Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support services are available for (a) children with autism and (b) the parents of those children.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The Children and Families Act 2014 provides a framework for ensuring that autistic children are identified early and that they receive the support they need. The upcoming Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Review will look at how the system has evolved since 2014, and how it can be made to work best for all children and young people and their families.
The department is also working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to develop a refreshed cross-government autism strategy. This recognises the progress that has been made, as well as the challenges and priorities for reducing inequalities, and enabling autistic people of all ages to have the same opportunities as everyone else to lead healthy, happy and fulfilling lives. DHSC aims to publish the refreshed autism strategy, subject to COVID-19 pressures, this spring.
We also know how important expertise and training is for the workforce to give children with SEND, including autistic children, the best experiences in education. The department has funded the Autism Education Trust since 2011 to deliver autism awareness training in order to best support autistic students to education staff in early years, schools and further education settings.
The Children Act 1989 places a general duty on local authorities to provide services to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need, including the provision of social care services for disabled children, as some autistic children would be considered disabled. The Equality Act 2010 carried forward existing protections against discrimination and extended a duty on schools to supply auxiliary aids and services to disabled pupils as reasonable adjustments, where these children are not being supplied through education, health and care plans or other sources.
The Children and Families Act 2014 (Section 97) requires local authorities to assess and support the needs of parents and carers as well as those of children with SEND. Assessments are based on individual needs but should include parents’ wellbeing and ‘control over day-to-day life’. Further information is available here: http://www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/media/948959/socialcare_implementationofcfa2014_online.pdf.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of enabling exam-year students to appeal their teachers' recommendations for their assessment grades.
Answered by Nick Gibb
In light of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the Government considers that examinations cannot be held in a way which is fair. The Department has announced that GCSE, AS and A level examinations will not go ahead this summer as planned. In his statement to the House on 6 January 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education confirmed proposals that pupils taking GCSE, AS and A levels this summer should be awarded grades based on an assessment by their teachers.
The Department and Ofqual have launched a joint consultation on how to fairly award all pupils, including private candidates and students taking vocational qualifications, with a grade that supports them to progress to the next stage of their lives. We are consulting on the evidence needed to inform teachers’ assessments of their students’ grades, including providing externally set papers to support their assessments. Teachers will be provided with training and guidance to support them.
The consultation proposes that examination boards should both provide information for schools and colleges to inform their own quality assurance, and that they themselves should undertake checks of schools’ and colleges’ processes and the evidence for the grades submitted.
The consultation also proposes that there must be provision for pupils to appeal their grades or the process by which they were assessed, and we welcome all views from schools, colleges, students and their parents and carers on the proposed arrangements for the appeals process next year. The Department will provide further details on the appeals process for 2021 when the consultation has closed, and the approach has been finalised.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of provision of financial education at a primary education level; if he will make an assessment of the potential contribution of Talk Money Week to improving that provision; and if he will make a statement on the educational value of talking about money with children and young people.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Education on financial matters ensures that pupils are well prepared to manage their money, make sound financial decisions and know where to seek further information, if required. In 2014, for the first time, financial literacy was made statutory within the National Curriculum as part of the citizenship curriculum for 11 to 16 year olds.
The Department also introduced a rigorous mathematics curriculum, which provides pupils with the knowledge and skills to make important financial decisions. The Government has published statutory programmes of study for mathematics and citizenship that outline what pupils should learn about financial education from key stages one to four.
In the primary Mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on the arithmetic that pupils should have. This knowledge is vital, as a strong understanding of numeracy and numbers will underpin the pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money. There is also some specific content about financial education such as calculations with money.
The Department trusts schools to use their professional judgement and understanding of their pupils to develop the right teaching approach for their particular school, drawing on the expertise of subject associations and organisations such as Young Money.
Schools should have resumed teaching an ambitious and broad curriculum in all subjects from the start of the autumn term. This means that all pupils will be taught a wide range of subjects so they can maintain their choices for further study and employment. The Department’s latest guidance on teaching to support children is set out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
The Department supports wider initiatives that aim to improve financial confidence and resilience, such as Talk Money Week, led by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) as a platform for all UK citizens, including at home within families and at school, to talk openly about managing money. The Department does not plan to make its own assessment of the contribution of Talk Money Week to improving the provision of financial education at primary education level but will continue to work closely with MaPS and other stakeholders such as Her Majesty’s Treasury, to consider what can be learned from such initiatives and how to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to Talk Money Week, what plans he has to promote conversations about money to pupils in primary schools to help build their financial resilience to future economic challenges; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Education on financial matters helps to ensure that young people are prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions, and know where to seek further information when needed. In 2014, for the first time, financial literacy was made statutory within the National Curriculum as part of the citizenship curriculum for 11 to 16 year olds.
The Department also introduced a rigorous mathematics curriculum, which provides young people with the knowledge and financial skills to make important financial decisions. The Government has published statutory programmes of study for mathematics and citizenship that outline what pupils should learn about financial education from key stages one to four.
In the primary mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on the essential arithmetic that pupils should have. This knowledge is vital, as a strong understanding of numeracy and numbers will underpin the pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money, including, for example, percentages. There is also some specific content about financial education, such as calculations with money.
Schools should use their professional judgement and understanding of their pupils to develop the right teaching approach for their particular school, drawing on the expertise of subject associations and organisations such as Young Money.
Schools should have resumed teaching an ambitious and broad curriculum in all subjects from the start of the autumn term. This means that all pupils will be taught a wide range of subjects so they can maintain their choices for further study and employment. Our latest guidance on teaching to support children is set out here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools.
Over the longer term, the Department will continue to work closely with The Money and Pension Service and HM Treasury to consider how to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the (a) statutory and (b) non-statutory public inquiries being undertaken by his Department.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department is not sponsoring any statutory or non-statutory public inquiries.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the provision of financial education to children and young people in response to the impact of covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Financial education is taught within the national curriculum in mathematics and citizenship. At present, due to the unprecedented challenges for schools caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the Government understands that schools will need flexibility around the education they are providing to their pupils. We expect schools and teachers to use their professional judgement, knowledge of their pupils’ educational needs and home circumstances, to plan appropriate content that enables education to continue.
Our latest guidance on teaching to support children is set out here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
Longer term, the Department will continue to work closely with The Money and Pension Service and HM Treasury to consider how to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to promote apprenticeships as an alternative to university for school leavers from socio-economic disadvantaged backgrounds.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Degree apprenticeships offer people of all ages and from all backgrounds the chance to earn while they learn and access a range of professions. We are committed to continuing to raise the profile of higher and degree apprenticeships as a genuine, high-quality alternative to traditional academic study, and want to make sure we reach those from disadvantaged areas and backgrounds who might not otherwise have considered higher education as an option.
In addition to our awareness-raising work through the Fire it Up marketing campaign, National Apprenticeship Week, and in conjunction with the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), we have introduced a range of targeted programmes to widen participation in apprenticeships, with a particular focus on higher and degree apprenticeships.
Our Apprenticeships Support and Knowledge (ASK) programme continues to work in schools and colleges in disadvantaged areas, providing free resources to support teachers to inform and inspire young people and introduce them to the range of apprenticeship opportunities available. Within the ASK programme, a Priority Schools pilot project supports 40 schools across England to provide disadvantaged students with information on apprenticeships.
‘Opportunities through Apprenticeships’, a pilot project launched in November 2018, seeks to encourage apprenticeship starts in sectors that offer higher wage-earning potential and progression opportunities. Four local authorities involved in this pilot – Portsmouth, Nottingham, South Tyneside, and Torbay – are leading local projects to identify skills gaps, encourage new training provision, and promote apprenticeships to people from disadvantaged backgrounds.