Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of teaching non-religious worldviews as part of the Religious Education curriculum; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government maintains the importance of religious education (RE). It is key in developing young people’s knowledge of the values and traditions of Britain, and those of other countries. RE can contribute to pupils’ personal development and wellbeing by promoting mutual respect and tolerance in a diverse society.
The Government recognises the work that Standing Advisory Councils on RE do in delivering and monitoring high quality religious education. The Department will continue to carefully consider their future role.
Non-religious worldviews are included within the Department’s Religious Studies GCSE and A level subject content specifications. RE lessons that the Oak National Academy produced to support remote teaching during the pandemic also included content on non-religious worldviews.
The Department has no plans currently to extend teaching school hubs to create centres of excellence for teachers of RE.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to extend Teaching school hubs to create centres of excellence for teachers of Religious Education; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government maintains the importance of religious education (RE). It is key in developing young people’s knowledge of the values and traditions of Britain, and those of other countries. RE can contribute to pupils’ personal development and wellbeing by promoting mutual respect and tolerance in a diverse society.
The Government recognises the work that Standing Advisory Councils on RE do in delivering and monitoring high quality religious education. The Department will continue to carefully consider their future role.
Non-religious worldviews are included within the Department’s Religious Studies GCSE and A level subject content specifications. RE lessons that the Oak National Academy produced to support remote teaching during the pandemic also included content on non-religious worldviews.
The Department has no plans currently to extend teaching school hubs to create centres of excellence for teachers of RE.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to include Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education in future partnerships for ensuring (a) multi-academy trust syllabuses and (b) religious education is of the highest standard.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government maintains the importance of religious education (RE). It is key in developing young people’s knowledge of the values and traditions of Britain, and those of other countries. RE can contribute to pupils’ personal development and wellbeing by promoting mutual respect and tolerance in a diverse society.
The Government recognises the work that Standing Advisory Councils on RE do in delivering and monitoring high quality religious education. The Department will continue to carefully consider their future role.
Non-religious worldviews are included within the Department’s Religious Studies GCSE and A level subject content specifications. RE lessons that the Oak National Academy produced to support remote teaching during the pandemic also included content on non-religious worldviews.
The Department has no plans currently to extend teaching school hubs to create centres of excellence for teachers of RE.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has held with headteachers from schools for pupils with severe learning difficulties and disabilities regarding the adequacy of the funding settlements in place for those schools.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
Ministers and departmental officials meet with head teachers from special schools and their representatives, on a regular basis. As a result of these discussions, the department is aware of the cost increases that special schools are facing.
In July 2022, the department announced high needs funding will be increased by £1.65 billion over two years, between the 2021/22 and 2023/24 financial years. This is an increase of 21% and will bring total high needs funding to £9.7 billion by 2023/24. The increase will help schools to support children with the most complex needs
In addition to the £9.7 billion funding next year, and following the £2 billion funding increases for schools and high needs announced in the 2022 Autumn Statement, the department will be allocating a further funding increase for high needs funding, in 2023/24 and 2024/25. We will shortly set out plans for the allocation of this funding.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to help support the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of staff in schools for pupils with severe learning difficulties and disabilities.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s priority is to ensure that it continues to attract, retain, and develop highly skilled teachers to ensure that all pupils can reach their potential.
Over 37,000 trainee teachers were recruited in the 2021/22 academic year. The Department is enhancing the appeal of teaching by raising the starting salary for teachers to £30,000 to ensure teaching remains a popular graduate option.
As set out in the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy in 2019, the Department’s reforms are not only aimed at increasing teacher recruitment, but also at ensuring teachers stay in the profession.
The Department has created an entitlement to at least three years of structured training, support, and professional development for all new teachers to bring teaching into line with other professions such as law, accountancy, and medicine. These developments are detailed in the new Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework (ITT CCF) and the Early Career Framework (ECF). Together, these frameworks ensure that new teachers benefit from at least three years of evidence based training, throughout their ITT and into their induction. Consideration of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) informs both the ITT CCF and ECF, which were both produced with the support of sector experts.
The Department’s Universal Services programme provides SEND specific training and continuous professional development for all teachers, head teachers, and other school and college staff at the point of need. Backed by almost £12 million, the programme commenced this year with a focus on supporting mainstream schools and colleges.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department is taking steps to provide additional support to schools for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities for their energy costs.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The 2022 Autumn Statement announced that the core schools budget will increase by £2 billion in 2023/24 and a further £2 billion in 2024/25, over and above totals announced in the 2021 Autumn Budget and Spending Review. This brings the core schools budget to a total of £58.8 billion in 2024/25. This additional funding will be used to support both mainstream schools and Local Authorities’ high needs budgets, including funding for special schools. The Department will set out plans for allocation shortly.
Schools are receiving support from the Government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme, which is running until April 2023 and limits increases in schools’ energy bills over the winter months.
All schools can access the Department’s Schools Resource Management (SRM) guidance. The SRM includes a range of practical tools and information to help schools unlock efficiencies, which they can then redistribute in line with their own priorities.
The Department continues to monitor the financial health of schools.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including teaching on suicide and self-harm prevention in the national curriculum; and what steps he is taking to help ensure students starting examinations have access to mental health and other support services.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
All pupils in schools are taught about mental health as part of the relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum, which the department made mandatory in 2020 to ensure that all pupils are taught about important topics.
Schools can teach older pupils about suicide in an age-appropriate and sensitive way. The RSHE statutory guidance advises that schools should approach teaching about self-harm and suicide carefully and should be aware of the risks to pupils from exposure to materials that are instructive rather than preventative, including websites or videos that provide instructions or methods of self-harm or suicide. The guidance is clear that where teachers have concerns about a specific pupil in relation to self-harm or suicidal thoughts, they must follow safeguarding procedures immediately.
Schools and other education providers should be preparing all children and young people for examinations and should have strong pastoral support in place to help pupils deal with any worries they might have throughout the year.
Ofqual has a series of dedicated resources on exam anxiety and stress. This includes a practical guide for students on coping with exam pressure, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coping-with-exam-pressure-a-guide-for-students/coping-with-exam-pressure-a-guide-for-students. The NHS have also produced advice and guidance aimed at parents and carers on supporting their child through examinations, accessible at: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/children-and-young-adults/advice-for-parents/help-your-child-beat-exam-stress/.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to issue renewed guidance in relation to summer-born children; and if he will take steps to allow parents a greater degree of choice in deciding in what year a child should begin school.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
The Department continues to support the right of parents to decide whether to send their children, including summer-born children, to school before they reach compulsory school age.
The Department has taken several steps to improve the arrangements for parents of summer-born children requesting a delayed start in reception class. The guidance for admission authorities and advice for parents, published in September 2020, is helping to ensure that there is a shared understanding of the duties imposed by the School Admissions Code when responding to requests. The data reflects an improvement in practice, with almost 9 in 10 requests for delayed entry to reception now approved. Guidance can be accessed here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/921255/Guidance_for_parents_September_2020.pdf.
My noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School and College System, issued a statement for all admission authorities in July 2022 which made clear that it can seldom be in a child’s best interests to miss the essential early numeracy and literacy that takes place in the reception year. The statement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/summer-born-children-school-admission/statement-for-local-authorities-schools-and-admission-authorities-on-the-admission-of-summer-born-children-to-school-from-baroness-barran-parliamen.
This statement, together with the published guidance for admission authorities and advice for parents, helps ensure both admission authorities and parents are clear on the options available and have the same expectations.
The Department will continue to communicate with admission authorities through guidance and messaging to ensure that decisions are made in the best interests of the child.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Spen Valley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is offering support to trainee educational psychologists with the rising cost of living including (a) access to educational bursaries and loans and (b) assistance with travel costs.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The department does not currently plan to make an assessment on increasing pay for educational psychologists.
The department currently funds the tuition fees for the three-year training course for educational psychologists, as well as a bursary for the first year of the course, which is passed on to trainees. Trainees also receive a bursary for the second and third years of study, which is funded by the local authorities where trainees undertake their placements. The bursary can be used to assist with living and travel costs.
After graduation, specific employment terms, including pay, are governed by the education psychologist’s contract of employment with their employer.