Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure all children and young people attending alternative provision settings are provided with access to high-quality physical education.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Although alternative provision (AP) settings are not required to follow the national curriculum, there is an expectation that they should aim to deliver a high-quality, broad and balanced curriculum, including physical education that responds to the needs and ambitions of all children to give them the foundations and resilience to succeed in education and in their future life.
Data on the amount and type of outdoor space for all schools, including state-funded AP schools can be found here: https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2285521/files.
The department does not hold information on dedicated space for indoor physical education in AP settings.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of alternative provision settings have dedicated space for (a) indoor and (b) outdoor physical education.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Although alternative provision (AP) settings are not required to follow the national curriculum, there is an expectation that they should aim to deliver a high-quality, broad and balanced curriculum, including physical education that responds to the needs and ambitions of all children to give them the foundations and resilience to succeed in education and in their future life.
Data on the amount and type of outdoor space for all schools, including state-funded AP schools can be found here: https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2285521/files.
The department does not hold information on dedicated space for indoor physical education in AP settings.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what requirements are placed on alternative provision settings to deliver physical education.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Although alternative provision (AP) settings are not required to follow the national curriculum, there is an expectation that they should aim to deliver a high-quality, broad and balanced curriculum, including physical education that responds to the needs and ambitions of all children to give them the foundations and resilience to succeed in education and in their future life.
Data on the amount and type of outdoor space for all schools, including state-funded AP schools can be found here: https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2285521/files.
The department does not hold information on dedicated space for indoor physical education in AP settings.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools the Building schools for the Future programme had planned to rebuild or refurbish; how many schools marked for rebuild or refurbishment were completed under the (a) Building Schools for the Future programme and (b) Priority School Building Programme; and how many schools that were not selected for either programme have been identified as having reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2023 to Question 198639 on Childcare, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that there are an adequate number of (a) trained staff, (b) safe premises and (c) registered places to offer all eligible children access to 30 hours a week of free childcare for 38 weeks each year in Sheffield Hallam constituency.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Having enough staff in place to deliver high-quality education and care will be key to ensuring the successful delivery of our record expansion of early years entitlements. Driving up interest in early years careers and ensuring there are enough opportunities for career development is a priority for this government.
In the government’s Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, this Government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England ever.
The department is developing a range of new workforce initiatives including the launch of a new national campaign, planned for the beginning of 2024, to boost interest in the sector and support the recruitment and retention of talented staff. To increase interest in early years, we are working to remove unnecessary barriers to entering the sector as well as considering how to make early years qualifications more accessible, coordinated and relevant.
Over the summer the department launched a competition for Early Years Skills Bootcamps with a pathway to an accelerated level 3 Early Years Educator apprenticeship, and we will consider degree apprenticeship routes so everyone from junior staff to senior leaders can easily move into or indeed enhance their career in the sector. We are also working across government to boost early years career awareness by collaborating with the Department for Work and Pensions and Careers & Enterprise Company to promote the importance and value of a career in early years.
Regarding safe premises, with a growing number of staff joining the sector, the safety of our youngest children remains as important as ever. All new and existing early years providers must keep children safe and promote their welfare. The Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework sets the standards that all early years providers in England must meet to ensure that children are kept healthy and safe. More information can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1170108/EYFS_framework_from_September_2023.pdf.
Under these requirements, all owners and managers of childcare settings have a responsibility to ensure that their premises, including overall floor space and outdoor spaces, are fit for purpose and suitable for the age of children cared for and the activities provided on the premises. All providers must also comply with the requirements of health and safety legislation, including fire safety and hygiene requirements. At all times when children are present, at least one person who has a current paediatric first aid certificate must be on the premises.
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the Early education and childcare statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities should report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-education-and-childcare--2.
The Department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and where needed support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours officials in her Department have spent working on the alignment of training standards between the offshore (a) oil and gas and (b) wind sectors in each year from 2018.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The department does not collect data on officials’ detailed hourly activities. However, work on this topic is ongoing across government and industry.
The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education engages in ongoing reviews of apprenticeship standards, including Level 3 Maintenance and Operations Engineering Technician which has a wind turbine specialism. The skills learnt in this apprenticeship are transferrable to other sectors including offshore oil and gas. These reviews are led by employers to ensure our apprenticeships are staying up to date with the latest developments in industry.
Industrial bodies such as the Oil and Petroleum Industry Training Organisation (OPITO) are doing extensive work on policies including the all-energy qualification and skills passport. Industry-based training pathways are a crucial part of ensuring a continually robust offshore workforce. The department works with OPITO to collaborate on skills policy for England.
The Green Jobs Delivery Group is carrying out sectoral assessments through industry-expert task and finish groups to consider current and future demand for skills including for power generation, oil and gas, carbon capture, and hydrogen.
Please refer to the North Sea Transition Authority for further information on the work ongoing to ensure workers in offshore oil and gas have the skills they need for the green economy, including offshore wind.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to pause the academisation process for King Edward VII School, Sheffield in the context of her Department and Ofsted reviewing the use of limiting judgments.
Answered by Nick Gibb
As with any school that receives an overall judgement of inadequate, King Edward VII School will become an academy. The school will be transferred to a trust with a strong track record of ensuring pupils receive the highest standard of education.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of information published by her Department on the condition and safety of school buildings.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Condition Data Collection (CDC) was one of the largest and most comprehensive data collection programmes in the UK public sector. It collected data on the building condition of Government funded schools in England. It provides a robust evidence base to enable the Department to target the capital funding it provides for maintaining and rebuilding school buildings.
The key, high level findings of the CDC programme were published in May 2021 in the ‘Condition of School Buildings Survey: Key Findings’ report. This is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989912/Condition_of_School_Buildings_Survey_CDC1_-_key_findings_report.pdf.
Individual reports have been provided to schools and the relevant local authority or trust to help inform their maintenance plans alongside their own more detailed surveys and safety checks. The Department plans to publish detailed school level CDC data. This data is being prepared and will be published as soon as possible.
Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Department. Over £13 billion has been allocated for improving the condition of schools since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year. The 10-year School Rebuilding Programme is condition led and 400 of the 500 available places on the programme have now been provisionally allocated.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to implement the recommendations of the Independent Commission on Assessment in Primary Education.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Primary assessments play a crucial role in supporting pupils to grasp the basics of reading, writing and mathematics and to prepare them for secondary school. They allow parents and schools to understand pupils’ achievements in relation to the age-related attainment expectations outlined in the National Curriculum.
In 2017, the Department carried out a consultation into primary assessment in England, with the aim of creating a settled policy in this area. The consultation received over 4,000 responses from a diverse range of backgrounds and specialisms, providing a broad and informed range of views.
The Department remains committed to producing and publishing school-level accountability measures, using full-cohort assessment data, which provide important information to support parents when choosing schools. The Department keeps all school performance measures under review, and welcome feedback on how it can be refined and improved. The Department keeps all school performance measures under review, and welcomes feedback on how it can be refined and improved.
As primary school tests and assessments returned in the 2021/22 academic year for the first time since 2019, without any adaptations, the results were not published in Key Stage 2 performance tables. The usual suite of Key Stage 2 accountability measures has been produced at school level and shared securely with primary schools, academy trusts, Local Authorities and Ofsted to inform school improvement, inspection and to help identify schools most in need of support. This is a transitional arrangement for the first year in which primary assessments returned. The Department intends to publish Key Stage 2 assessment data on the performance measures website again for the 2022/23 academic year.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report of the Independent Commission on Assessment in Primary Education entitled Assessment for Children’s Learning: A new future for primary education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of that reports findings.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Primary assessments play a crucial role in supporting pupils to grasp the basics of reading, writing and mathematics and to prepare them for secondary school. They allow parents and schools to understand pupils’ achievements in relation to the age-related attainment expectations outlined in the National Curriculum.
In 2017, the Department carried out a consultation into primary assessment in England, with the aim of creating a settled policy in this area. The consultation received over 4,000 responses from a diverse range of backgrounds and specialisms, providing a broad and informed range of views.
The Department remains committed to producing and publishing school-level accountability measures, using full-cohort assessment data, which provide important information to support parents when choosing schools. The Department keeps all school performance measures under review, and welcome feedback on how it can be refined and improved. The Department keeps all school performance measures under review, and welcomes feedback on how it can be refined and improved.
As primary school tests and assessments returned in the 2021/22 academic year for the first time since 2019, without any adaptations, the results were not published in Key Stage 2 performance tables. The usual suite of Key Stage 2 accountability measures has been produced at school level and shared securely with primary schools, academy trusts, Local Authorities and Ofsted to inform school improvement, inspection and to help identify schools most in need of support. This is a transitional arrangement for the first year in which primary assessments returned. The Department intends to publish Key Stage 2 assessment data on the performance measures website again for the 2022/23 academic year.