Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) identify and (b) take action against unregistered schools.
Answered by Edward Timpson
We have been working closely with Ofsted and local authorities to identify unregistered schools, and the Chief Inspector has powers to make unannounced visits to any institution that he suspects is operating unlawfully as an independent school. We have also given Ofsted additional resources so that they can go out to locate and investigate unregistered schools and draw up a programme for inspecting them to collect evidence to support prosecutions.
Institutions that are suspected of operating as unregistered schools receive a very clear warning from the Department that it is a criminal offence and that they must cease operating immediately.
To raise awareness, we have published two statements setting how we regulate and intervene in independent schools and details of when we will take legal action against unregistered schools.
The statements were announced by the Secretary of State on 19 January 2016, as part of a package to protect children from extremism. The announcement, the press release and the statements are available on GOV.UK at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/nicky-morgan-speaks-about-tackling-extremism;
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-drive-to-protect-children-from-spell-of-twisted-ideologies; and
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulating-independent-schools
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of (a) primary and (b) secondary school places in Calderdale.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Supporting local authorities to ensure sufficient school places in their area is one of this Government’s top priorities. That’s why we’ve committed to investing £7 billion in new school places up to 2021, which along with our investment in the free schools programme we expect to deliver 600,000 new places. This is on top of the £5 billion the Coalition Government spent between 2011 and 2015, which helped to create 600,000 additional places between 2010 and 2015.
Calderdale received £8.8 million in basic need funding between 2011 and 2015, which helped to create nearly 2,000 new places between 2010 and 2015. Of these, around 960 were primary places and around 1,010 were secondary. Calderdale has also been allocated £17.6 million to create the places required by September 2019.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to increase the study of STEM subjects by girls at GCSE.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of girls studying mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology at GCSE is broadly similar to boys and the inclusion of science GCSEs in the EBacc will support greater take up of these subjects by all pupils. The Government wants to see more girls progressing to mathematics and science subjects at A Level, building on the 12,000 additional A Level entries in these subjects by girls since 2010. Improving the quality of teaching is vital and we are taking action by investing £67 million over the term of this Parliament to recruit and train more mathematics and physics teachers, and by offering bursaries and scholarships to attract top graduates into mathematics and science teaching.
We are also providing support to schools to raise the quality of mathematics and science teaching through the network of mathematics hubs and science learning partnerships, and other programmes such as the Stimulating Physics Network which has a particular focusing on engaging more girls in physics.
The Government supports the “Your Life” campaign which aims to change the perceptions of science and mathematics among all young people, but with a focus on girls.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to increase the number of looked-after children who apply to attend university.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Government wants all children to reach their full potential. Looked-after children have priority in admission arrangements so they have the chance to go to schools that best meet their needs. In 2014 we increased the pupil premium rate for looked-after children from £900 to £1900, and the role of Virtual School Heads (VSHs) became statutory.
Local authorities have a duty under the Children Act 1989 to promote the educational achievement of children they look after wherever they are placed and VSHs are responsible for ensuring that duty is discharged. Statutory guidance makes clear that local authorities should have the same high aspirations for the children they look after as any good parent. That includes choosing schools for them that are judged by Ofsted as good or outstanding and supporting them to make maximum progress.
In addition:
The Department for Education is currently working with other government departments, including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, to explore what more can be done to support looked-after children and young people to progress in education and training and make a successful transition to adulthood.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to encourage provision of public sector work experience placements for 14 to 19 year-olds in education.
Answered by Nick Boles
We encourage all employers, including those in the public sector, to provide quality work experience opportunities, and government guidance is available.
Additionally, the government works in partnership with Movement to Work to offer placements in the Civil Service and we encourage all public sector bodies to offer traineeships, which include a quality work placement, and are available for 16-24 year olds.
In January, the Prime Minister gave a speech focusing on life chances during which he expressed his wish to set out a plan for using work experience more creatively. We are well aware that work experience can be a transformative opportunity, and we look forward to receiving the Lord Sainsbury-led Independent Panel Report on Technical and Professional Education which we expect will make recommendations in this area.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that staff in state-funded schools receive Prevent awareness training.
Answered by Edward Timpson
It is important that staff have the training they need to equip them to identify children at risk of being drawn into terrorism and to challenge extremist ideas. Individual schools are best placed to assess their training needs in the light of their assessment of the risk. The Department’s core statutory safeguarding guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education makes clear that, as a minimum, designated safeguarding leads in schools and colleges should be trained in Prevent. This can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keeping-children-safe-in-education--2.
To help raise awareness of Prevent and issues around radicalisation amongst front line staff, the Home Office is continuing to roll out freely available Workshops to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP). There are a number of professionals, particularly in safeguarding roles (many of whom work within local authorities and the police), who are accredited WRAP facilitators. There has been a significant increase in the number of WRAP training sessions delivered since the end of 2014. The greatest volume of WRAP training has taken place in schools with a significant increase in numbers of staff trained. Over 32,000 staff within schools were WRAP trained in 2015.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students are taught in schools rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding in (a) Calder Valley constituency and (b) West Yorkshire.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As at 31 August 2015, 78% of pupils attended maintained schools and academies that were rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding in Calder Valley parliamentary constituency. This percentage has increased from 2010 when it was 74%, representing an increase of 1,531 more pupils attending good or outstanding schools.
In West Yorkshire[1], 76% of pupils attended maintained schools and academies that were rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding as at 31 August 2015. This percentage has increased from 2010 when it was 60%, representing an increase of 69,359 more pupils attending good or outstanding schools.
The percentages above include children attending all open primary schools, secondary schools, special schools, nurseries and pupil referral units as at 31 August 2015.
[1] West Yorkshire consists of five local authority areas: Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils in England have been taught in schools rated as outstanding or good by Ofsted in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The table below shows the number of children who attended schools in England which were judged good or outstanding as at 31 August each year from 2010.
Number of children who attended schools rated as good or outstanding, 2010 to 2015:
Ofsted inspections as at 31 August | Number of pupils attending schools rated as good or outstanding[1] |
2010 | 4,855,336 |
2011 | 5,000,151 |
2012 | 5,017,518 |
2013 | 5,701,500 |
2014 | 5,889,153 |
2015 | 6,212,477 |
Source: Ofsted Data View tool | |
[1] Data is based on the most recent section 5 (including section 8 deemed 5) Ofsted inspection of all open schools (primary, secondary, special, nursery and pupil referral unit) as at 31 August from 2010 to 2015.
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils were expelled from schools for violent conduct in West Yorkshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department for Education holds exclusion breakdowns at regional and local authority level; the department does not hold exclusion breakdowns for West Yorkshire.
The most recently published information can be found online at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-exclusions
Asked by: Craig Whittaker (Conservative - Calder Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase educational attainment among white boys from low-income socio-economic groups.
Answered by Nick Gibb
We are determined to deliver educational excellence everywhere so that every child, regardless of background, reaches their potential. The latest statistics show that more white boys eligible for FSM are achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of primary school, rising from 51 per cent in 2012 to 59 per cent in 2015.
It is unacceptable, however, that fewer than one in four white boys eligible for free school meals (FSM) achieves the expected standard at the end of secondary school.
Through the pupil premium, the government is providing additional targeted money, worth £2.5 billion in this year, to help schools support their disadvantaged pupils and improve their progress and attainment.
We are raising expectations further for all pupils. We are determined to ensure that every child masters the basics of literacy and numeracy at primary school, and that those who do not will re-sit the tests at secondary school. We are also committed to introducing an expectation that every child who is able studies the EBacc combination of subjects – maths, English, history or geography, a language and the sciences - up until the age of 16.
We are also introducing reforms that will further help ensure high standards throughout every child’s education and tackle entrenched underperformance, particularly amongst schools serving deprived communities.
The National Teaching Service (NTS) will deploy the country’s best teachers and leaders to underperforming schools that struggle to attract and retain the professionals they need. 1,500 outstanding teachers will be part of NTS by 2020.
The introduction of the national funding formula for schools will ensure that funding is transparently and fairly linked to children’s needs, ending the unfair system where children from identical disadvantaged circumstances attract significantly different levels of funding, simply because of where they live.
We have also made a commitment to double the percentage of disadvantaged pupils accessing higher education by 2020, and this will include a focus on children from disadvantaged backgrounds.