Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many middle schools there are in England; and how many of those schools are academies.
Answered by David Laws
There are 190 schools in England that are recorded on Edubase, the Department's database of education providers, as being middle schools. Of these, 59 are converter academies and three are sponsored academies.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications his Department has received from academies seeking to change their admissions policies; and how many such applications his Department accepted.
Answered by Edward Timpson
Academies can only change their admission arrangements following the procedures set out in the School Admissions Code.
During the 2013/14 academic year the Education Funding Agency has received requests to change admissions arrangements for 8 academies. Of these, 7 were approved and 1 was withdrawn by the academy trust.
These figures do not include applications to change admissions arrangements that form part of a request for a wider change to an academy's funding agreement, for example extending the age range, as this data is not recorded centrally.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many local education authorities currently operate a three-tier system; how many such authorities have sought to change to a two-tier system since 2010; and how many such authorities have changed to a two-tier system.
Answered by David Laws
The Department does not hold records about the number of local authorities that operate three-tier systems.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will bring forward proposals to amend the national curriculum to require the teaching of water safety in schools.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Government is committed to ensuring that swimming and teaching water safety takes place in schools. Swimming is an important part of the National Curriculum, which requires that all pupils must be taught to swim at least 25 metres unaided, and be able to use recognised swimming strokes by the end of Key Stage 2 (age 11). It also requires that a child can demonstrate an understanding of water safety. Swimming and water safety remain compulsory in the National Curriculum following the recent curriculum review.
In March 2013 the Prime Minister announced additional ring-fenced funding of £150m per year for each of 2013-14 and 2014-15 to support the provision of PE and sport in primary schools. This funding was extended in the Autumn Statement 2013 to include 2015-16. Qualifying schools would be free to use this to extend their pupils' access to swimming lessons and water safety awareness.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential role of the local offer in reducing the number of pupils with autism affected by official and unofficial exclusion.
Answered by Edward Timpson
An interim evaluation of the school exclusions pilot, published in March 2013, found early indications of schools taking more responsibility for pupils at risk of exclusion, collaborating with each other and working in partnership with local authorities to improve alternative provision in their areas. Such approaches benefit all pupils vulnerable to exclusion, including those with autism.
The Department for Education has introduced wide ranging reforms through the Children and Families Act 2014 to improve provision and support for children and young people with special educational needs or a disability.
The Act requires local authorities to publish a local offer of services for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) or a disability. The local offer will set out in one place information about provision families can expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people who have SEN or are disabled, including those who do not have education, health and care (EHC) plans.
The local offer will provide children, young people and parents with clear, comprehensive and accessible information about the services and support available and how to access it, including that from schools.
It will make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involving families and service providers in its development and review, enabling them to have a greater say in how services and support develop over time.
This should therefore have an important role to play in improving outcomes and reducing exclusions for children and young people with SEN, including those with autism.
Asked by: Karen Lumley (Conservative - Redditch)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the school exclusions pilot on pupils with autism.
Answered by Edward Timpson
An interim evaluation of the school exclusions pilot, published in March 2013, found early indications of schools taking more responsibility for pupils at risk of exclusion, collaborating with each other and working in partnership with local authorities to improve alternative provision in their areas. Such approaches benefit all pupils vulnerable to exclusion, including those with autism.
The Department for Education has introduced wide ranging reforms through the Children and Families Act 2014 to improve provision and support for children and young people with special educational needs or a disability.
The Act requires local authorities to publish a local offer of services for children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) or a disability. The local offer will set out in one place information about provision families can expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people who have SEN or are disabled, including those who do not have education, health and care (EHC) plans.
The local offer will provide children, young people and parents with clear, comprehensive and accessible information about the services and support available and how to access it, including that from schools.
It will make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involving families and service providers in its development and review, enabling them to have a greater say in how services and support develop over time.
This should therefore have an important role to play in improving outcomes and reducing exclusions for children and young people with SEN, including those with autism.