Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children are currently eligible for free school meals but have not yet made a claim.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The latest published statistics show that around 1.9 million pupils are claiming free school meals (FSM). This equates to 22.5% of all pupils, up from 20.8% in 2021. Together with a further 1.25 million infants supported through the Universal Infant Free School Meal policy, over one third of pupils receive a free meal in school.
The department does not routinely collect information on the proportion of pupils that may be entitled to FSM, but do not make a claim. The most recent estimate is that take-up is around 89% of those who are entitled.
The department wants to make sure as many eligible pupils as possible are claiming their FSM, and to make it as simple as possible for schools and local authorities to determine eligibility. To support this, we provide an Eligibility Checking System to make the checking process as quick and straightforward as possible for schools and local authorities. The department has also developed a model registration form to help schools encourage parents to sign up for FSM and provide guidance to Jobcentre Plus advisers so that they can make Universal Credit recipients aware that they may also be entitled to wider benefits, including FSM.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children subject to no recourse to public funds (NRPF) conditions in receipt of 15 hours a week of free early education are British citizens.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Following a consultation in May 2022, the department extended eligibility for the 15-hour early education entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds to children in no recourse to public fund (NRPF) households in September 2022.
The department does not hold data on the number of children that are British children with NRPF that are currently in receipt of the two-year old early education entitlement.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children subject to No Recourse to Public Funds conditions are in receipt of 15 hours a week of free early education available to disadvantaged three and four year-olds, but would be eligible for the 30 hour entitlement if not subject to NRPF.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All parents are eligible to claim up to 570 hours of free early education per year, which is usually taken as 15 hours per week over 38 weeks of the year. This is available to all three and four-year olds, regardless of family circumstances, including those whose families have no recourse to public funds (NRPF).
Working parents of three and four-year-olds may also be eligible for an additional 15 hours of free childcare, also known as 30 hours free childcare, subject to both minimum and maximum earnings thresholds. Parents must earn the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the national minimum/living wage, currently just over £7,900 per year, and their adjusted net income must be under £100,000.
In a two-parent family both parents must meet these thresholds, unless one partner receives certain benefits (Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carer’s Allowance or contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance). In a single-parent household the single parent must meet the threshold. Parents with NRPF are not eligible for this entitlement.
The department does not hold data on the number of children whose parents have NRPF who are currently taking up the universal 15 hour early education entitlement. This means it is not possible to ascertain how many would be eligible for the extended 30 hour entitlement were they not subject to NRPF.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children subject to No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) conditions are in receipt of the 15 hours a week of free early education available to disadvantaged two-year old children.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Following a consultation in May 2022, the department extended eligibility for the 15 hour early education entitlement for disadvantaged two-year-olds to children in no recourse to public fund households in September 2022.
However, the department does not hold data on the number of children specifically with no recourse to public funds that are currently in receipt of the two-year-old early education entitlement.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by the National Autistic Society School Report 2021, published on 9 November; in particular, the findings about informal exclusions; and what steps they intend to take in response to ensure that schools do not practice such exclusions.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold figures on the number of pupils who have been informally excluded from school. Informal exclusions are unlawful and therefore there is no mechanism for recording them.
The government is considering the National Autistic Society School Report 2021, which provides helpful insights into this practice. Further information on this report can be found at: https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/news/school-report-2021?dm_i=YA3,7MFOP,63DHOU,V1NPQ,1&mc_cid=cd260af2f9&mc_eid=b460e5a1f.
The department makes clear in the ‘Statutory Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions’ guidance that ‘informal’ or ‘unofficial’ suspensions, such as sending pupils home ‘to cool off’, are unlawful, regardless of whether they occur with the agreement of parents or carers. Any suspension of a pupil, even for short periods of time, must be in line with the relevant legislation and be recorded as a suspension.
The department will shortly be consulting on the ‘Behaviour in Schools’ guidance and the ‘Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions’ guidance. These will equip headteachers to create calm, orderly, safe and supportive school environments where exclusions are only ever used lawfully and as a last resort.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities have been informally excluded in the last academic year.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold figures on the number of pupils who have been informally excluded from school. Informal exclusions are unlawful and therefore there is no mechanism for recording them.
The government is considering the National Autistic Society School Report 2021, which provides helpful insights into this practice. Further information on this report can be found at: https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/news/school-report-2021?dm_i=YA3,7MFOP,63DHOU,V1NPQ,1&mc_cid=cd260af2f9&mc_eid=b460e5a1f.
The department makes clear in the ‘Statutory Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions’ guidance that ‘informal’ or ‘unofficial’ suspensions, such as sending pupils home ‘to cool off’, are unlawful, regardless of whether they occur with the agreement of parents or carers. Any suspension of a pupil, even for short periods of time, must be in line with the relevant legislation and be recorded as a suspension.
The department will shortly be consulting on the ‘Behaviour in Schools’ guidance and the ‘Suspensions and Permanent Exclusions’ guidance. These will equip headteachers to create calm, orderly, safe and supportive school environments where exclusions are only ever used lawfully and as a last resort.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many child refugees are currently in looked after care in the UK.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not collect data on all child refugees that are currently in care, but does collect data on the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) who are looked after by local authorities in England. Of the 80,850 children looked after up to 31 March 2021, there were 4,070 UASC, down 20% from the previous year which was 5,060.
Figures on the number of children looked after who were UASC were published recently in the annual statistical release at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoptions.
Figures on children who were UASC outside England is a matter for the devolved administrations.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to how the education system might be used to broaden public awareness about actions that individual members of the general public are able to make in line with the target to reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department recognises the contribution it can make to help create a sustainable future through education, developing the skills needed for a green economy, and supporting sectors to reach net zero targets.
Topics relating to climate change are included throughout both the science and geography curricula and in GCSEs. Through the citizenship programmes of study, pupils are taught how to explore political and social issues critically through evidence, debate, and reasoned argument. Pupils are taught that resources can be allocated in different ways and that these economic choices affect individuals, communities, and the sustainability of the environment. A new environmental science A Level was introduced in 2017, which will enable pupils to study topics that will support their understanding of climate change and how it will be tackled.
In further and technical education, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has convened a Green Apprenticeships Advisory Panel to encourage trailblazers to align apprenticeships to net zero and wider sustainability objectives.
The Department for Education and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy launched the Green Jobs Taskforce in November 2020 to help the UK deliver the skilled workforce needed to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The taskforce, working in partnership with business, skills providers, and unions will develop an action plan to support 2 million good quality, green jobs and the skills needed by 2030, and so support the UK to transition to a net zero economy.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report commissioned by the Treasury The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review, published on 2 February, what steps they are taking to ensure that all children understand how nature contributes to the UK economy.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department is currently working with Her Majesty’s Treasury to contribute to a full response to the Dasgupta Review.
The National Curriculum is a framework which sets out the content that the department expects schools to cover in each subject, but teachers have the flexibility and freedom to determine how they deliver the content in the way that best meets the needs of their pupils. This includes choosing to cover particular topics in greater depth if they wish. Although academies and free schools are not required to teach the National Curriculum, they are expected to teach a curriculum that is similar in breadth and ambition, and this is reflected in the Ofsted school inspection handbook. This can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-handbook-eif.
Subject content related to the environment is included within the science and geography National Curriculum. At primary level (key stages 1 and 2), pupils are taught how environments can change, including positive and negative impacts of human action, weather, and climate zones. In secondary science (key stages 3 and 4), pupils are taught about the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the effect that this has on the climate. At GCSE, pupils consider the evidence for anthropogenic causes of climate change. They also study the impact of increased levels of carbon dioxide and methane and how this can be mitigated.
Under the key stage 2 non-statutory guidance for citizenship, pupils are taught about the wider world and the interdependence of communities within it. Pupils are taught that resources can be allocated in different ways and that these economic choices affect individuals, communities and the sustainability of the environment.
In geography, at key stage 2 and 3 pupils should be taught human geography. In key stage 2, pupils are taught about types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water. In key stage 3 pupils are taught about population and urbanisation, international development, economic activity in the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors, and the use of natural resources. These topics can be built upon in more depth at GCSE.
In 2017, the department introduced a new environmental science A level. This enables pupils to study topics that will support their understanding of climate change and how it can be tackled.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Durham (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review how a pupil's progress in education is assessed; and what consideration they have given to including social, emotional and spiritual development alongside academic attainment.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
We want to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe, to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society. As a result, all schools must offer a curriculum which is balanced and broadly based, and which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and prepares pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
The statutory relationships and health education curriculum includes teaching about mental wellbeing. The topic covers how to talk about emotions accurately and sensitively, the benefits and importance of physical exercise and community activities on mental wellbeing and happiness, and where and how to seek support if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing. A significant contribution towards developing primary school children’s social, emotional and spiritual development is also made by school ethos, effective relationships throughout the school.
The department has committed £1.7 billion additional funding to date to help pupils recover from the recent disruption they have experienced: £1 billion in June 2020, including a £650 million premium for schools, and a further £700 million in February 2021 to provide additional funding through a Recovery Premium, summer schools, expansion of tutoring programmes and early language support.
This new one-off Recovery Premium for state primary and secondary schools, building on the Pupil Premium, will be provided to schools to use as they see best to support disadvantaged pupils. To help schools use this funding, the Education Endowment Foundation has published a support guide for schools with evidence-based approaches to catch up and a further school planning guide, which are available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/national-tutoring-programme/covid-19-support-guide-for-schools/#nav-covid-19-support-guide-for-schools1 and https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/guide-to-supporting-schools-planning/.
The guidance is clear that interventions, including those focused on aspects of education such as behaviour or pupils’ social and emotional needs, are likely to be important to support those who have fallen furthest behind. Summer schools can also be effective in improving wellbeing, including through providing a mix of enrichment activities alongside academic content.
We have commissioned a mixed-methods research study that will examine schools’ recovery approaches to lost time in education as a result of COVID-19. This research will deliver an understanding of how schools are assessing the scale of any attainment loss, how the catch-up funding is being used, and the approaches schools are taking to catch pupils up – alongside any barriers/success factors to these approaches. The study will also assess how schools are helping pupils recover from any wellbeing or behavioural loss that may have occurred as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
To provide further support during the autumn and spring terms, the department has worked with our partners, the Department of Health and Social Care, Health Education England, Public Health England and key voluntary sector organisations, to launch Wellbeing for Education Return. This project, backed by £8 million, will train local experts to provide additional training, advice and resources to schools and colleges to help support pupil and student wellbeing, resilience and recovery.