Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department has taken to ensure schools put in place (a) enhanced social distancing in classrooms, including through the use of rotas, (b) online learning for the children of extremely clinically vulnerable parents and (c) other measures to prevent the transmission of covid-19 to clinically extremely vulnerable parents whose children are attending school.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools continue to remain open for all children and young people, as they have since the start of the autumn term. Being at school is vital for children’s education and for their wellbeing. It continues to be the aim of the Department that all pupils, in all year groups, remain in school full-time.
The risk to children themselves of becoming severely ill from COVID-19 is very low, and there are negative health impacts of being out of school. For most children, the benefits of being back in the classroom far outweigh the low risk of COVID-19, and schools can take action to further reduce risks.
The Department published actions for schools during the COVID-19 outbreak to support them to welcome back all children from the start of the autumn term. The full guidance is available here: 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. These measures provide a framework for school leaders to put in place proportionate protective measures for pupils and staff. If schools follow the guidance and maximise control measures, they can be confident they are managing risk effectively. The measures in place include schools minimising contact between individuals. This can be achieved through keeping groups separate and maintaining distance between individuals.
From 5 November 2020, following guidance on new national restrictions in schools, children who live with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable, but who are not clinically extremely vulnerable themselves, should continue to attend education. The full guidance for schools and nurseries can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-and-childcare-settings-new-national-restrictions-from-5-november-2020#schools.
New guidance for shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable from COVID-19 was published on 4 November 2020. The guidance can be viewed here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/people-at-higher-risk/advice-for-people-at-high-risk/
Where a pupil is unable to attend school because they are complying with clinical advice or public health advice, schools are expected to immediately offer them access to remote education.
To support schools in meeting the remote education expectations, the Department announced a further remote education package of support, which can be found on the remote education service at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
Support includes an additional 340,000 laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children, and development resources for staff, including a good practice guide and school-led webinars.
The Department is also investing £1.5 million of additional funding to expand the EdTech Demonstrator programme, which provides peer-to-peer support for schools and colleges.
The Department is in regular contact with officials in British embassies overseas to collect the latest international intelligence and evidence about how other countries have approached distance learning for pupils.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the teaching of children of clinically extremely vulnerable parents can continue without exposing their parents to the risk of catching covid-19.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools continue to remain open for all children and young people, as they have since the start of the autumn term. Being at school is vital for children’s education and for their wellbeing. It continues to be the aim of the Department that all pupils, in all year groups, remain in school full-time.
The risk to children themselves of becoming severely ill from COVID-19 is very low, and there are negative health impacts of being out of school. For most children, the benefits of being back in the classroom far outweigh the low risk of COVID-19, and schools can take action to further reduce risks.
The Department published actions for schools during the COVID-19 outbreak to support them to welcome back all children from the start of the autumn term. The full guidance is available here: 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. These measures provide a framework for school leaders to put in place proportionate protective measures for pupils and staff. If schools follow the guidance and maximise control measures, they can be confident they are managing risk effectively. The measures in place include schools minimising contact between individuals. This can be achieved through keeping groups separate and maintaining distance between individuals.
From 5 November 2020, following guidance on new national restrictions in schools, children who live with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable, but who are not clinically extremely vulnerable themselves, should continue to attend education. The full guidance for schools and nurseries can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/education-and-childcare-settings-new-national-restrictions-from-5-november-2020#schools.
New guidance for shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable from COVID-19 was published on 4 November 2020. The guidance can be viewed here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/people-at-higher-risk/advice-for-people-at-high-risk/
Where a pupil is unable to attend school because they are complying with clinical advice or public health advice, schools are expected to immediately offer them access to remote education.
To support schools in meeting the remote education expectations, the Department announced a further remote education package of support, which can be found on the remote education service at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
Support includes an additional 340,000 laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children, and development resources for staff, including a good practice guide and school-led webinars.
The Department is also investing £1.5 million of additional funding to expand the EdTech Demonstrator programme, which provides peer-to-peer support for schools and colleges.
The Department is in regular contact with officials in British embassies overseas to collect the latest international intelligence and evidence about how other countries have approached distance learning for pupils.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of participation levels in the home learning curriculum set by schools during the covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is continuing to assess the impact of the potential effect of school closure on children and young people’s education attainment. We are working closely with schools and nurseries, sector organisations, international institutions and across Government to understand the risks to education attainment and wellbeing, and identify how best to help children and young people make up for the time spent out of school.
It is up to each school to determine how to deliver education to its pupils and whether and how to monitor participation. We recognise that many schools have already shared resources – both online and printed resources – for children who are at home, and we are committed to ensuring that all children at home can continue to learn remotely in a number of ways during these very difficult circumstances.
We are supporting sector-led initiatives such as the Oak National Academy – a new enterprise which has been created by 40 teachers from schools across England. It will provide 180 video lessons for free each week, across a broad range of subjects, for every year group from Reception through to year 10. By 24 May, over 2.3 million users had visited the Oak Academy site and over 10.7 million lessons had been accessed.
Additionally, the Government has committed over £100 million to boost remote education, including by providing devices and internet access for those who need it most, ensuring every school that wants it has access to free, expert technical support to get set up on Google for Education or Microsoft’s Office 365 Education, and offering peer support from schools and colleges leading the way with the use of education technology.
These are rapidly developing circumstances; we continue to keep the situation under review and will keep Parliament updated accordingly.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils at key stage four were studying a foreign language in 2010.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The percentage of pupils[1] at the end of key stage 4 entering a modern foreign language[2] in state-funded schools[3] in England for 2009/10 was 42.6%. The percentage of pupils between the ages 16-18 eligible for reporting in performance tables, who entered A level exams a modern foreign language in state-funded schools and colleges[4] in England at the end of key stage 5 for 2009/10 was 7.5%.[5]
[1] Includes attempts and achievements by these pupils in previous academic years.
[2] For key stage 4 entries are those counted as part of the language element in the English Baccalaureate. For key stage 5, A level languages include: French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Italian, Polish, Russian, Other.
[3] State-funded schools include academies, free schools, city technology colleges, further education colleges with provision for 14 to 16 year-olds and state-funded special schools. They exclude independent schools, independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, pupil referral units and alternative provision. Alternative provision includes academy and free school alternative provision.
[4] Covers all state-funded mainstream schools, academies, free schools, city technology colleges, state-funded special schools and FE sector colleges. Excludes pupil referral units, alternative provision, hospital schools, non-maintained special schools, other government department funded colleges, independent schools, independent special schools and independent schools approved to take pupils with special educational needs.
[5] Comparisons over time should be treated with caution due to issues such as changes in methodology over time, and subject reform.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of pupils at key stage five were studying a foreign language in 2010.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The percentage of pupils[1] at the end of key stage 4 entering a modern foreign language[2] in state-funded schools[3] in England for 2009/10 was 42.6%. The percentage of pupils between the ages 16-18 eligible for reporting in performance tables, who entered A level exams a modern foreign language in state-funded schools and colleges[4] in England at the end of key stage 5 for 2009/10 was 7.5%.[5]
[1] Includes attempts and achievements by these pupils in previous academic years.
[2] For key stage 4 entries are those counted as part of the language element in the English Baccalaureate. For key stage 5, A level languages include: French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Italian, Polish, Russian, Other.
[3] State-funded schools include academies, free schools, city technology colleges, further education colleges with provision for 14 to 16 year-olds and state-funded special schools. They exclude independent schools, independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, pupil referral units and alternative provision. Alternative provision includes academy and free school alternative provision.
[4] Covers all state-funded mainstream schools, academies, free schools, city technology colleges, state-funded special schools and FE sector colleges. Excludes pupil referral units, alternative provision, hospital schools, non-maintained special schools, other government department funded colleges, independent schools, independent special schools and independent schools approved to take pupils with special educational needs.
[5] Comparisons over time should be treated with caution due to issues such as changes in methodology over time, and subject reform.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of Key Stage Four students are studying a foreign language.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The percentage of pupils[1] at the end of Key Stage 4 entering a modern foreign language[2] in state-funded schools[3] in England is 46.7% for 2018/19.
[1] Includes attempts and achievements by these pupils in previous academic years.
[2] For Key Stage 4 entries are those counted as part of the language element in the English Baccalaureate.
[3] State-funded schools include academies, free schools, city technology colleges, further education colleges with provision for 14 to 16 year-olds and state-funded special schools. They exclude independent schools, independent special schools, non-maintained special schools, pupil referral units and alternative provision. Alternative provision includes academy and free school alternative provision.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of Key Stage Five students are studying a foreign language.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The percentage of pupils between the ages 16 to 18, eligible for reporting in performance tables, who entered a modern foreign language for A level exams in state-funded schools and colleges[1] in England at the end of Key Stage 5 was 6.4%[2] for 2018/19.
[1] Covers all state-funded mainstream schools, academies, free schools, city technology colleges, state-funded special schools and FE sector colleges. Excludes pupil referral units, alternative provision, hospital schools, non-maintained special schools, other government department funded colleges, independent schools, independent special schools and independent schools approved to take pupils with special educational needs.
[2] Compared to all students in this group who entered A levels, who were eligible for reporting in performance tables.
Asked by: Julian Sturdy (Conservative - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to change school exclusion guidance to strengthen the protection available to children with SEND; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department publishes statutory guidance on exclusion titled ‘Exclusion from maintained schools, Academies and pupil referral units in England’. This guidance covers the entirety of the exclusion process and includes specific requirements in relation to pupils with Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Schools have a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 not to discriminate against disabled pupils by excluding them from school because of their disability. Head teachers should make additional efforts to consider what extra support may be required to avoid exclusion of pupils with SEND, and as far as possible, should avoid permanently excluding pupils with an education, health and care plan (EHCP).
Our statutory guidance is clear that head teachers should, as far as possible, avoid excluding permanently any pupil with an EHCP, and that early intervention to address underlying causes of disruptive behaviour should include an assessment of whether appropriate provision is in place to support any SEN or disability that a pupil may have. The head teacher should also consider the use of a multi-agency assessment for a pupil who demonstrates persistent disruptive behaviour. Such assessments may pick up unidentified SEN but the scope of the assessment could go further, for example, by seeking to identify mental health or family problems.
The government previously committed to revising guidance on exclusions and behaviour and we will provide an update on plans to publish revised guidance in due course.