Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications for the Local Skills Improvement Plan Trailblazer pilot his Department received by the deadline of 25 May 2021; how many of those applications his Department plans to shortlist and progress; and what his timeframe is for progressing those applications.
Answered by Gillian Keegan
The Department received 40 applications to lead a Local Skills Improvement Plan Trailblazer as part of the Skills Accelerator programme. It is our intention to select 6 to 8 trailblazers, and the selection process is currently ongoing. We expect to announce the outcome of the competition in July.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to confirm the date from which university students in England will be able to return to campus and resume in-person teaching with appropriate covid-secure measures in place.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
Following the review into when the remaining higher education students can return to in-person teaching and learning, the government has announced that the remaining students should return to in-person teaching no earlier than 17 May 2021, alongside Step 3 of the roadmap. Students and institutions will be given at least a week’s notice of any further return in accordance with the timing of Step 3 of the roadmap.
The government roadmap is designed to maintain a cautious approach to the easing of restrictions to reduce public health risks and ensure that we can maintain progress towards full reopening. However, the government recognises the difficulties and disruption that this may cause for many students and their families and that is why the government is making a further £15 million of additional student hardship funding available for this academic year 2020/21. In total we have made an additional £85 million of funding available for student hardship.
We are supporting universities to provide regular twice weekly asymptomatic testing for all students and staff on-site and, from May, at home. This will help break chains of transmission of the virus.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of funding for maintained nursery schools to ensure that these organisations can continue to provide childcare services at full capacity as the UK emerges from the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Maintained nursery schools are an important part of the early years sector and provide valuable services, especially in disadvantaged areas.
As part of the recent Spending Review, the government has confirmed a continuation of around £60m of supplementary funding for maintained nursery schools (MSN) in the financial year 2021-22. This includes £23 million of supplementary funding that the government confirmed in August will be provided to local authorities for the summer term in 2021.
The department continues to consider what is required to ensure a clear, long-term picture of funding for MNS, and will say more about this soon. This government remains committed to the long-term funding of MNS, and any reform to the way they are funded will be accompanied by appropriate funding protections.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish contingency plans for 2021 GCSE and A Level examinations to ensure that schools can be adequately prepared and take account of lost learning time.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The changes to assessments in certain subjects that were announced by Ofqual in the summer, alongside the later starting date for examinations in summer 2021, will give schools and colleges extra time to plan teaching, and pupils extra time to study. Combined with the Department’s £1 billion catch-up package, including a catch-up premium worth a total of £650 million, these changes give young people the best chance of being ready for their examinations without undermining the value of the qualifications they receive.
The Department is working with Ofqual and engaging widely with the education sector to identify any risks to examinations at a national, local, and individual pupil level, and to consider measures needed to address any potential disruption. This could be a pupil unable to sit examinations due to illness or self isolation, or schools affected by a local COVID-19 outbreak during the examination season resulting in examination centres not being able to open. More details will be published later in the autumn.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will (a) postpone Ofsted visits to schools to 2022 and (b) ensure that Ofsted focus on promoting covid-19 best practice in schools during visits during 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is important for school inspections to start up again in the new year, at the right time and in the right way. The Department is carefully considering with Ofsted and the sector how this can be achieved sensitively and gradually, with a clear focus on provision for pupils, whether in the classroom or remotely. Further details of the plans for 2021 will be made available soon.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will introduce a fully-funded national programme on emotional wellbeing and recovery in the context of covid-19 for all school-aged children.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We know that the COVID-19 outbreak has had an impact on children and young people’s wellbeing and mental health. That is why we have worked on a range of support packages to ensure support is provided for all those who need it, without diverting funding from elsewhere. It is important for schools and colleges to have the freedom to decide what support to offer pupils based on their particular needs and to draw on an evidence base of effective practice.
Our £1 billion COVID catch-up package, with £650 million shared across schools over the 2020-21 academic year, is supporting education settings to put the right catch-up and pastoral support in place. The Education Endowment Foundation has published a COVID-19 support guide to support schools to direct this funding, which includes further information about interventions to support pupils’ mental health and wellbeing: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/covid-19-resources/national-tutoring-programme/covid-19-support-guide-for-schools/.
Ofsted’s October 2020 COVID-19 briefing on its interim visits to schools confirmed that a number of school leaders are considering using this funding to pay for interventions such as additional pastoral staff and counselling for pupils. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-series-briefing-on-schools-october-2020.
Schools cannot provide mental health support on their own. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published a mental health and wellbeing support plan, which sets out a wide range of action that the government is supporting across the NHS and wider services to support mental health and wellbeing recovery, including for children and young people: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-mentally-well-winter-plan-2020-to-2021/staying-mentally-well-this-winter.
It includes the £8 million Wellbeing for Education Return programme funded jointly by the Department for Education and DHSC. This will provide schools and colleges all over England with the knowledge and practical skills they need to support teachers, students and parents, to help improve how they respond to the emotional impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. The programme is funding expert advisers in every area of England to train and support schools and colleges during the autumn and spring terms.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to incorporate assessment of the quality of careers advice in schools into the OFSTED inspection process.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Ofsted’s school inspections already include an assessment of the quality of careers advice in schools. Ofsted’s school inspection handbook states that inspectors should assess the effectiveness of careers programmes in line with the Government’s statutory guidance on careers advice. That includes an evaluation of the quality of careers information, education, advice and guidance given to pupils, and an assessment of how well that guidance encourages pupils to make good and informed choices about next steps in the careers to which they aspire.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will make support available for children who are unable to study effectively at home outside of ordinary school hours during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is committed to the continuation of high quality education for all pupils during this difficult time.
Where a pupil is unable to attend school because they are complying with clinical and/or public health advice, we expect schools to be able to offer them access to remote education immediately. The Department has asked schools to monitor engagement with this activity, which should align as closely as possible with in-school provision. The Department expects all schools to have had remote education contingency plans in place since the end of September at the latest. On 2 July, the Department published guidance for the opening of schools, including what is expected from schools for their remote education provision. This guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools#section-3-curriculum-behaviour-and-pastoral-support.
The Department has provided a range of resources to support schools in delivering remote education. This includes examples of teaching practice during COVID-19, which provides an opportunity for schools to learn from each other’s approaches to remote education. More information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-practice-for-schools-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
The Department has also worked with sector led initiatives such as Oak National Academy. The Department has made £4.84 million available for Oak National Academy, both for the summer term of the academic year 2019-20 and then for the 2020-21 academic year, to provide free and optional video lessons for reception up to year 11. It provides lessons across a broad range of subjects and includes specialist content for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will make support available to children who are bereaved as a result the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The government remains committed to promoting and supporting the mental health of children and young people. Access to mental health support including bereavement support is more important than ever during the COVID-19 outbreak. The department has taken action to ensure schools and colleges are equipped to support children and young people.
As children and young people return to school, staff need to be equipped to understand that some of them may have experienced bereavement. Our guidance signposts further support and resources, including MindEd, which has specific material on bereavement and dealing with death and loss, and their website is available here: https://www.minded.org.uk/.
Our remote learning guidance also signposted online support from the Childhood Bereavement Network and their website is available here: http://www.childhoodbereavementnetwork.org.uk/.
This was supported by webinars over the summer which reached thousands of school and college staff.
In addition to this we are investing £8 million in the Wellbeing for Education Return programme, which will provide schools and colleges all over England with the knowledge and practical skills they need to support teachers, students and parents, to help improve how they respond to the emotional impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. The programme is funding expert advisers in every area of England to train and support schools and colleges during the autumn and spring terms. The training includes specific examples of supporting bereaved children.
Of course, schools and colleges are not mental health professionals and it is important that more specialist support is available for children and their families. All NHS mental health trusts have ensured that there are 24/7 open access telephone lines to support people of all ages. Public Health England and Health Education England have also developed advice and guidance for parents and professionals on supporting children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. This includes a specific section on dealing with bereavement and grief. The advice and guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing.
We have also provided £9.2 million of additional funding for mental health charities, including charities like Young Minds, to support adults and children struggling with their mental wellbeing during this time.
In the long term, we remain committed to our joint green paper delivery programme with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England, including introducing new mental health support teams linked to schools and colleges, providing training for senior mental health leads in schools and colleges, and testing approaches to faster access to NHS specialist support.
Asked by: Dan Poulter (Labour - Central Suffolk and North Ipswich)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support he plans to make available to the most deprived families to mitigate the cessation of free school meal vouchers over the 2020 summer holidays.
Answered by Vicky Ford
I refer the hon. Members to the answer I gave on 23 June 2020 to Question 54195.