Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that school science practical classes are funded to a level sufficient to (1) stimulate school pupils, and (2) meet the requirements set by the examination boards.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government is committed to improving the quality of science education, including making sure pupils experience practical science. A number of programmes provide support to science teachers and technicians to improve science teaching, including support to deliver practical work. These programmes include the national network of ‘Science Learning Partnerships’, incorporating support for schools to improve the take up of GCSE triple science, and the ‘Stimulating Physics Network’.
The latest provisional data on GCSE entries in England shows that 91.2% of pupils sat science GCSEs in 2017, up from 86.8% in 2016. There was also an increase in the number of A level entries in science subjects in England, with 2017 provisional data showing that there were 134,105 entries in physics, chemistry and biology A levels, up from 130,787 in 2016.
We are introducing the national funding formula from 2018-19 so that, for the first time, school funding will be distributed according to a formula based on the individual needs and characteristics of every school in the country. This is supported by a significant extra investment of £1.3 billion across 2018-19 and 2019-20, over and above the budget announced at the 2015 spending review.
Core funding for schools and high needs will rise from almost £41 billion in 2017-18 to £42.4 billion in 2018-19 and £43.5 billion in 2019-20. This will allow us to maintain school and high needs funding in real terms per pupil for the next two years. It is for schools to determine how much of their funding is spent on practical science.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the loss of EU funding available for cultural and adult education programmes after the UK leaves the EU, whether they are reducing the amount of funds available each year to local communities for the provision of such programmes; and, if so, by how much.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government will guarantee funding for structural and investment fund projects which are signed before the UK leaves the EU, if they represent good value for money, and if they are in line with domestic strategic priorities. This includes schemes which continue beyond the departure from the EU.
As part of our preparations for exiting the EU, we are assessing the impact of EU funds and programmes. The replacement of EU funds following the guarantee period will be based on UK strategic priorities and decisions will be taken in light of other domestic spending priorities.
Leaving the EU means we will look to take decisions for policy objectives previously targeted by EU funding. Over the coming months, the government will consult closely with stakeholders to review all EU funding schemes in the current round, to ensure that any ongoing funding commitments best serve the national interest, while ensuring appropriate certainty.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to ensure that the number of textbooks and library books available in maintained schools is not reduced, and that that number is not reduced in comparison to the number of books available in private schools.
Answered by Lord Nash
We want all schools to have the resources they need, and through our careful management of the economy we have been able to protect the core schools budget in real terms. School funding is now at its highest level on record at more than £40bn in 2016-17 - and that is set to rise, as pupil numbers rise over the next two years, to £42 billion by 2019-20.
We agree that high quality textbooks are important in delivering high quality education. Schools are best placed to determine appropriate teaching resources which they fund from within their budgets. We do not collect detailed information on the purchase of books in schools.
We believe that school libraries play a key role in encouraging young people to read for pleasure. We believe that it should be for schools to decide whether to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what comparisons they have made regarding the purchase and use of books in maintained schools in different parts of the UK.
Answered by Lord Nash
We want schools to have the resources they need, and through our careful management of the economy we have been able to protect the core schools budget in real terms. That means that in 2016-17 schools have more funding than ever before for children’s education, totalling over £40 billion. We will continue to provide advice and support to help schools use their funding in cost effective ways, and improve the way they buy goods and services, so they get the best possible value for their pupils.
Individual schools are best placed to determine which appropriate teaching resources they fund from within their budgets. We believe, however, that high quality textbooks can make a real difference to teaching. We have worked with publishers with the aim of improving the quality of textbooks available to schools, to better support excellent teaching and teacher professional development. We do not however collect detailed information on the purchase and use of books in different parts of the UK.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will take steps to ensure that maintained schools have adequate resources to continue to make text books available to pupils as a central part of their education.
Answered by Lord Nash
We want schools to have the resources they need, and through our careful management of the economy we have been able to protect the core schools budget in real terms. That means that in 2016-17 schools have more funding than ever before for children’s education, totalling over £40 billion. We will continue to provide advice and support to help schools use their funding in cost effective ways, and improve the way they buy goods and services, so? they get the best possible value for their pupils.
Individual schools are best placed to determine which appropriate teaching resources they fund from within their budgets. We believe, however, that high quality textbooks can make a real difference to teaching. We have worked with publishers with the aim of improving the quality of textbooks available to schools, to better support excellent teaching and teacher professional development. We do not however collect detailed information on the purchase and use of books in different parts of the UK.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what their policy is for the provision of textbooks and exercise books in primary and secondary schools in England; and what assessment they have made of differences in provision between the UK and other European countries.
Answered by Lord Nash
Good teaching and high academic standards are strongly associated with adequate provision and widespread use of high-quality textbooks.
Cambridge Assessment’s report, ‘Why textbooks count’, analysed the use of high-quality textbooks around the world. The report found that use of textbooks is common in high performing education jurisdictions. In Finland, 95% of maths teachers use a textbook as a basis for instruction. In Singapore, 70% of maths teachers use a textbook. In England, only 10% of maths teachers use a textbook for their core teaching.
A well-designed textbook provides a coherent, structured programme which supports a teacher’s own expertise and knowledge as well as a pupil’s.
On 26 March 2016, the Department for Education published a report from a review group looking at teacher workload in relation to planning and resources. The group concluded there is a case for schools to place greater emphasis on quality- assured resources, including textbooks, to reduce the time teachers spend on searching for resources.
Good textbooks also have workbooks which support homework in a positive way by providing well-structured practice exercises linked to clear explanations, which parents can understand and use to help their children.
We have been working with textbook publishers with the aim of improving the quality of textbooks available to schools, to better support excellent teaching and teacher professional development. Last year, the publishers produced a set of common guidelines for the production of textbooks.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the trend in the level of continuing professional development undertaken by teachers of STEM subjects in primary schools; what estimate they have made about the effect it will have on the standards attained by pupils; and whether they will provide funds to increase continuing professional development in the future.
Answered by Lord Nash
It is for schools to determine the professional development their teachers need. The Government funds a number of programmes which make high quality, professional development available to primary teachers. This supports our commitment to making Britain the best place in the world to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
The network of 35 Maths Hubs is working with many primary teachers to adopt effective south-east Asian ‘mastery’ teaching approaches to make sure that more children leave primary schools having met the expected standards in mathematics. The network of 44 Science Learning Partnerships provides support to primary teachers to improve their science subject knowledge and how they teach science including good quality practical work. Support to improve the teaching of the new primary computing curriculum is available through the Network of Teaching Excellence in Computer Science. All of these programmes are subject to ongoing evaluation to assess their impact.
The Government remains committed to making sure primary school teachers continue to have access to high quality STEM professional development in the future.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Chesterton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, following the commitments made after the Olympic Games, what plans they have to increase the time allocated and resources spent per pupil on sport in all primary schools; and what additional resources will be allocated for that purpose.
Answered by Lord Nash
All maintained schools must teach a full programme of study for PE and it is up to schools to decide how much time they should devote to PE, or indeed to any other national curriculum subject. New research has shown that primary school pupils are now spending an average of more than two hours a week in PE lessons – an increase of 13 minutes since last year. Through the primary PE and sport premium we are providing over £450 million of ring-fenced funding across the three academic years beginning in 2013/14. The premium goes directly to primary schools to be spent on PE and sport; our research has shown that over 90% of schools have improved the quality of their PE lessons as a direct result of this funding.