Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of provision of play opportunities for children with disabilities and complex needs.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Play has an important role in supporting all young children to develop and prepare for later learning. The importance of play is recognised in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework[1], which states: “Each area of learning and development must be implemented through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity. Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others. Children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in play which is guided by adults.”
Early Years educators and Early Years teachers are required to have an understanding of different pedagogical approaches, including the role of play in supporting early learning and development. It is for individual schools and settings to provide opportunities for play for their children and pupils, including those with special educational needs.
We welcome the report published by Sense and their continuing efforts to support deafblind children and young people.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the report from Sense, The case for play, published 22 June 2015; and what the implications of that report are for her Department's policies.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Play has an important role in supporting all young children to develop and prepare for later learning. The importance of play is recognised in the Early Years Foundation Stage framework[1], which states: “Each area of learning and development must be implemented through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity. Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others. Children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in play which is guided by adults.”
Early Years educators and Early Years teachers are required to have an understanding of different pedagogical approaches, including the role of play in supporting early learning and development. It is for individual schools and settings to provide opportunities for play for their children and pupils, including those with special educational needs.
We welcome the report published by Sense and their continuing efforts to support deafblind children and young people.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the Government plans to use the fines collected in Lancashire for parents taking their children out of school early in 2014-15.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Revenue from penalty notices (fines) is payable to the local authority in respect of pupils registered at school in their area, or in the case of an unregistered pupil, for whom they have arranged alternative provision.
Regulations provide that the local authority can retain revenue from their penalty notice scheme to cover the cost of issuing or enforcing notices, or the cost of prosecuting recipients who do not pay. All revenue not used for these purposes must be paid to the Secretary of State.
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many parents were fined for taking children out of school early or for their children's truancy in Pendle in each of the past three years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Education does not hold information on the number of penalty notices (fines) issued to parents for school attendance offences in Pendle.
The department collects and publishes local authority level annual data on the number of penalty notices issued to parents, for offences relating to Section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996. The department does not collect data regarding fines issued by the courts on this matter. The most recent data published by the department is for the academic year 2012/13.
The number of penalty notices issued in Lancashire in 2011/12 and 2012/13 can be viewed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parental-responsibility-measures-academic-year-2012-to-2013
Asked by: Andrew Stephenson (Conservative - Pendle)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the level of truancy was in Pendle in the last three years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on pupil absence, including authorised and unauthorised absence, is published at school, local authority, regional and national level in the “Statistics: pupil absence”[1] series. Parliamentary constituency level information is not available.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-pupil-absence