Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to announce the start date of the claims window for schools to make a claim from his Department for the exceptional costs that they incurred from March 2020 to July 2020 as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The first claims window for the COVID-19 schools fund closed on 21 July. Schools have received payments of over £100 million for all claims within the published scope of the fund.
There will be a further opportunity later in the year for schools to claim for exceptional costs that fell between March and July, in the same approved categories as for the first window. Schools will be able to use this second window to claim for any costs in the approved categories, for which they did not claim during the first window. The Department will confirm the date of the second claims window shortly.
Schools have also continued to receive their core funding allocations throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. This will ensure that they are able to continue to pay their staff and meet their other regular financial commitments.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to support primary schools in enabling the parents of prospective students to attend open days before the primary school admissions deadline in January 2021.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Local authorities are required, through the School Admissions Code and the School Information (England) Regulations 2008, to provide parents with information about all schools in their area ahead of application deadlines, through publishing a composite prospectus.
Traditionally, schools have also held open events and arranged visits for prospective parents in the autumn term. This year, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, schools have also had to consider how to minimise the risk of transmission of the virus.
On 2 July 2020, the Department published guidance to help schools prepare for all pupils to return to school full-time from the beginning of the autumn term. This guidance can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
This sets out a framework for school leaders to put in place a range of proportionate protective measures for children, staff and visitors. In addition, under the current national restrictions only certain kinds of gatherings are allowed, including gatherings that are reasonably necessary for the purposes of education or training. As a result, face to face open events and visits are unlikely to be possible and schools are considering alternatives. The national restrictions guidance can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november.
The provision of information to parents remains an important part of enabling them to make an informed choice about the schools they wish their children to attend. The Department recognises that many schools have worked creatively to do this, for example, by making videos or holding virtual events. If a school does decide to hold a face to face event, it is essential that a risk assessment is carried out and appropriate control measures are put in place, in line with the guidance and the law.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
What steps he is taking to increase (a) recruitment and (b) retention of teachers.
Answered by Gavin Williamson
Great schools need great teachers. We are transforming the support for teachers to attract more people to teaching and enable them to thrive. We are working with the profession to create the career pathways and development opportunities to make teaching more than a match for other highly-regarded professions.
We have started to roll out the Early Career Framework – the biggest teaching reform in a generation – providing the solid foundations for a successful career in teaching, backed by up to £130 million a year in funding when fully rolled out in 2021. Early roll-out from autumn 2020 is taking place in selected areas (North East, Greater Manchester, Bradford and Doncaster).
We are also launching new National Professional Qualifications, offering high-quality professional development for teachers and school leaders at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice, to those leading multiple schools across trusts.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the level of financial support provided to the early years sector during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
We are continuing to fund childcare at the same level as before the COVID-19 outbreak, until the end of the calendar year, giving nurseries and childminders another term of secure income, regardless of how many children are attending. Early years settings will continue to benefit from a planned £3.6 billion funding in the 2020-21 financial year to deliver free early education and childcare places.
In addition to this, the government has provided a package of support for individuals and businesses which are directly benefitting providers of childcare. This includes business rates relief and grants, the extended Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and the extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which will remain open until March 2021, with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
Our survey of childcare and early years providers and COVID-19, published on 26 October, contains information on early years providers’ use of the CJRS and how many childminders applied for and received government support:
Further information on the survey is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/survey-of-childcare-and-early-years-providers-and-covid-19-coronavirus.
We continue to work closely with both local authorities and the early years sector organisations to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the sector. We continue to look at the costs associated with the outbreak and to secure the best and most appropriate support for the sector.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) male and (b) female teachers there were in state primary schools in each of the last five years in (i) England, (ii) Greater London and (iii) Bexley.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on the number of teachers by gender in state funded primary and secondary schools for both National and Greater London regions can be viewed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8017d78a-c356-4a23-9f5d-84837bae3930.
Information on the number of teachers by gender in all state funded schools in the Bexley local authority is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/babdd0b6-86b0-4a7c-be31-612a913d2ea1.
The breakdown by school phase is not explicitly summarised in the publication. It can, however, be calculated from the individual school records which are published as part of the Schools Workforce Statistics Collection. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-workforce.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to retain male teachers in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is working to increase the diversity of the teaching workforce. In October 2018, we published our Statement of Intent, setting out the Department’s commitment to increasing the diversity of the teaching workforce. The Department wants to see improved pathways and a workforce that supports the progression and retention of all teachers, regardless of their gender.
In January 2019, the Department launched the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy, which set out several priorities for reform and investment. This included commitments to reduce workload; improved continuing professional development for teachers; and greater opportunities for flexible working. It also included the biggest teaching reform in a generation: the Early Career Framework (ECF) reforms, which will ensure that all new teachers have a mentor and dedicated time set aside to focus on developing the knowledge, practices and working habits to set them up for a fulfilling and successful career in teaching. Early roll-out of the ECF reforms started in Autumn 2020, with full national roll-out starting in Autumn 2021.
In addition, one of the Department’s top priorities is to ensure that we continue to attract the high-quality teachers we need, regardless of their gender. We have announced plans for salaries for new teachers to rise to £30,000 by 2022-23. This will make starting salaries significantly more competitive in the graduate labour market.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the recruitment of more male teachers.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is working to increase the diversity of the teaching workforce. In October 2018, we published our Statement of Intent, setting out the Department's commitment to increasing the diversity of the teaching workforce. The Department wants to see improved pathways and a workforce that supports the progression and retention of all teachers, regardless of their gender.
The Department’s ‘Teaching – Every Lesson Shapes A Life’ recruitment campaign is targeted at audiences of students, recent graduates and potential career changers inclusive of all genders, and the Department takes every effort to ensure that our advertising is fully reflective of this across the full range of marketing materials we use.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) male and (b) female teachers there were in state secondary schools in each of the last five years in (i) England, (ii) Greater London and (iii) Bexley Borough.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Information on the number of teachers by gender in state funded primary and secondary schools for both National and Greater London regions can be viewed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/8017d78a-c356-4a23-9f5d-84837bae3930.
Information on the number of teachers by gender in all state funded schools in the Bexley local authority is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/babdd0b6-86b0-4a7c-be31-612a913d2ea1.
The breakdown by school phase is not explicitly summarised in the publication. It can, however, be calculated from the individual school records which are published as part of the Schools Workforce Statistics Collection. This is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-workforce.
Asked by: David Evennett (Conservative - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support schools that experience outbreaks of covid-19.
Answered by Nick Gibb
On 2 July, the Department published guidance to help schools prepare for all pupils, in all year groups, to return to school full time from the beginning of the autumn term. This includes how schools should manage confirmed cases of COVID-19 amongst the school community. The guidance can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
Anyone with any of the three main COVID-19 symptoms should self-isolate and access a test as soon as possible. We are continuing to improve the testing system to ensure teaching staff can get priority access when they have symptoms.
The Department is also supplying COVID-19 test kits directly to schools and further education (FE) colleges for both staff and students who develop the symptoms of COVID-19 and face significant barriers to accessing a test through existing routes. We have emailed all schools and FE colleges with details of how to access additional test kits via an online portal that opened on 16 September. Home testing kits will be supplied in boxes of 10, with one box provided per 1,000 students. A new order may be placed 21 days after the last order was dispatched.
When a test kit has been issued to a symptomatic staff member, who subsequently tests negative and is not a close contact of a confirmed COVID-19 cases, the member of staff can return to work as soon as they feel well enough. Schools and FE colleges were prioritised for the distribution of these test kits to support their full re-opening from the autumn term.
Schools must take swift action when they become aware that someone who has attended school has tested positive for COVID-19. There is a new dedicated advice line to help schools, colleges or early years settings to implement the most appropriate public health measures, once a case is confirmed. A team of advisors will inform education settings what action is needed in response to a positive case based on the latest public health advice, and work through a risk assessment.
For individual or groups of pupils who need to self-isolate, remote education plans should be in place. Where a class, group or small number of pupils need to self-isolate, or local restrictions require pupils to remain at home, we expect schools to have the capacity to offer immediate remote education. On 1 October, the Department announced a package of remote education support designed to help schools and colleges build on and deliver their existing plans in the event that individuals or groups of pupils are unable to attend school because of COVID-19. Schools will be able to access a new central support hub, where resources and information on remote education will be housed. This support has been co-designed with schools and includes a range of school-led webinars and resources intended to share good practice.
The Department is also investing £1.5 million of additional funding to expand the EdTech Demonstrator programme – a peer support network offering advice, guidance and training to schools and colleges in effective use of technology, including how it can support remote education.
The Department has made £4.84 million available for Oak National Academy, both for the summer term of the academic year 2019-20 and for the 2020-21 academic year, to provide free video lessons for reception up to year 11. It provides lessons across a broad range of subjects and includes specialist content for pupils with SEND. The support package can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.