemic. Attendance has risen. We have provided bespoke advice on testing children with special educational needs, and we will provide families of all pupils with access to home testing, including those with special educational needs. That will help to keep covid out of the classroom. Where a teacher is supporting a clinically extremely vulnerable child, as the care provider that teacher may also be entitled to a vaccine, and those decisions are made locally.
The Department does not collect specific data on brain injuries. A pupil’s acquired brain injury could manifest in many different ways, and support should be tailored to their learning barriers, irrespective of the diagnosis. The SEND code of practice asks schools and colleges to address pupils’ individual educational needs, regardless of their condition.
Happy St David’s day, Mr Speaker.
I really find that a disappointing answer. There will be children going back to school after several weeks who will have had brain injuries of various kinds. If the Department does not even keep statistics on them, it is probably likely that lots of headteachers will not even know whether their children have had acquired brain injuries. Sometimes, the results of a brain injury can look remarkably like being naughty or unco-operative in school, and kids end up being excluded despite the fact that they have a medical condition. The special educational needs code still does not even mention brain injury. How are we ever going to take this seriously if we do not even gather the information and make sure that those children who really need support get it? It is often referred to as a hidden disability; well, it is completely hidden from the Minister herself.
No, the Government take brain injury and the devastating impact that it can have on a child’s life especially seriously, but the important thing is to make sure that each child gets the support that they need for their particular circumstances. That is why the SEND system is specifically designed to get the right support to each individual child, and that is what we are working on through the SEND review. I am very happy to discuss with the hon. Member exactly how we are working on making sure that each child gets the support that they need for how the brain injury manifests for that child.
The Government are fully committed to protecting and promoting children’s rights; it is such an important issue. We strongly believe in the principles laid down in the UN convention on the rights of the child, which a Conservative Government ratified 30 years ago, in 1991. We regularly report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on the great work that we have been doing across the UK to implement the UNCRC and to promote children’s rights.
Maintained nursery schools often do a fantastic job, especially with children from disadvantaged backgrounds or with special educational needs, and they will continue to receive supplementary funding in the next financial year. The Government remain committed to long-term funding of maintained nursery schools, and we are considering how to ensure that we give those maintained nursery schools a long-term picture of their funding.
On top of the £3.6 billion that we are planning to spend on early entitlements this year, there is the catch-up and recovery programme. That includes the amazing Nuffield early language intervention—NELI—scheme, which has already been adopted by 40% of reception classes across the country. The new recovery money that we announced last week includes another £10 million for early years projects, and I can tell the House more details about those very soon.