Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that schools are aware of the social, psychological and health problems that pupils with neurofibromatosis 1 may have.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The government is committed to pupils with medical conditions being properly supported at school so that they have full access to education.
In 2014, the government introduced a new duty on schools to support all pupils with medical conditions and has published statutory guidance on this for schools and others. The guidance is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.
The guidance does not specify which medical conditions should be supported in schools. Instead, it focuses on how to meet the needs of each individual child and how their medical condition impacts on school life.
Governing bodies must ensure that arrangements are in place in schools to support pupils at school with medical conditions, and that school leaders consult health and social care professionals, pupils and parents to ensure that the needs of these children are properly understood and effectively supported.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what advice his Department gives to schools to ensure that pupils with (a) neurofibromatosis 1 and (b) other genetic conditions receive adequate and effective support.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Our ambition is for every child, no matter what challenges they face, to have access to a world-class education that sets them up for life.
The statutory guidance to support pupils at school with medical conditions are designed to help schools ensure that they are meeting their legal responsibilities by taking reasonable action to support children with medical conditions and to give parents confidence that the right support will be put in place. The guidance is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-with-medical-conditions--3.
The guidance covers a range of areas including the preparation and implementation of school policies for supporting pupils with medical conditions, the use of individual healthcare plans, staff training, medicines administration, roles and responsibilities, consulting with parents and collaborative working with healthcare professionals. It was developed based on good practice in schools.
We will continue to work with organisations such as the Health Conditions in Schools Alliance to help raise further awareness of the duty on schools. Collaborative working between local authorities, health bodies, schools and school governing bodies is vital to ensure that pupils with medical needs are appropriately supported in school.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of disruption to education as a result of the covid-19 outbreak on the timetabling of 11 plus examinations in 2020; and if he will issue new guidance to admissions authorities to enable 11 plus examinations to be rescheduled in 2020.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Arrangements for selecting pupils by ability are for the admission authorities of selective schools to decide. We are working with the sector and intend to publish advice on the impact of COVID-19 on testing arrangements for admissions to selective schools shortly.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of primary schools in England have a dedicated music teacher.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The information requested is not held centrally.