Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of devolution in England on post 16 education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As set out in the English Devolution White Paper, Strategic Authorities have a key role in ensuring there are clear pathways of progression from education into further and higher education and local employment opportunities. The government values the insight and local accountability of Strategic Authorities and is proceeding with the devolution of adult education functions to tailor training opportunities and drive growth.
Strategic Authorities help shape the training offer in their region through joint ownership of Local Skills Improvement Plans and can work with their constituent councils to plan provision locally.
Education for 16 to 19-year-olds is distinct and forms part of the compulsory education and training system. It offers young people high quality options that enable their transition into apprenticeships, employment, or further learning, such as higher education or higher technical programs. These options support the development of a skilled workforce and break down the barriers to opportunity.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress her Department has made on considering the application for the proposed new Eton State sixth form college in Oldham.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department recognises the need for trusts, local authorities and Members of Parliament to have certainty about projects as soon as possible, and we will provide them with an update on next steps in due course.
We have engaged with trusts, local authorities and other stakeholders in relation to individual projects in scope of the review, including gathering evidence on the local need for places, value for money, and the distinctiveness of the educational offer compared to what is already available locally.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason the Regional Schools Commissioner did not engage in the Q1 Serious Case Review conducted by the Manchester Safeguarding Partnership; and whether that decision was based on the policy of his Department.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Regional School Commissioners do not have a direct role in handling safeguarding cases and are not expected to act themselves.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of attainment of (a) early years, (a) primary and (c) secondary pupils in Oldham as a result of its status as an Opportunity Area compared with those levels in other areas.
Answered by Michelle Donelan
Evidence is at the heart of the Opportunity Areas programme. We are working closely with the ‘What Works Centres’ (including the Education Endowment Foundation) to identify and implement evidence-based interventions in Opportunity Areas that offer the best value for money and the potential to drive real change.
We continue to track progress in all of the Opportunity Areas to determine whether improvements have been realised against the priorities identified at the outset of the programme. The priorities identified in the Oldham Opportunity Area can be found in the delivery plan published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-mobility-and-opportunity-areas. An evaluation of the programme is underway and will be published in due course.
In 2017, the percentage of children in early years education achieving a good level of development by age 5 in Oldham was 63.6%. In 2019, this percentage had increased to 68.1%, which is an increase of 4.5 percentage points.
The increase in all children in England achieving a good level of development by age 5 between 2017 and 2019 was 1.1 percentage point. In comparison, Oldham’s attainment in early years has increased faster than the England increase. With 68.1% of children achieving a good level of development by age 5, Oldham remains below 2019’s England average of 71.8%.
In Oldham, the percentage of pupils in primary school reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of key stage 2 increased from 57.2% in 2017 to 62.7% in 2019. This is a 5.5 percentage point increase. This is higher than the increase in England of 3.7 percentage points. At 62.7% of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths at the end of KS2 in 2019, Oldham remains below the 2019 England average of 65.3%.
In Oldham, the average Attainment 8 scores of pupils in secondary school at the end of key stage 4 had decreased by 1.5 percentage points between 2017 and 2019: it decreased from 43.6% in 2017 to 42.1% in 2019. This decrease was larger than the decrease in England of 0.4 percentage points, from 46.4% in 2017 to 46.8% on 2019. In 2019, Oldham’s Attainment 8 scores of pupils at the end of key stage 4 were 4.7 points lower than the England average.
For comparison to other areas, the department’s published data for early years can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-early-years-foundation-stage-profile, data on primary school pupils can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-key-stage-2, and data on secondary school pupils can be found at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-gcses-key-stage-4.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the advice which informed the decision not to make the wearing of face coverings by pupils aged 12 and over a requirement in schools in England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s priority is for pupils to safely return to schools and colleges and we have taken the latest medical and scientific advice into account at each stage of responding to the COVID-19 outbreak.
On 21 August 2020, the World Health Organisation published a new statement (https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-children-and-masks-related-to-covid-19) advising that children aged 12 and over should wear face coverings under the same condition as adults, in particular when they cannot guarantee at least a 1 metre distance from others and there is widespread transmission in the area. As a result, the Department has revised its guidance on face coverings in schools and colleges. The guidance for schools can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
It is reasonable to assume that staff and young people will now have access to face coverings due to their increasing use in wider society, and Public Health England has made available resources on how to make a simple face covering.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of the 200,000 devices and 4G wireless routers distributed from May to July 2020 to disadvantaged school children were (a) allocated and (b) distributed to children in each local authority in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department has delivered over 220,000 laptops and tablets and over 50,000 4G wireless routers to local authorities and academy trusts for children who would not otherwise have access, as part of over £100 million invested to support remote education and access to online social care.
The devices were an injection of support to help local authorities and academy trusts to provide access to education and social care during the COVID-19 outbreak. Local authorities and academy trusts are responsible for distributing the devices and are best placed to know which children and young people need access to a device.
On 27 August, the Department published information on which local authorities and academy trusts had received devices through the programme, including each local authority in Greater Manchester. This information can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/laptops-tablets-and-4g-wireless-routers-progress-data.
The Department is now supplementing this support by making an initial 150,000 additional devices available this academic year in the event face-to-face schooling is disrupted as a result of local COVID-19 restrictions and children become reliant on remote education.
This scheme will enable schools to support disadvantaged children in years 3 to 11 who do not have access to a device. Devices will also be able to be ordered for disadvantaged children across all year groups who are shielding as a result of official advice, all year groups who attend hospital schools and those completing their Key Stage 4 at a further education college.