Clive Efford
Main Page: Clive Efford (Labour - Eltham)Department Debates - View all Clive Efford's debates with the Department for Education
(13 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Michael Gove
The test designed for six-year-olds is there simply as a screening test to make sure that people are decoding fluently. Once children are decoding fluently, it is vital that they are well taught in order to encourage comprehension. Subsequent assessment throughout the primary school years can ensure just that.
Clive Efford (Eltham) (Lab)
The Secretary of State makes a great deal of freeing good head teachers to make decisions. If such a head teacher were to say, under the new freedoms, that smaller class sizes and funding to match it were necessary—this is what everyone applying to open a free school in my area is saying—will they get the same sort of sympathetic hearing as those free school applicants?
Michael Gove
Yes, and many schools that have applied for academy status have used the resources and the flexibility to reduce class sizes. Smaller class sizes are becoming a reality under the coalition Government.