Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 30 Jan 2019
School Funding: Gloucestershire
"Does the hon. Gentleman share my concern that some hon. Members in this House whose schools get far more than £5,200—some of them, I am afraid to say, Labour Members—were very indignant at the idea that schools in places such as Gloucestershire should get a bit more?..."Alex Chalk - View Speech
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 30 Jan 2019
School Funding: Gloucestershire
"Does my right hon. Friend the Minister agree that it is very important that we look into the causes of why high needs provision, in particular, is coming under the pressure that it now is? We have the Milestone School, the Ridge Academy, Belmont School and Bettridge School—so many excellent …..."Alex Chalk - View Speech
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Written Question
Tuesday 16th October 2018
Asked by:
Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question
to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to crack down on the use of essay mill cheating services amongst students.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Cheating is unacceptable. It undermines the reputation of the sector, and devalues the hard work of those succeeding on their own merit. We are currently focussing on non-legislative options, but remain open to the future need for legislation, and will continue to investigate all options available. We should only legislate where it is absolutely necessary – the government’s preferred approach is to tackle this issue through a sector-led initiative – which is why the department has worked with Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), Universities UK and the National Union of Students to publish guidance last October, for all UK Universities on how best to tackle contract cheating.
Time is needed to fully evaluate the effectiveness of the new guidance and this is underway. The QAA is running a series of seminars to evaluate how the sector is using the guidance.
Through the Higher Education and Research Act (2017), we have given the Office for Students the power to take action if higher education providers are found to be, in any way, complicit in cheating. This includes imposing fines or ultimately de-registration, the highest possible punishment. I expect Vice Chancellors to play their part by adopting robust anti plagiarism and cheating policies which exclude students who use essay mills and by tackling the advertising of these services in their institutions.
I welcome the swift action YouTube took to remove videos containing adverts promoting the EduBirdie essay-writing service, in response to the recent 'BBC Trending' investigation on academic cheating, in which I made it very clear that YouTube had a moral responsibility to take action.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 10 Sep 2018
Oral Answers to Questions
"Hon. Members on both sides of the House will want to be satisfied that our schools are getting a proper allocation of funding. Will my right hon. Friend indicate how UK education spending compares to the OECD average?..."Alex Chalk - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 10 Sep 2018
Oral Answers to Questions
"Precisely, Sir...."Alex Chalk - View Speech
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Speech in Westminster Hall - Wed 04 Jul 2018
Speech, Language and Communication Support for Children
"We can tell!..."Alex Chalk - View Speech
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Written Question
Tuesday 3rd April 2018
Asked by:
Alex Chalk (Conservative - Cheltenham)
Question
to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to discourage the use of single use plastics in schools.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Government’s Twenty Five Year Environment Plan sets out our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste. This requires action across all stakeholders including producers and consumers. The government will work to remove all consumer single use plastics from the central government estate offices.
The School Food Standards require that drinking water must be supplied free of charge at all times to school pupils, and we are aware that many schools encourage pupils to use reusable bottles.
As part of the science curriculum, children are taught about the scientific concepts that relate to the environment. At key stage 2, pupils should explore examples of the human impact on environments, which can include the negative impact of litter. At present, around 75% of schools in England are members of the Eco-Schools programme. We would like to increase participation in this programme overall and are working actively on anti-littering awareness, including participating in litter picks.
Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 14 Sep 2017
Schools: National Funding Formula
"I thank my right hon. Friend and her team for grappling with a formula of labyrinthine complexity that penalised my constituents in Cheltenham and for listening to me and others and then revisiting the original iteration, which many of us thought needed further attention. The new formula means that per-pupil …..."Alex Chalk - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 17 Jul 2017
Schools Update
"I thank the Secretary of State and her Ministers for taking so much time to listen to my concerns about Cheltenham’s schools and the concerns of f40 schools up and down the country affected by historic unfairness. This is a huge step forward. Will she confirm that every secondary school …..."Alex Chalk - View Speech
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 28 Jun 2017
School Funding Formula (London)
"It is absolutely right, of course, that we should invest in pupils with low prior attainment, but does the Minister agree that that should not be at the expense of schools that, for whatever reason, do not hit the criteria on low prior attainment, English as an additional language or …..."Alex Chalk - View Speech
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