Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the phonics screener for the early identification of dyslexia in primary schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Early identification of need and support is critical to improving outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with dyslexia.
There are several assessments in place to measure progress and help teachers to identify where pupils may require additional support with literacy. These include the phonics screening check, the end of key stage 1 non-statutory assessments and the key stage 2 statutory assessments. The phonics screening check helps teachers to identify pupils who may need extra help and enables schools to benchmark their pupils against national performance. This is not specifically designed to test for dyslexia.
The English Hubs programme is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on supporting children making the slowest progress in reading. Reading Ambition for All is a continuous professional development programme to support the lowest attaining children in reading, with a particular focus on those with SEND. This programme is delivered by 34 English hubs, reaching more than 600 schools, this academic year.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of changing the national curriculum to increase awareness of cancer prevention amongst pupils in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
It is important to educate people about causes and symptoms of cancer, and we are supportive of efforts to do this at an early age.
Revised relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance was published on 15 July 2025. Cancer awareness and other specific cancer-related content is included. At secondary school, as part of their studies on health protection and prevention and understanding the healthcare system, pupils will be taught the importance of taking responsibility for their own health, including regular self-examination and screening.
Schools may teach about cancer awareness in other areas of the current national curriculum. The secondary science curriculum ensures pupils are taught about non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, and the impact of lifestyle factors. In design and food technology, schools should highlight the importance of nutrition. We are developing a new national curriculum with teachers, curriculum experts, pupils and parents, which schools will start teaching from September 2028.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase training on Personal, Social, Health and Economic education for teachers in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The revised relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance was published on 15 July 2025.
The department will invest £3 million in a teacher training fund over the next two years to ensure that the new curriculum has the greatest impact and £5 million to pilot healthy relationships training delivered by external providers.
Following the Curriculum and Assessment Review, published on 5 November 2025, we will strengthen financial literacy content and sequencing in citizenship and maths. More details on the conclusions and recommendations from the Curriculum and Assessment Review are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/curriculum-and-assessment-review-final-report.
To ensure all pupils benefit from the refreshed national curriculum, we will ensure that core training throughout a teacher’s career has a strong focus on high-quality adaptive teaching, formative assessment and high expectations for all. This includes initial teacher training and the early career framework.
The government commissioned Oak National Academy to develop resources for schools in line with new curriculum requirements.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she had made of the potential implications for her policies of the British Dyslexia Association's report entitled Lost in the system: Councils’ blind spot on dyslexia, published on 3 February 2026.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As reflected in the British Dyslexia Association’s report, the effective early identification and intervention is critical in improving the outcomes of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. In an inclusive education system, settings should be confident in accurately assessing children and young people’s learning and development and meeting any educational needs with evidence-based responses.
There are a number of national assessments already in place to measure progress and help teachers identify where pupils may require additional support with literacy, such as the phonics screening check, and end of key stage 2 assessments. A range of measures have also been introduced that aim to support the effective teaching of reading, including for those with special education needs and disabilities or those at risk of falling behind. This includes the English Hubs programme, the reading and writing frameworks, the Reading Ambition for All programme and the published list of department-validated high-quality phonics programmes for schools.
To further support settings to identify need early, we are strengthening the evidence base of what works to improve early identification in mainstream settings, including through collaboration with UK Research Innovation.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of local authorities' guidance on how to (a) assess or (b) identify (i) dyslexia or (ii) support literacy difficulties.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As reflected in the British Dyslexia Association’s report, the effective early identification and intervention is critical in improving the outcomes of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. In an inclusive education system, settings should be confident in accurately assessing children and young people’s learning and development and meeting any educational needs with evidence-based responses.
There are a number of national assessments already in place to measure progress and help teachers identify where pupils may require additional support with literacy, such as the phonics screening check, and end of key stage 2 assessments. A range of measures have also been introduced that aim to support the effective teaching of reading, including for those with special education needs and disabilities or those at risk of falling behind. This includes the English Hubs programme, the reading and writing frameworks, the Reading Ambition for All programme and the published list of department-validated high-quality phonics programmes for schools.
To further support settings to identify need early, we are strengthening the evidence base of what works to improve early identification in mainstream settings, including through collaboration with UK Research Innovation.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ensure disadvantaged children from Yeovil constituency will be able to access the Safe Artificial Intelligence tutoring tools that will be available by the end of 2027.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department will work with educators, experts and developers to co-create and trial artificial intelligence (AI) tutoring tools. These tools will be aligned to the curriculum and safe by design, ensuring they support pupils’ learning. Educators from across the country will have opportunities to contribute to this co‑creation and testing to ensure tools meet classroom needs.
Our ambition is that pupils, including those who would not usually be able to access private tuition, can benefit from high quality, individualised support. Evidence from these trials will help schools to make informed choices and ensure solutions are effective, inclusive and grounded in national teaching practice.
Alongside this, we are developing new sovereign education benchmarks, to ensure AI tools used in schools reflect national expectations for pedagogy and safety. Further details on the programme will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will include educators from Yeovil constituency in the co-creation of Artificial Intelligence tutoring tools.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department will work with educators, experts and developers to co-create and trial artificial intelligence (AI) tutoring tools. These tools will be aligned to the curriculum and safe by design, ensuring they support pupils’ learning. Educators from across the country will have opportunities to contribute to this co‑creation and testing to ensure tools meet classroom needs.
Our ambition is that pupils, including those who would not usually be able to access private tuition, can benefit from high quality, individualised support. Evidence from these trials will help schools to make informed choices and ensure solutions are effective, inclusive and grounded in national teaching practice.
Alongside this, we are developing new sovereign education benchmarks, to ensure AI tools used in schools reflect national expectations for pedagogy and safety. Further details on the programme will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Storm Chandra on children’s education in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is working closely with Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to monitor the impacts of Storm Chandra on education.
School closures are reported at local authority level, rather than at a constituency level. On 28 January 2026, Somerset Council reported on nine school closures in the county, none of which were in the Yeovil area. In addition, the local authority reported only one school closure due to flooding, in Taunton. The school reopened on 3 February 2026.
We provide guidance to schools and other childcare settings on how to prepare for and respond to emergencies, including severe weather.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of school absence fines on (a) neurodiverse children and (b) their families.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The statutory guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ promotes a 'support first' approach, which sets clear expectations about how schools, local authorities and wider services should work together with families to address attendance barriers. This includes where a pupil's attendance is affected by their neurodiversity.
The guidance is clear that schools should work in partnership with families, establish strategies to remove any in-school barriers these pupils face, and consider support or reasonable adjustments.
The department has also introduced a national framework for issuing fixed penalty notices which strengthens protections for parents with an expectation that attendance support will have been provided before a penalty notice can be used.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the level of funding available through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund on therapeutic support for (a) adopted children and (b) people in kinship care in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department always assesses the impact of changes on vulnerable children. This included reviewing the equalities impact assessment, which was deposited in the House Libraries in July. The funding available through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) still enables children in Yeovil to access a significant package of support, tailored to meet their individual needs. The department’s delivery partner is routinely processing ASGSF applications within a few days of receipt, including those relating to children in Yeovil.