Asked by: Lord Quirk (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of having school children face each other in small groups, rather than facing the teacher, on (1) attentiveness, (2) learning, and (3) behaviour.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Department for Education has made no assessment of the impact of children facing, or not facing, the teacher.
The Department believes that teachers should have a plan for pupil seating arrangements in classrooms, rather than leaving it to pupil preference or chance. Where and how pupils are seated will depend entirely on the lesson and its objectives. Teachers are best placed to take these decisions.
Asked by: Lord Quirk (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the need for parents to take responsibility for children's behaviour in schools.
Answered by Lord Nash
It is vital that teachers have the support and respect of parents to manage pupil behaviour so they can teach in an orderly environment.Good schools recognise the importance of engaging parents and have developed their own approaches according to the particular circumstances of the school.
In response to a question about what teachers viewed as the most common factors causing poor behaviour in schools, excluding special educational needs and other medical factors, 72% considered ‘lack of parental support or poor parenting skills' as the most common factor causing poor behaviour, and ‘parental lack of respect for teachers and authority' was the second most frequently selected factor.
We are aware of research, including that based on data from the National Child Development Study, that shows that parental involvement has a positive effect on children's achievement even when the influence of background factors such as social class and family size have been taken into account.
The 2013 National Foundation for Educational Research (NfER) Teacher Voice Survey, commissioned by the Department for Education, found that 55% of teachers surveyed agreed that parents generally respected a teacher's authority to discipline pupils.
In March 2014, we published a series of case studies on behaviour and bullying, which include examples of what good schools are doing to engage parents in a spirit of openness and shared responsibility. These case studies contain examples of the work good schools do with parents to encourage participation of hard-to-reach groups and are published online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/managing-behaviour-and-bullying-in-schools-case-studies
Asked by: Lord Quirk (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many secondary school pupils who were (1) permanently excluded, or (2) excluded for one or more fixed periods since 2000, subsequently passed a GCSE in (a) one, (b) two, or (c) three or more subjects.
Answered by Lord Nash
The information requested is only available at disproportionate cost.
All children, regardless of circumstance or setting deserve a good education. We have taken a range of actions to drive up the quality of education for those children who are educated in alternative provision (AP) following an exclusion, including through the introduction of AP academies and AP free schools.
Information on the number of permanent and fixed period exclusions since 2000 is published in the “Permanent and fixed period exclusions from schools in England: 2011 to 2012 academic year” Statistical First Release[1]. Information on fixed period exclusions was collected for the first time in 2003/04. Information for 2012/13 will be published on 31 July 2014.
Asked by: Lord Quirk (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Elizabeth Truss MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education and Childcare, that "our 15 year-olds are up to three years behind their peers in the top-performing countries in reading and mathematics", what action they propose to address this.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Department for Education believes that improving the quality of teaching in literacy and numeracy is crucial to building the foundation for future study and work. The Government has revised the national curriculum and set more rigorous and challenging content in English and mathematics to match the highest performing countries around the world. The new programmes of study for English and maths will challenge pupils to realise their potential in an increasingly competitive global market.
The new maths GCSE will have more content, be more challenging and – alongside English - will be double weighted in school performance tables. The Department has recently allocated £11 million to fund 32 new maths hubs to support a more challenging maths GCSE to improve the quality of maths education. This initiative, which includes a teacher exchange programme with Shanghai, will enable every school and college in England, from early years to the post-16 sector, to access locally-tailored support in all areas of maths teaching and learning.
The new national curriculum for English places a greater emphasis on reading and requires pupils to study a range of books, poems and plays.
The national curriculum for English will give teachers greater flexibility and freedom which will help to raise standards and expectations for all pupils. It has been significantly slimmed down and will free up teachers to use their professional judgement to design curricula that meet the needs of their pupils.
The new English language GCSE will place greater demands on pupils and has more emphasis on those skills demanded by employers. The new English literature GCSE will build on this foundation, and encourage students to read, write and think critically.
Asked by: Lord Quirk (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have observed any correlation between bad behaviour in schools and the absence of a specified dress code for (1) pupils, and (2) teachers.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government does not have any evidence of any correlation between bad behaviour in schools and the absence of a specified dress code for pupils and teachers.
The Department for Education has issued advice that strongly encourages schools to have a uniform, as it can play a valuable role in contributing to the ethos of a school and setting an appropriate tone. However, it is for the governing body of a school (or the academy trust in the case of academies and free schools) to decide whether there should be a uniform policy and other rules on appearance. This flows from the duties placed upon all governing bodies by statute to ensure that school policies promote good behaviour and discipline among the pupil body.
Dress codes for teachers are a matter for employers to determine, whether that is the governing body, academy trust or local authority. As part of the general terms and conditions of employment agreed with employees we would expect schools to consider an appropriate dress code, relevant to the individual setting, taking into account the requirements of the post.
Asked by: Lord Quirk (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in respect of the latest two years for which figures are available, how many of the pupils excluded from academies were admitted to local authority schools.
Answered by Lord Nash
Information on the number of exclusions from academies in England in the 2010/11[1] and 2011/12[2] academic years is available in table 16 of the “Permanent and fixed period exclusions from schools in England” statistical first releases for each year.
Information on the number of excluded pupils that were admitted to local authority schools is not held by the Department.
Academies are bound by their funding agreements to comply with the statutory requirements on admissions and the Admissions Code as if they were a maintained school. Schools, including academies, cannot refuse to admit pupils on the grounds of past behaviour unless they have received two or more permanent exclusions.
Asked by: Lord Quirk (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 14 May (WA 532) stating that the Ofsted Report for 2013 found there were 700,000 pupils in schools where behaviour is "just not good enough", how many of these pupils were (1) under 10, (2) between 10 and 13, (3) over 13, (4) in local authority schools, (5) in academies, and (6) boys.
Answered by Lord Nash
Ofsted's annual report (2012/13) indicates that around 700,000 pupils are in schools where behaviour needs to improve.
This figure is based on Ofsted's behaviour inspection judgement for 2013, which shows that nationally 8 per cent of schools in England are rated less than ‘good', and the number of pupils on roll in schools taken from the rounded January 2013 School Census Data. Information in the form requested is not held by the Department.
Asked by: Lord Quirk (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 14 May (WA 532), of the just under a third of teachers who "did not have the confidence...to discipline pupils for unacceptable behaviour", what proportion of those teachers were in (1) primary schools, (2) secondary schools, (3) local authority schools, and (4) academies.
Answered by Lord Nash
29 per cent of secondary school teachers did not feel confident using disciplinary powers, compared to 17 per cent of primary school teachers. The Department for Education does not hold separate data for local authority schools and academies.
Asked by: Lord Quirk (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Nash on 14 May (WA 533), if school exclusion data for the years 1980 and 1990 are not held by the Department for Education, from where they can be obtained.
Answered by Lord Nash
Permanent exclusions data was first collected in 1994/95. Information on fixed period exclusions was only collected from 2003/04.
Information on exclusion rates prior to 2005/06 was collected via the Termly Exclusions Survey rather than the School Census.
Asked by: Lord Quirk (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether it has been their policy for fixed-period exclusions from school to remain broadly constant over the past decade and for permanent exclusions to fall sharply year by year; if so, how they assess the outcome; and if not, how they account for the difference.
Answered by Lord Nash
Exclusion is a decision for headteachers alone to take. The Government does not set targets or expected levels for exclusion. Rather, the Government's policy is that headteachers need to ensure good discipline in schools, in the interest of all their pupils, and should feel confident in using exclusion where they believe this is warranted by a pupil's behaviour.