Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to introduce compulsory paediatric first aid training for all nursery staff.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
Paediatric first aid training is, and will remain, a statutory requirement for all providers regulated in England under the Childcare Act 2006. The requirements for early years providers, including nurseries are set out in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). [1] Following the commitments I made in the debate on paediatric first aid, I am reviewing the requirements in EYFS and drafting new guidance on this matter.
[1] www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will issue guidelines to local authorities on implementing the Children and Families Act 2014 which relate to funding arrangements for children with special educational needs.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The ‘Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice 0-25’, which provides statutory guidance on Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014, includes references to the funding arrangements for children with special educational needs (SEN).
More detailed guidance on the funding arrangements for children with SEN is issued by the education funding agency from time to time. Recent operational guidance was published in July 2014 and last updated in December 2014: ‘Schools Revenue Funding 2015-2016: Operational Guidance Version 4’. [1]
[1] www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/390387/Schools_revenue_funding_2015_to_2016_operational_guide_Dec_2104.pdf
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will introduce legislative proposals to make it compulsory that supply teachers have access to pension rights on an equal basis to other teachers.
Answered by David Laws
The Teachers’ Pensions Regulations currently provide for supply teachers to participate in the Teacher’s Pension Scheme (TPS) where they are employed by a scheme employer. In the main, these are local authorities (LAs), academies and further education colleges. This includes supply teachers who are recruited by a supply agency but then employed directly, under a contract of employment, by the scheme employer.
However, where supply teachers are self-employed or remain employed by a supply agency and their services are provided under a contract for services, it is not possible for them to participate in the TPS as there is no organisation to undertake the employer role, including remitting contributions to the scheme.
The Department for Education does not plan to review these arrangements, and considers that it is for employers and teachers to determine how supply teachers are employed, which can in turn enable access to the TPS under the current arrangements.
The provision of pension benefits for teachers is a devolved matter and therefore the legislative provisions for teachers in England and Wales will not necessarily reflect the provisions for teachers in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve levels of child literacy in low-income families; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is committed to eliminating illiteracy and wants all children to read fluently and with good comprehension. The new English curriculum places a renewed focus on the requirement for pupils to learn to read through systematic synthetic phonics, as evidence shows this is the most effective approach to early reading.
To boost the quality of phonics teaching, we have provided £23.7 million in match funding to over 14,000 primary schools, enabling them to buy systematic synthetic phonics products and training. We have also introduced a phonics screening check. The first three years of the check have enabled teachers to identify nearly 568,000 six-year-olds who needed extra support.
For pupils who do not reach the expected level in reading by the end of primary school, we have introduced the Year 7 Catch-up Premium. This funding – £500 per pupil – enables secondary schools to deliver additional support for those pupils that most need it.
The Government has also committed £8.8 billion of pupil premium funding for schools in England for the period between 2011-12 and 2015-16. The pupil premium gives schools the extra resources they need to close the attainment gap between those from poorer and wealthier backgrounds, including in reading outcomes.
The 2014 Key Stage Two results show that our reforms are already having an effect: a record proportion of children (89%) reached the expected standard of reading (up three percentage points from last year). Attainment in reading has increased for disadvantaged pupils from 73% in 2011 to 82% in 2014, an increase of nine percentage points, while the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has narrowed by 5 percentage points. Attainment in writing has also increased for disadvantaged pupils from 70% in 2012 when teacher assessment was introduced to 76% in 2014, an increase of six percentage points, while the gap has narrowed by 3 percentage points over the same period.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to improve the career structures and pension of school support staff.
Answered by David Laws
School staffing policy is a matter for the devolved administrations. Central government has no role in making decisions on the pay and conditions of school support staff; these are matters for individual school employers. However, the Government expects schools to identify and fund appropriate training to promote the career development of support staff. The Department for Education is committed to raising the status and professionalism of school support staff, for example through the recently announced review of standards for teaching assistants.
Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to support parents and children who were victims of forced adoptions in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
Answered by Edward Timpson
I have a great deal of sympathy for those parents and children who were affected by pressures, during the post-war years, to give children up for adoption. Since the 1970s there have been major shifts in the way society sees the family, single mothers, and the needs of children and successive governments have done much to collectively resolve the social ills of the past. Society has become less judgemental and it is now, rightly, no longer considered a stigma for an unmarried mother to keep her baby.
The importance of facilitating greater openness in adoption has been recognised for a number of years. Adopted adults have the legal right to see their birth certificate and their adoption file in order to find out about their family history and the circumstances in which they were adopted. Both adopted adults and their birth relatives are able to apply to intermediary agencies for assistance with tracing family members. Intermediary agencies also provide counselling, support, and advice to adopted adults and birth relatives. Further changes through the Children and Families Act 2014 will extend the provision of intermediary agencies to assist a wider category of relatives, including the children and grandchildren of adopted adults, to help trace relatives and find out about their family history.