Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of using (a) the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and (b) other enrichment opportunities to develop skills for the workplace within a further education setting alongside the work placement required in T-Level qualifications.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Employability, enrichment and pastoral (EEP) are an important part of current post-16 study programmes as they prepare students for future education, employment and life.
T Levels were introduced in 2020, and are high-quality, Level 3 qualifications that equip students with the skills, knowledge and behaviours they need to progress into skilled employment. As set out in the department’s delivery guidance, providers are encouraged to take advantage of EEP support and work taster activities in the first and/or second year of the T Level programme to help with student preparation. This guidance can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1163906/T_Level_industry_placements_-_delivery_guidance.pdf.
As part of the T Level, students also complete a minimum of 315 hours in an industry placement working with external employers. The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme and other enrichment opportunities can be incorporated into a T Level industry placement, provided that the activity is occupationally relevant to the T Level and meets all requirements outlined in our T Level delivery placements guidance. To do this, providers may choose to incorporate one or more of the flexible delivery approaches outlined in our guidance.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department holds on the outcome of the rebuilding survey at Rawlins Academy in Loughborough.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Rawlins Academy is part of the School Rebuilding Programme which will transform buildings at 500 schools and sixth-form colleges over the next decade. It will rebuild or refurbish poor condition buildings, providing modern designs, with new buildings being net zero carbon in operation.
The department’s surveys at Rawlin’s Academy have recently started and are due to complete in the New Year. The department will share the outcome of these surveys with the school shortly.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that training centres have the (a) resources and (b) developed curriculum to train heat network installers.
Answered by Robert Halfon
In the 2021 Heat and Buildings Strategy, the government committed to a range of policies enabling a zero-carbon heating system in the UK. In the strategy, the government committed to investing £338 million into the Heat Network Transformation Programme over 2022/23 to 2024/25.
The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy’s 2020 Heat Network Skills Review found, among other things that:
Earlier this year, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ran the Heat Training Grant competition for education providers in England. This funding facilitates the ability to provide training on the designing, building, and maintenance of heat networks. A further round of the scheme will run for training to be delivered in academic year 2024/25.
There are existing courses funded by the department for education that provide the skills needed to build and operate heat networks. These are highlighted in the list below:
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to implement the recommendations in the report by the Children's Commissioner entitled Beyond the Labels: A SEND system which works for every child, every time, published on 14 November 2022.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department welcomes the Children's Commissioner's report, a response to the department’s consultation, which provided a range of recommendations for the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system. This includes improving the education, health and care (EHC) plan process and the support that is available for through alternative provision (AP) providers. The SEND and AP Green Paper set out the department’s proposals for how the SEND system can be improved, so that it delivers improved outcomes, experiences and financial sustainability. The department will publish a SEND and AP Improvement Plan that will set out the consultation feedback and our next steps in due course.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the absence rates from education of blind and partially sighted pupils at (a) primary and (b) secondary school were in each year from 2012 to date.
Answered by Will Quince
The department publishes annual statistics on absence from school broken down by pupils’ type of special educational need (SEN). The most recent figures, for the 2020/21 academic year, are published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england.
The publication includes figures for pupils whose type of SEN is visual impairment. The figures for primary and secondary schools are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/34b7634d-01b2-45bb-be2e-5003ac8ea73f. For comparative purposes, ‘Total’ includes all pupils, including those who have no SEN.
The figures do not include the 2019/20 academic year, because the publication was cancelled that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for (a) Health and Social Care and (b) Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the maintenance of the PE and Sport Premium for the 2021-22 academic year.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Ministers at the Department meet regularly with their counterparts in the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to discuss shared policy issues, including physical education (PE) and school sport.
The Government has confirmed that the primary PE and sport premium will continue at £320 million for the 2021/22 academic year. Schools will also be permitted to carry forward any unspent PE and sport premium funding from the current academic year to ensure that this is spent to benefit primary pupils’ physical education, school sport and physical activity recovery.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that school staff receive training on (a) parental alienation and (b) male domestic violence; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making that training mandatory.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Whilst parental alienation is not an explicit element of training within educational safeguarding practice, all schools and colleges must have regard to statutory safeguarding guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE). KCSIE sets out that all staff should receive appropriate safeguarding and child protection training and that all staff should read Part one of KCSIE as part of their induction process. Part one provides all staff with information regarding abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, exploitation and domestic violence. KCSIE is clear all staff should be in a position to identify abuse and neglect and should act immediately if they have any concerns about a child. The detail of the safeguarding training that staff receive is rightly a matter for individual schools who will base this on an assessment of the needs of their staff and their pupils.
The Teachers’ standards set the minimum requirements for teachers’ practice and conduct and make clear that all teachers must have ‘regard for the need to safeguard pupils' wellbeing’.
The department’s National Professional Qualifications for school leaders includes training for leaders on safeguarding. These qualifications have recently been revised to ensure that safeguarding is a core aspect.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
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 rollout of laptops and other devices to disadvantaged pupils to support remote learning during the covid-19 outbreak; and (b) what further steps he plans to take to ensure that every eligible child has access to their own device.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. The Department has now extended the Get Help with Technology scheme to provide disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds with technological support.
As of Monday 1 February 2021, over 920,000 laptops and tablets had been delivered to schools, academy trusts and local authorities. The Government is providing this significant injection of devices on top of an estimated 2.9 million laptops and tablets already owned by schools before the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The rollout of laptops and tablets through this scheme is being continually reviewed to ensure support is offered in the most effective way.
Laptops and tablets are owned by schools, academy trusts or local authorities who can lend these to children and young people who need them most during the current COVID-19 restrictions.
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure there is enough space in schools to accommodate all students in line with covid-19 social distancing restrictions.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It continues to be our aim that all pupils, in all year groups, remain in school full-time. Being at school is vital for children’s education and for their wellbeing.
The leaders and staff of education settings have been doing an extraordinary job to remain open, keep settings safe, and provide education. Schools have implemented a range of protective measures to minimise risk of transmission.
The Department published guidance to support schools to welcome back all children from the start of the autumn term. The full guidance is available through the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
Schools should continue to undertake risk assessments and implement the system of controls set out in this guidance. The overarching principle to apply is reducing the number of contacts between children and staff. This can be achieved through keeping groups separate (in ‘bubbles’) and through maintaining the distance between individuals. These are not alternative options and both measures will help, but the balance between them will change depending on children’s ability to distance, the lay out of the school, and the feasibility of keeping distinct groups separate while offering a broad curriculum (especially at secondary schools).
Schools should look to maximise the use of their site and any associated available space. The Department does not, however, consider it necessary for schools to make significant adaptations to their site, because class sizes have been able to return to normal and spaces used by more than one class or group can be cleaned between use. Following a risk assessment, some schools may determine that small adaptations to their site are required. This will be at the discretion of individual schools, based on their particular circumstances.
When timetabling, groups should be kept apart and movement around the school site kept to a minimum. While passing briefly in the corridor or playground is low risk, schools should avoid creating busy corridors, entrances, and exits. Schools should also consider staggered break times and lunch times (and time for cleaning surfaces in the dining hall between groups).
Asked by: Jane Hunt (Conservative - Loughborough)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the (a) Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and (b) Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on the maintenance of the PE and Sport Premium for the 2020-21 academic year.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is considering arrangements for the Primary PE and Sport Premium in 2020/21 academic year.
As part of this consideration, Department for Education officials have held discussions with their counterparts at the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport regarding the primary PE and Sport Premium and wider PE and sport policy.