Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government which extra-curricular activities offered by secondary schools they consider most likely to develop the spiritual, moral, social and cultural values of pupils; and what steps they are taking to encourage and support secondary schools to provide such activities.
Answered by Lord Nash
Extra-curricular activities can form an important part of a pupil’s education. When activities are structured and organised effectively, they can provide young people with stimulating experiences which build on the knowledge and understanding they gain through lessons; as well as supporting their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
Schools have been given greater freedom over their curriculum, so that they can plan their teaching to meet the needs of their pupils. This includes deciding which extra-curricular activities to provide.
The Department for Education is allocating £5 million to expand capacity in character education, build evidence of what works and deliver a national awards scheme to recognise existing excellence.
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their intention that the (currently non-statutory) syllabus in secondary schools relating to the subject described as "sex and relationship education" should include learning about non-sexual relationships such as the relationship between a mother and her child, or the relationship between siblings, or relationships in the workplace with colleagues or customers.
Answered by Lord Nash
Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is a non-statutory subject that can encompass many areas of study, including the importance of healthy relationships and how to identify those relationships which are unhealthy. This applies to all the relationships that young people have with their friends, peers and families. PSHE may also include pupils being taught about the workplace and how to develop the essential skills of teamwork and communication.
Sex and relationships education (SRE) is an important part of PSHE and is compulsory in maintained secondary schools. When teaching SRE all schools must have regard to the Secretary of State’s statutory sex and relationships guidance, which makes it clear that teaching should include the importance of loving and stable relationships and the importance of family life.
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to make available to maintained secondary schools in England the resources, particularly the facilities and teacher training, to develop in their pupils the self confidence, character capabilities, and personal and interpersonal skills they will need as they move into adult life.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government wants to support schools and teachers to ensure their pupils leave with the skills and character attributes needed to succeed in education and employment, and to ensure they are prepared for life in modern Britain. We know that many schools already help build character in a number of ways, so we have launched a national awards scheme to recognise and share existing excellence in this area. The Department for Education has also offered up to £3.5 million in grant funding to develop new, innovative approaches and enable successful initiatives to expand. We have made £1 million available to the Education Endowment Foundation to increase research into the most effective ways of integrating character development into education. We have also launched the Character Awards[1] to recognise and share good practice.
[1] www.gov.uk/government/news/dfe-character-awards-application-window-now-open
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the attention paid by maintained secondary schools in England to building in all their pupils the confidence to succeed, qualities of character, and the interpersonal skills they will need as they move into adult life.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government is committed to ensuring that all young people develop a range of character attributes, such as resilience and grit, which underpin success in education and employment. This is essential to ensuring all young people are prepared for life in modern Britain.
We recognise that character is already being encouraged and developed alongside academic excellence through a variety of programmes in and outside schools and colleges across the country. We want to build on that success, better understand what works, identify and share good practice and encourage all schools to ensure their pupils leave with the best chance of future success.
We are investing up to £3.5 million in grant funding to develop new, innovative approaches and enable successful initiatives to expand. We have made £1 million available to the Education Endowment Foundation to increase research into the most effective ways of integrating character development into education and have launched the Character Awards to recognise excellence.