Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of China's ambition to double its GDP in 2010 by 2020; and whether they plan to encourage more schools to introduce Chinese Mandarin into their curriculum and accelerate the increase in student entries for Chinese Mandarin GCSE.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Despite a falling percentage growth rate, China’s current growth rate still means it is adding an economy the size of Switzerland to its GDP each year. The UK has strengths in many of the areas identified as key priorities for the next phase of China’s economic transition to a ‘moderately prosperous’ society, particularly in services.
The Government is encouraging pupils to take a modern or ancient language, including Chinese Mandarin, as part of one of the academic subjects making up the English Baccalaureate at GCSE level.
In 2017 there were 3,656 pupil entries for GCSE Chinese in England, a rise of 47% since 2010/2011[1].
Chinese Year | Total entries |
2010/2011 | 2,480 |
2011/2012 | 2,307 |
2012/2013 | 2,341 |
2013/2014 | 2,830 |
2014/2015 | 3,286 |
2015/2016 | 3,575 |
2016/2017 | 3,656 |
The Department is funding an intensive language programme which aims to see at least 5,000 pupils in England on track towards fluency in Mandarin Chinese by 2020. 14 schools participated in the Mandarin Excellence Programme in the 2016/17 academic year, and an additional 23 have joined in 2017/18. Progress test results indicate that the first cohort of almost 400 pupils are excelling when it comes to learning Mandarin Chinese. The majority of those on the programme achieved marks of 80% or higher across specially-created tests in reading, writing, listening and speaking.
[1] Subject time series tables https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-2016-to-2017-provisional.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions they are taking to assist obese children with sports and exercise alongside food awareness and education.
Answered by Lord Nash
Tackling obesity, particularly in children, is one of the government’s priorities. We will put forward our plans for action in this area as part of the childhood obesity strategy. We recognise that schools can help to address the problem of childhood obesity, through focusing on improving physical education (PE) for all children and teaching about food, nutrition and healthy eating.
Since 2013, the government has provided over £300 million of ring-fenced funding to head teachers to improve PE and sport. We are investing a further £150 million this academic year for schools to improve the quality of PE and sport they offer. More than eight in ten schools have seen an increase in pupil engagement with PE during school time and in the number of children doing sports after school.
PE is a compulsory subject at all four key stages in the national curriculum. The PE programme of study aims to ensure that all pupils are physically active for sustained periods of time and lead healthy, active lives. The national curriculum also sets the expectation that children will be taught about healthy eating and what constitutes a balanced diet.
The government-funded Change4Life programme aims to inspire everyone to eat well, take more exercise and live longer. There are a number of campaigns which promote healthy eating and sports such as the 10 Minute Shake Up summer campaign and Change4Life sports clubs. These are extracurricular sports clubs in schools which are designed to increase physical activity levels in the least active children.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the numbers of all-weather playing fields in schools and in recreational establishments.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Department for Education does not have a specific policy for providing all-weather or synthetic turf pitches in schools. However, in ‘Building Bulletin 103: Area Guidelines for mainstream schools’, we do recommend that all schools have a minimum area of hard-surfaced games area, or ‘hard outdoor PE’ space, preferably in the form of Multi-Use Games Areas (MUGAs).
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions have taken place between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Education about increasing the provision of sports playing fields available for schools.
Answered by Lord Nash
In June 2014, Sport England, in partnership with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the Department for Education and the Department of Health, awarded £18 million of National Lottery funding, through the Primary Spaces programme, to 601 primary schools to transform their physical education (PE) and sport facilities.
The new facilities will be installed in the first 100 schools this summer, with the rest opening throughout the academic year and all completed by summer 2015. The fund will help schools make good use of spaces and provide facilities that will:
· inspire physical activity and participation by children
· enable and encourage healthy activity
· develop the foundations of a sporting habit for life.
Primary Spaces builds on and complements the primary PE and sport premium, through which we are providing over £450 million of ring-fenced funding across academic years 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16. This goes directly to primary schools to be spent on the improvement of PE and sport.
In addition, from 2010 to the present day, Sport England have made 16 awards to schools, investing £750,000 of National Lottery funding towards total project costs of £1.6 million, as part of the protect playing fields programme. The sites cover a total of over 200 acres of land and each site has protection via charge for a minimum of 25 years. There are two more rounds of the funding planned with £5 million available each year for the next two years (2015 and 2016).
Officials and Ministers from both Departments meet regularly to discuss issues relating to the provision of PE and school sport, including the Primary Spaces and protecting playing fields programmes.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of qualified teachers in physical education, especially in infant and primary schools.
Answered by Lord Nash
In March 2013, the Government announced a new pilot programme to train a cadre of 120 primary teachers with a specialism in PE. These specialists will aim to support other teachers to develop their skills and drive up the quality of PE teaching as they take up their first posts from September 2014.
This pilot, which was developed by teaching schools with sport national governing bodies and partner universities, has now been extended for a second year. A further 120 specialists will be in post by September 2015 following successful completion of their initial teacher training (ITT) and gaining QTS (qualified teacher status).
The Secretary of State for Education’s ITT requirements call upon accredited training providers to develop courses to enable trainees to meet the Teachers’ Standards; this includes the need to have a secure knowledge of relevant subjects and curriculum areas.
Schools can also use the primary PE and sport premium to up-skill teachers by investing in continuing professional development and hiring qualified sports coaches to work with teachers during PE lessons.
Asked by: Lord Pendry (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the risks of obesity and the importance of physical recreation are being taught in schools.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Department for Education is seeing encouraging signs of progress on tackling obesity, with rates in children falling to 14% in 2012, the lowest level of child obesity since 1998. The Government is taking forward a range of activities to continue this trend.
As part of the new national curriculum, which comes into force from September 2014, the programmes of study for both physical education and science include content on the importance of a healthy lifestyle. All pupils aged between 5 and 14 will learn about cooking and nutrition, which will be compulsory at key stage 3 for the first time. Children will learn the importance of eating good, tasty, nutritious food at school and beyond through the School Food Plan.
The Government is determined to embed an enjoyment of sport and physical activity from an early age, so that children understand the importance of keeping fit and develop a lifetime habit of healthy activity. Through the primary PE and sport premium we are providing over £450m of ringfenced funding across academic years 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16. This goes directly to primary schools, to be spent on the improvement of PE and sport to ensure that all pupils develop a healthy lifestyle.
The Department of Health is providing Change4Life Sports Clubs in 10,000 primary and secondary schools, which encourage children to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Schools are using their primary PE and sport premium to supplement the Change4Life programme and so far more than 225,000 pupils have benefited from that programme.