Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) primary and (b) secondary school provision in Romford constituency.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
All schools in Romford are Ofsted ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’. At primary phase, almost all schools are above the national and local authority average for the percentage achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. Secondary schools in Romford paint a similar picture for key stage 4 where all schools but one are above the national average for pupils achieving standard and strong passes in both English and mathematics GCSE.
Over the period from 2009/10 to 2022/23, pupil numbers in Havering increased by 29% at primary phase. Primary numbers are forecast to rise by a further 2.9% by 2024/25.
In the Romford planning area, school capacity data (SCAP) for 2022 showed a changing forecast position from 6.8% spare capacity in the 2022/23 academic year to a shortfall position of 1.2% in 2024/25.
The department is co-ordinating the delivery of two primary free school projects in Havering, which will ease localised place pressure, which is associated with significant housing development, in the Rainham and Romford planning areas.
Over the period from 2009/10 to 2022/23 pupil numbers in Havering decreased by 0.6% at secondary phase. Secondary numbers are forecast to rise by 3.8% by 2024/25.
The Romford constituency falls within the central secondary planning area where SCAP data captured in 2022 again shows a changing position. Forecasts showed spare capacity of 7.3% in the 2022/23 academic year.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that teachers are protected from physical harm by students at school.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
No teacher should feel unsafe or face violence or abuse in the workplace. The government is clear all school employers, including trusts, have a duty to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their employees. The government has taken decisive action to improve pupils’ behaviour to ensure all schools are calm, safe, and supportive environments where pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected.
The department supports head teachers in taking proportionate and measured steps to ensure good behaviour in schools. To support schools in doing so, the department has strengthened the behaviour in schools guidance, the primary source of help and support for schools on developing and implementing a behaviour policy that can create a school culture which has high expectations of all pupils. This guidance outlines effective strategies that will encourage good behaviour and the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour. The government also backs head teachers to use exclusions when required, as a last resort. This includes using permanent exclusion when allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others in the school.
The government has no plans to introduce self-defence training for teachers. The National Professional Qualification (NPQ) in Leading Behaviour and Culture is relevant for teachers, leaders and non-teaching staff who want to develop their understanding of contemporary practice and research around promoting and supporting positive behaviour. £184 million has been invested into providing fully-funded NPQs for teaching staff across the country to deliver 150,000 NPQs up until the 2023/24 academic year.
The government is providing £10 million of funding for the Behaviour Hubs programmes to enable schools and multi-academy trusts with exemplary behaviour cultures and practices to work in partnership with those that want to improve their behaviour culture.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will provide self defence training to secondary school teachers.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
No teacher should feel unsafe or face violence or abuse in the workplace. The government is clear all school employers, including trusts, have a duty to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their employees. The government has taken decisive action to improve pupils’ behaviour to ensure all schools are calm, safe, and supportive environments where pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected.
The department supports head teachers in taking proportionate and measured steps to ensure good behaviour in schools. To support schools in doing so, the department has strengthened the behaviour in schools guidance, the primary source of help and support for schools on developing and implementing a behaviour policy that can create a school culture which has high expectations of all pupils. This guidance outlines effective strategies that will encourage good behaviour and the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour. The government also backs head teachers to use exclusions when required, as a last resort. This includes using permanent exclusion when allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others in the school.
The government has no plans to introduce self-defence training for teachers. The National Professional Qualification (NPQ) in Leading Behaviour and Culture is relevant for teachers, leaders and non-teaching staff who want to develop their understanding of contemporary practice and research around promoting and supporting positive behaviour. £184 million has been invested into providing fully-funded NPQs for teaching staff across the country to deliver 150,000 NPQs up until the 2023/24 academic year.
The government is providing £10 million of funding for the Behaviour Hubs programmes to enable schools and multi-academy trusts with exemplary behaviour cultures and practices to work in partnership with those that want to improve their behaviour culture.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to promote student discipline in schools.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Improving standards of pupil behaviour in schools is a priority for this government. All schools should be calm, safe and supportive environments where all pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected.
The department has an ambitious programme of work to support teachers and leaders to improve behaviour in their schools. This includes the following recently updated guidance:
These are practical tools to help schools create environments which young people want to attend.
The national professional qualification (NPQ) in leading behaviour and culture is relevant for teachers, leaders and non-teaching staff who want to develop their understanding of contemporary practice and research around promoting and supporting positive behaviour. £184 million has been invested into providing fully funded NPQs for teaching staff across the country to deliver 150,000 NPQs up until the 2023/2024 annual year.
The department is also investing £10 million through the behaviour hubs programme to support schools. 49 lead schools and ten lead multi-academy trusts work with schools that want and need to turn around their pupils’ behaviour, alongside a central offer of support and taskforce of advisers. The programme will support up to 700 partner schools during the three years it is scheduled to run.
New non-statutory guidance will also aim to ensure that head teachers and members of staff have a clear mandate and practical advice to prohibit mobile phone use throughout the school day. The guidance will also consider how schools should prohibit the use of smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones. This will help to foster an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning.
The national behaviour survey runs termly to track experiences and perceptions of pupil behaviour in schools. The most recent data available is for the 2021/2022 academic year, and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-behaviour-survey-reports.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that artificial intelligence is not used for plagiarism by students in (a) schools and (b) universities.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department wishes to capitalise on the opportunities technology, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), presents for education as well as addressing its risks and challenges.
The department published an overarching policy paper on generative AI in education in March 2023. This paper includes a section on formal assessments and is clear that schools, colleges, universities, and exam boards need to continue to take reasonable steps to prevent malpractice involving the use of generative AI.
There are strict rules in place, set by exam boards, to ensure pupils’ work is their own. Sanctions for cheating are serious, and they include being disqualified from a qualification. The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) regulates qualifications, examinations and assessments in England and speaks regularly with exam boards about risks, including malpractice risks. Ofqual expects regulated exam boards to carefully consider the potential impacts AI may have on their qualifications and, where necessary, make changes to the way in which their qualifications are designed or delivered in response.
In March 2023, The Joint Council for Qualifications published gudiance on the use of AI in assessments to support teachers and exam centres in protecting the integrity of qualifications. This guidance includes information on what counts as AI misuse and the requirements for teachers and exam centres to help prevent and detect malpractice. The guidance is available at: https://www.jcq.org.uk/exams-office/malpractice/artificial-intelligence/.
The UK Standing Committee for Quality Assessment has also issued advice on how AI is catalysing good pedagogical practice in higher education (HE). Universities must ensure there is rigour and consistency in assessment practices and that the awards and qualifications granted to students are credible and hold their value, which includes identifying cheating using AI. This is a condition of universities’ registration with the Office for Students (OfS). The OfS has also given advice to HE providers on contract cheating and essay mills.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers have reported physical abuse by pupils in the London Borough of Havering in each of the last three years.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The information requested is not held by the department.
The department collects information on suspensions and permanent exclusions by reason, including physical abuse against an adult. This is published in the ‘Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England’ national statistics release, which is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/suspensions-and-permanent-exclusions-in-england/2021-22-summer-term.
The following links from the ‘create your own table’ section of the release show the number of suspensions and permanent exclusions from Havering, including a reason of physical abuse against an adult: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/73082d40-c091-46c4-ff84-08dc1c7e70f9 and https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/7bde4a81-9b2c-4fa3-9652-08dc1cb7c782. Since 2020/21, suspensions and permanent exclusions can have up to three reasons. Before 2020/21, schools were asked to give one main reason. Therefore, figures for earlier years are not comparable to those from 2020/21 onwards.
Creating school cultures with high expectations of behaviour is a priority for the government. The department supports head teachers in using exclusion, where warranted, as a part of an approach to create calm, safe and supportive environments where both pupils and staff can work in safety and are respected. This includes supporting using permanent exclusion in instances where allowing the pupil to remain in school would seriously harm the education or welfare of the pupil or others in the school.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to provide support for children with auditory impairments in schools.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s ambition is for all children and young people, no matter what their Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), to receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is creating a new single national SEND and Alternative Provision system for how needs are identified and met across Education, Health and Care. This new single national system will set standards on what support should be made available in mainstream settings, including for children with hearing impairments, and when specialist provision may be more appropriate for meeting a child or young person’s needs.
It is the responsibility of local authorities, schools, and further education settings to commission appropriately qualified staff to support the education of children and young people in their area.
To teach a class of pupils with sensory impairments, a teacher is required to hold the relevant mandatory qualification, which is a Mandatory Qualification in Sensory Impairment (MQSI). Teachers working in an advisory role to support these pupils should also hold the appropriate qualification.
To offer MQSIs, providers must be approved by my right. hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. The department’s aim is to ensure a steady supply of teachers for children with visual, hearing, and multi-sensory impairments, in both specialist and mainstream settings. There are currently six providers of the MQSI, with a seventh to begin in September 2024.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has also developed a Sensory Impairment apprenticeship and expects it to be available from 2025. This will open a paid, work-based route into teaching children and young people with sensory impairments by enabling people to undertake high-quality apprenticeships.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has issued guidance to schools on teaching school children about the (a) history, (b) purpose and (c) value of (i) the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings and (ii) this year's meeting in Samoa.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The National Curriculum for citizenship, which is compulsory at key stages 3 and 4, covers the Commonwealth in the context of teaching about local, regional and international governance and the United Kingdom’s relations with the rest of Europe, the United Nations and the wider world including the Commonwealth. The National Curriculum does not mandate specific content about the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings, but schools are free to include content about Heads of Government meetings in this context, including this year’s meeting in Samoa.
There are also a number of opportunities in the National Curriculum for history for pupils to be taught about the history of the Commonwealth. For example, pupils are taught about British history from 1745 to 1901, including the development of its Empire, and they are taught the end of Empire and Britain’s place in the world since 1945. The latter could include teaching about the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings, including the first meeting in 1971.
The National Curriculum for citizenship can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-citizenship-programmes-of-study and the National Curriculum for history can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-history-programmes-of-study.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to provide support for deaf students.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department’s ambition is for all children and young people, no matter what their Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), to receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department is creating a new single national SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) system for how needs are identified and met across education, health and care (EHC). This new single national system will set standards on what support should be made available in mainstream settings, including for children with hearing impairments, as well as guidance on when an EHC plan is required, and when specialist provision, including AP, is most appropriate for meeting a child or young person’s needs.
The department is committed to ensuring a steady supply of teachers of children with hearing impairments in both specialist and mainstream settings. To teach a class of pupils with hearing impairments, a teacher is required to hold the relevant mandatory qualification (MQSI). There are currently six providers of the MQSI, with a seventh from September 2024. In addition, the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education is developing a new occupational standard for teachers of sensory impairment, expected to launch in 2025.
In addition, on 21 December 2023 the government published final subject content for a GCSE in British Sign Language. Exam board specifications should be available in 2025.
The department recognises that meeting needs in mainstream settings will not be appropriate for all children and young people, which is why the department has invested £2.6 billion between 2022 and 2025 to deliver new places and improve existing provision for children and young people with SEND, as well as those who require AP. Funding for those with complex needs is also rising to £10.5 billion in 2024/25, an increase of over 60 per cent since 2019/20.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of Great Books programmes of education.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department has not made an assessment of the Great Books programmes of education.
However, the department is clear that English is fundamental to learning and provides the skills and knowledge pupils need to communicate with others, both in school and in the wider world. English provides opportunities for pupils to develop these key communication skills through work on spoken language, reading and writing.
All state-funded schools must offer a broad and balanced curriculum which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils. As part of this, maintained schools in England must follow the national curriculum.
The national curriculum focuses on the key knowledge that should be taught. Within a broad statutory framework, set out in subject specific programmes of study, schools have considerable flexibility to organise the content and delivery of the curriculum to meet the needs of the majority of their pupils and to take account of new developments, societal changes, or topical issues.
Attaining proficient standards in language development and the reading and writing of Standard English are the keys to unlocking the rest of the curriculum and key indicators for future success in further education, higher education and employment.
The curriculum places a greater focus on reading and requires pupils to study a range of books, poems and plays to encourage the development of a life-long love of literature. Within the framework of the national curriculum, schools make their own choices about which specific programmes or resources they use.
Academies have greater freedom in how they operate, but they are expected to teach a curriculum that is comparable in breadth and ambition to the national curriculum, and many choose to teach the full national curriculum to achieve this. Academies may use their freedoms to develop their own curricula, tailored to meet the particular needs of their pupils or their local area or the particular ethos of the school.