Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure faith groups are regularly consulted on locally agreed syllabuses for religious education.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Religious education (RE) is an important subject that should provide pupils with an opportunity to learn about a wide range of religious and non-religious beliefs. RE should help pupils to better understand the values and traditions of different religious communities, which is why it remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools in England for each pupil up to the age of 18. To support high-quality teaching, the department offers a £10,000 bursary for those undertaking RE postgraduate initial teacher training in the 2024/25 academic year.
The government does not specify of what a local RE curriculum should consist. These considerations, in relation to mainstream state funded schools, are a matter for individual schools or for Agreed Syllabus Conferences (ASCs), which review and recommend a locally agreed syllabus to their local authority for approval.
Academies and most maintained schools with a religious designation are permitted to develop their own RE syllabus. In the case of schools with a religious designation these may be in accordance with their trust deeds or tenets of their faith. For other schools, and in locally agreed syllabuses, schools must reflect: “the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain”.
Legislation requires each locally agreed syllabus for religious education to be reviewed at least once every five years by an ASC established by the local authority. Membership of the ASC must be drawn from Christian denominations and such other religions and religious denominations as, in the opinion of the local authority, will appropriately reflect the principal religious traditions in the area. Membership must also be drawn from the Church of England, teacher associations and the local authority. This ensures that all relevant faith groups can be consulted.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that Hinduism is taught in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in Aylesbury constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Religious education (RE) is an important subject that should provide pupils with an opportunity to learn about a wide range of religious and non-religious beliefs. RE should help pupils to better understand the values and traditions of different religious communities, which is why it remains a compulsory subject in all state-funded schools in England for each pupil up to the age of 18. To support high-quality teaching, the department offers a £10,000 bursary for those undertaking RE postgraduate initial teacher training in the 2024/25 academic year.
The government does not specify of what a local RE curriculum should consist. These considerations, in relation to mainstream state funded schools, are a matter for individual schools or for Agreed Syllabus Conferences (ASCs), which review and recommend a locally agreed syllabus to their local authority for approval.
Academies and most maintained schools with a religious designation are permitted to develop their own RE syllabus. In the case of schools with a religious designation these may be in accordance with their trust deeds or tenets of their faith. For other schools, and in locally agreed syllabuses, schools must reflect: “the fact that the religious traditions in Great Britain are in the main Christian, whilst taking account of the teaching and practices of the other principal religions represented in Great Britain”.
Legislation requires each locally agreed syllabus for religious education to be reviewed at least once every five years by an ASC established by the local authority. Membership of the ASC must be drawn from Christian denominations and such other religions and religious denominations as, in the opinion of the local authority, will appropriately reflect the principal religious traditions in the area. Membership must also be drawn from the Church of England, teacher associations and the local authority. This ensures that all relevant faith groups can be consulted.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with Buckinghamshire Council on the adequacy of SEND provision in Buckinghamshire.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department is continuing to support and challenge Buckinghamshire to improve its delivery of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services.
The last local area SEND inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for Buckinghamshire was in March 2022, during which inspectors identified three areas of significant weakness:
The local area was required to produce a Written Statement of Action (WSoA) to address these areas of weakness, which was accepted by Ofsted and CQC.
Following the inspection outcome, the department has worked closely with its partners in NHS England to monitor, support and challenge the local area partnership in making the necessary improvements. This includes regular monitoring meetings with the local area, focussing on the impact of actions taken on improving the lives of children and young people with SEND and their families.
Buckinghamshire are part of the Delivering Better Value (DBV) programme which provides £1 million in grant funding to support local authorities to provide more effective SEND services by meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND at an early stage and with the right level of support. The department monitors Buckinghamshire's progress in the DBV programme through quarterly reporting and meetings with the local authority.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to provide additional funding for pay increases for administrative staff in schools in Buckinghamshire.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
This government recognises the vital role that support staff play in children’s education and we are committed to reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body. This reform will ensure that schools can recruit and retain the staff needed to deliver high quality, inclusive education.
Most school support staff are currently employed on the pay and conditions of the National Joint Council (NJC) for local government services. The NJC is a negotiating body made up of representatives from trade unions and local government employers. The 2024/25 pay offer is currently under negotiation.
On 29 July, we announced that we are providing schools with almost £1.1 billion of additional funding in 2024/25, through the new core schools budget grant (CSBG), to support them with their overall costs this year. This matches what we have calculated is needed to fully fund, at a national level, both the support staff pay offer and the teacher pay award in the 2024/25 financial year, after accounting for the overall available headroom in schools’ existing budgets. We recognise that the picture will be different for individual schools. Schools in Buckinghamshire will receive over £8.9 million from the CSBG.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure the school curriculum is LGBTQIA+ inclusive.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Within a broad framework, set out in subject specific programmes of study, schools have flexibility to organise the content and delivery of the curriculum to meet the needs of their pupils.
To prepare children for life in modern Britain, pupils need to understand the world in which they are growing up. The relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum is therefore designed to give pupils the knowledge they need to lead happy, safe and healthy lives, and to foster respect for other people and for difference.
The RSHE statutory guidance states that all pupils should receive teaching on LGBT content during their school years. Pupils should have an equal opportunity to explore the features of stable and healthy same sex relationships and this should be integrated appropriately into the relationships and sex education programme, rather than addressed separately or in only one lesson.
The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, covering ages 5 to 18, which is chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The Curriculum and Assessment Review will seek to deliver a curriculum that reflects the issues and diversities of our society, ensuring all children and young people are represented. The review group has recently launched a call for evidence, setting out a number of key questions and themes where it would particularly welcome evidence and input.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that local authorities provide timely education, health and care plan assessments.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department knows that parents have struggled to get the right support for their children, particularly through long and difficult education, health and care plan processes. The department is committed to taking a community-wide approach to support the sector, improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools and alternative provision settings, as well as ensuring special schools cater to those with the most complex needs.
Where local authorities are failing to deliver consistent outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the department works with them using a range of support and challenge, improvement programmes and SEND specialist advisors to address identified weaknesses.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of teachers in Aylesbury constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
High quality teaching is the factor that makes the biggest difference to a child’s education. There are now 468,693 full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded schools in England, but the government must do more to ensure it has the workforce needed to provide the best possible education for every child in all parts of the country. This is why the government has set out the ambition to recruit 6,500 new expert teachers.
The first crucial step towards achieving this is to ensure teaching is once again an attractive and respected profession and to reset the relationship with the teaching profession. As part of this, it is important that teachers get the pay they deserve, which is why this government has accepted in full the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools from September. This government is providing schools with almost £1.1 billion in additional funding in the 2024/25 financial year to support schools with overall costs.
Alongside teacher pay, the department is continuing to support teacher trainees with tax-free bursaries of up to £28,000 and scholarships of up to £30,000 in shortage subjects. To help with retention, new teachers of mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing in the first five years of their careers can also receive a Targeted Retention Incentive if working in disadvantaged schools. Four schools in Aylesbury are eligible for payments to teachers of up to £6,000 after-tax.
The department has published a range of resources to help address teacher workload and wellbeing, including its ‘Improve workload and wellbeing for school staff’ service and the ‘education staff wellbeing charter’. Additionally, effective use of technology can automate tasks and help manage workload for teachers. For example, high quality AI tools have the potential to reduce the amount of time that teachers spend marking, whilst supporting effective feedback and tailored teaching which drive pupil progress.
In August 2024, the department announced a £1 million fund to support innovators to develop proof of concept AI tools to support teachers with marking and providing feedback. Oak National Academy has also recently launched a sector-leading AI lesson planning assistant which enables teachers who choose to use it to create personalised and tailored lesson plans and resources in minutes.
The department is committed to supporting schools to implement flexible working practices, including taking planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time remotely, to improve recruitment and retention of teachers. The department is also funding bespoke support provided by flexible working ambassador schools and multi-academy trusts. The named flexible working ambassador for schools in Aylesbury is Upton Court Grammar School.
The department has established Teaching School Hubs across the country, which provide approved high-quality professional development to teachers at all stages of their careers. They play a significant role in delivering Initial Teacher Training, the Early Career Framework, National Professional Qualifications and Appropriate Body services. Astra Teaching School Hub is a centre of excellence supporting teacher training and development across Aylesbury.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking help improve technical skill development in Aylesbury constituency.
Answered by Janet Daby
High quality technical education is a priority for this government in order to boost opportunity for individuals and tackle skills gaps which are essential for driving economic growth.
The department has established Skills England is central to the government’s plan to ensure that we have the highly trained workforce needed to meet national, regional and local skills needs, such as those in Aylesbury. This is a critical part of the government’s mission to raise growth sustainably across the whole country, and to support people to get better jobs and improve their standard of living.
This government is transforming the failing Apprenticeships Levy into a new Growth and Skills Levy to create opportunities across the whole country and give employers greater flexibility to train and upskill their workforce. By allowing investment in a broader range of skills training, the department will empower employers to address critical skill shortages and drive economic growth. The department is developing the design of the Growth and Skills Levy and will set out more detail in due course.
In the Aylesbury region, Buckinghamshire College Group offers a range of T Levels, supporting 16-19 learners to develop their technical knowledge and skills and gain direct experience of the workplace through the integral industry placement.
The department has provided £2,054,400 of capital funding in the last two years to support the development of state-of-the-art facilities in Buckinghamshire. The Aylesbury campus of the Buckinghamshire College Group has seen the development of facilities focussing on key local sectors including Construction, Engineering and Health and Social care, supporting the delivery of new qualifications at Level 3, HTQs and degree apprenticeships.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her polices of recent trends in the amount of time taken for transport to be arranged for SEND pupils; and what steps she is taking to ensure that local authorities process applications for SEND transport promptly.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The department’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. The department’s home to school travel policy aims to make sure that no child is prevented from accessing education by a lack of transport. Local authorities must arrange free home to school travel for children of compulsory school age, 5-16, who attend their nearest school and would not be able to walk there because of the distance, their SEND or mobility problem, or because the nature of the route means it would be unsafe for them to do so. There are extended rights to free travel for children from low-income families.
The department is aware that challenges within the wider SEND system are creating pressure on home to school travel. The department is grateful to local authorities for their continued efforts in the face of significant challenge to ensure transport is available for eligible children.
The government is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, with specialist provision supporting children with the most complex needs. Improving early identification of need and setting clear expectations about the type of support that should be available in mainstream settings will mean fewer children need to travel long distances, with complex travel arrangements, to a school that can meet their needs. This will reduce the pressure on home to school travel.
Asked by: Laura Kyrke-Smith (Labour - Aylesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of school support staff in Aylesbury constituency.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
The full-time equivalent (FTE) of support staff has increased since 2019/20, rising to 510,400 in 2023/24. This is an increase of 4,800 (0.9%) since last year. Support staff roles include teaching assistants, administrative staff, auxiliary staff, technicians and other supporting staff, plus two new posts of school business professional and leadership non-teacher, which were reported for the first time in 2023/24.
Data relating to the FTE of all support staff between 2019/20 and 2023/24 is available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/7b0a17e8-b3ff-403e-687f-08dca70c1109.
Data from the School Workforce census shows that, as of November 2019 in the Aylesbury constituency, there were 1360 FTE support staff reported from all 47 state-funded school data returns. In November 2023, there were 1430 FTE support staff in the Aylesbury constituency, when 46 schools returned data.
In a Department for Education survey in 2023 ('Use of teaching assistants in schools'), 75% of school leaders found it either 'fairly’ or ‘extremely’ difficult to recruit teaching assistants. The survey found that retention was less of a concern, but still difficult for 29% of leaders.
The department values and will recognise the professionalism of the entire school workforce by addressing recruitment and retention challenges through reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body.
The body will be tasked with establishing a national terms and conditions handbook, including training and progression routes. This reform will ensure that schools can recruit and retain the staff needed to deliver high quality, inclusive education.