Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to remove the restriction on Ofsted's inspection of schools which teach for less than 18 hours a week.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Settings that only have pupils attending for less than 18 hours per week are not considered full time and are therefore not required to register as schools. As they are not registered as schools, such settings are not subject to inspection. In March 2018, the department published guidance setting out how the government, Ofsted and local authorities can work collaboratively to help ensure children attending unregistered schools and out-of-school settings are safe and are receiving a suitable education. This guidance is attached and can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-school-registration.
Part-time settings should be considered to be out-of-school settings, which the department currently defines as “any institution providing tuition, training, instruction or activities to children in England, without their parents’ or carers supervision, that is not a school, college, 16-19 academy or provider caring for children under 8 years old, which is registered with Ofsted or a childcare agency.” This covers a large, broad and diverse sector, ranging from: settings offering part-time or supplementary education to support mainstream or home education and religious settings offering education in their own faith, to extra-curricular clubs and activities, such as dance classes, sports tuition, as well as uniformed youth organisations.
In 2015, the government consulted on proposals to introduce a new system regulation of the sector. However, in 2018 following careful consideration of the large number of wide ranging views and representations received, the government decided not to pursue the model proposed, but to instead further develop the evidence base for a national approach, including future legislation where gaps in existing powers might be identified. In connection with this, the government is currently taking forward a package of measures aimed at enhancing the safeguarding of children in this sector, including the provision of £3 million of targeted funding, in 16 local authorities, to test different approaches to multi-agency working. This work will be used to inform best practice on how existing legal powers, held by local authorities and other agencies, such as the Police, Ofsted and the Charity Commission can best be used to intervene in settings of concern and to help inform the need for any further legislation.
Some part-time settings provide alternative provision which is commissioned by a school or local authority. Ofsted can look at such a part-time setting as part of an inspection of the commissioner. In all cases (whether commissioning a place for a child in care or any other child), the local authority or school acting as the alternative provision commissioner should assure themselves that the setting is registered where applicable and that the provision is delivered by high quality staff with suitable training, experience and safeguarding checks.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the withdrawal of pupils from Parkfield School because their parents did not want them to attend lessons about LGBT rights and homophobia, what consideration they have given to suspending the requirement for such lessons in order to carry out a consultation with parents and schools into the provision of such lessons.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The department is actively engaged in the situation at Parkfield Community School where parents are objecting to an educational programme, No Outsiders, which contains elements of teaching around lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. Parkfield Community School have stated that, as previously planned, there will be no further teaching of the No Outsiders programme for the remainder of the school term, and that they will be undertaking a consultation with parents during this time.
Senior officials from the Regional School Commissioner’s Office have been on site regularly since the start of this issue and are working to facilitate conversations between the community, the academy and Excelsior Multi Academy Trust. They are already working closely with the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Hodge Hill, Birmingham City Council and Birmingham Education Partnership to resolve the conflict and, as such, end pupil absences as soon as possible.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reported difficulties experienced by the London Diocesan Board for Schools in obtaining restricted certificates of sponsorship for teacher visas; and of the impact this may have on teacher recruitment in London.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government recognises the important contribution that international teachers, and other highly skilled migrants, make to the UK and we keep all of our immigration routes under review.
On 15 June, the government announced changes to the allocation of places within the Tier 2 (General) cap of 20,700 migrants. The change will be implemented through amended immigration rules coming into effect on 6 July 2018. It will exempt all doctors and nurses needed in the UK from the cap. This change, which is intended to be temporary, alleviates pressure on the NHS. It also creates extra space within the cap for other sectors of the economy, including international teachers.
As part of this announcement, the government will be asking the independent Migration Advisory Committee to review the full composition of the Shortage Occupation List.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average A-level achievement of those entering Bachelor of Education degree courses.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes statistics on students studying at UK higher education institutions (HEIs).
The following table, which is attached, is taken from HESA’s publication ‘UK Performance Indicators 2016/17: Widening participation’. It shows the distribution of entry qualifications for UK domiciled young entrants to full-time first degrees in education subjects and compares this with the distribution across all subjects.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
Her Majesty's Government how many Muslim schools, including madrassas, there are in England; how they monitor teaching in those schools; and whether they intend to legislate to require all teaching in such schools to be conducted in English.
Answered by Lord Nash
In England there are 27 publicly-funded schools (i.e. local authority maintained schools and academies, including free schools) having a designated religious character as Muslim; and 148 independent schools registered as having a religious ethos of Muslim or Islam, or having a designated religious character of Muslim or Islam (or both). The Department for Education does not regulate madrassahs or other out-of-school education settings and does not hold a complete record their numbers.
The quality of teaching in Muslim schools in England is inspected by Ofsted or one of the independent inspectorates approved by the Secretary of State.
All publicly funded schools must teach English to pupils up to the age of 16. English is both a subject in its own right and the medium for teaching in the vast majority of circumstances. The statutory independent school standards require that pupils acquire speaking, listening, literacy and numeracy skills. While independent schools are not required to teach in the medium of English, the standards require that where they do not, lessons in written and spoken English are provided.
The Department has no plans to legislate further to require schools to teach in the medium of English. The Department launched a call for evidence setting out proposals for a new system for regulating out-of-school education settings providing intensive education, but this did not suggest that they should be required to teach in English.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to alter the timing of school exams to accommodate Muslim children during Ramadan, and whether they have similar plans to accommodate Jewish children and the children of other non-Christian religions during their religious festivals.
Answered by Lord Nash
This is a matter for the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) and I have asked its Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey, to write directly to the Noble Lord. A copy of her reply will be placed in the House of Lords Library.
Asked by: Lord Pearson of Rannoch (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Statement by Lord Nash on 22 July (HL Deb, cols 1059–63) on the report into allegations concerning Birmingham schools, whether they will report to Parliament on whether other parts of the country are similarly vulnerable to the threats that have been exposed in Birmingham, and if so, when they expect to do so.
Answered by Lord Nash
Keeping our children safe, and ensuring our schools prepare them for life in modern Britain, could not be more important. There is no place for extremist views in any school.
The Secretary of State will take action whenever information emerges that children are being exposed to indoctrination or extremist views that are contrary to fundamental British values. The Department for Education will continue to support local authorities and schools when serious concerns emerge, wherever those schools are.
As the Secretary of State said in her statement to the House of Commons on 22 July, she will reflect on the questions raised and the specific recommendations made in Peter Clarke’s report, and return to the House in the autumn to set out what steps will be taken on these matters.