Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) holiday clubs that will be open and (b) holiday club places that will be available in (i) Edgbaston constituency, (ii) Birmingham and (iii) the West Midlands during the summer 2020 holiday period.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Early years providers have been able to open to all children from 1 June. Since 20 July, settings have been able to return to their normal group sizes, paving the way for more children to transition back to their early education and supporting parents to be able to work.
Holiday clubs and other out-of-school settings have been able to open since 4 July, helping parents to meet their childcare needs during the school summer holidays.
We have published guidance to support holiday clubs and out-of-school settings to operate as safely as possible over the summer holiday, alongside guidance for parents. This is available at:
Parents can contact their local Family Information Service for details of childcare provision available in their area during the summer holidays.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of workers who will not return to work during the summer holidays in 2020 as a result of a lack of available childcare in (a) Birmingham and (b) the West Midlands.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Early years providers have been able to open to all children from 1 June. Since 20 July, settings have been able to return to their normal group sizes, paving the way for more children to transition back to their early education and supporting parents to be able to work.
Holiday clubs and other out-of-school settings have been able to open since 4 July, helping parents to meet their childcare needs during the school summer holidays.
We have published guidance to support holiday clubs and out-of-school settings to operate as safely as possible over the summer holiday, alongside guidance for parents. This is available at:
Parents can contact their local Family Information Service for details of childcare provision available in their area during the summer holidays.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June to Question 64998, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of wider core schools funding for England that will be allocated as Official Development Assistance in (a) 2020 and (b) each of the next five years.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The department has not made an estimate of the amount of spending on official development assistance (ODA) in 2020 or future years. Our ODA spending primarily relates to the provision of education to child and unaccompanied child asylum seekers in the 12 months after they make an asylum claim in the UK. As such, the level of spending in future years will be dependent on the number of asylum seeker children that arrive in the country. It is our policy that asylum seeker children who attend a school or early years setting attract funding in the same way as all other children. This is allocated through the schools national funding formula and other grants like the pupil premium and teachers’ pay grant.
The department’s estimated spending on ODA in each year from 2015 to 2019 are given below:
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
DfE spend classified as ODA (£ million) | 22 | 28 | 24 | 20 | 19 |
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2020 to Question 59568 on Department for Education: Overseas Aid, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the reduction in Official Development Assistance in cash terms on the provision of support to child and unaccompanied child asylum seekers.
Answered by Vicky Ford
It is the department’s policy that asylum seeker children who attend a school or early years setting attract funding in the same way as all other children. This is allocated through the schools national funding formula and other grants like the pupil premium and teachers’ pay grant. The department’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) contribution is an estimate of how much of the wider core schools funding for England is allocated due to having these children on schools’ rolls. Our ODA spending in future years will be primarily dependent on the number of asylum seeker children arriving in the country.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will publish the criteria his Department plans to use for prioritising Official Development Assistance spending in the event of a decrease in GNI.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s spending on official development assistance (ODA) primarily relates to the provision of education to child and unaccompanied child asylum seekers in the 12 months after they make an asylum claim in the UK. The ODA contribution is an estimate of how much of the wider core schools funding for England is allocated due to having these children on schools’ rolls. As such, our ODA spending in future years will be primarily dependent on the number of asylum seeker children arriving in the country.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department's share of the Official Development Assistance will be reduced in the event of a decrease in GNI.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s spending on official development assistance (ODA) primarily relates to the provision of education to child and unaccompanied child asylum seekers in the 12 months after they make an asylum claim in the UK. The ODA contribution is an estimate of how much of the wider core schools funding for England is allocated due to having these children on schools’ rolls. As such, our ODA spending in future years will be primarily dependent on the number of asylum seeker children arriving in the country.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is signing new funding agreements for projects funded by Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Department’s spending on official development assistance (ODA) primarily relates to the provision of education to child and unaccompanied child asylum seekers in the 12 months after they make an asylum claim in the UK. The ODA contribution is an estimate of how much of the wider core schools funding for England is allocated due to having these children on schools’ rolls. As such, our ODA spending in future years will be primarily dependent on the number of asylum seeker children arriving in the country.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report published by Newman University in April 2020 entitled, Independent research into the impact of the systematic synthetic phonics government policy on literacy courses at institutions delivering initial teacher education in England; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
All trainee teachers must meet the Teachers' Standards (2011) in order to achieve Qualified Teacher Status, including for those training to teach early reading to demonstrate a clear understanding of systematic synthetic phonics.
The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (2019) sets out a core minimum entitlement that every trainee must receive. To ensure that all trainees receive this entitlement, the new ITT Core Content Framework is mandatory (through the ITT Criteria) so all providers will need to ensure their ITT programmes encompass the entitlement in full.
The framework specifies that trainees must learn that systematic synthetic phonics is the most effective approach for teaching pupils to decode. The framework does not set out the full curriculum for trainee teachers, ITT providers may wish to integrate additional analysis and critique of theory, research and expert practice as they deem appropriate.
The Department contracted the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to provide an independent review of all the peer-reviewed evidence on what constitutes good teaching. This includes the latest evidence and research on approaches to literacy. There is sound evidence that systematic synthetic phonics is a highly effective method for teaching early reading. The Department is clear that in future we will review the ITT Core Content Framework and the ECF together in light of the best evidence, as it emerges.
In 2016, England achieved its highest ever score in reading, moving from joint 10th place to joint 8th place in the International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) ranking. This follows a greater focus on reading in the primary curriculum and a particular focus on phonics. In 2019, 82% of pupils in Year 1 met the expected standard in the phonics screening check, compared to just 58% when the check was introduced in 2012.
In 2018 the Department launched the English Hubs Programme, which supports nearly 3,000 schools across England to improve their teaching of reading through systematic synthetic phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report by Newman University entitled Independent research into the impact of the systematic synthetic phonics government policy on literacy courses at institutions delivering initial teacher education in England, published April 2020, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusions from that report (a) that there needs to be a balanced approach to early reading development and (b) that any divergence from Government and Ofsted policies which focus on systematic synthetic phonics will become more difficult if the proposed draft initial teacher education (ITE) framework is ratified.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (2019) sets out a core minimum entitlement that every trainee must receive. To ensure all trainees receive this entitlement, the new ITT Core Content Framework is mandatory (through the ITT Criteria) so all providers will need to ensure their ITT programmes encompass the entitlement in full.
The framework does not set out the full curriculum for trainee teachers and it leaves room for providers to integrate additional analysis and critique of theory, research and expert practice as they deem appropriate., In designing their curricula, providers should carefully craft the experiences and activities detailed in the ITT Core Content Framework into a coherent sequence that supports trainees to succeed in the classroom. It is important to stress that the ITT Core Content Framework does not replace the Teachers' Standards (2011), which remain as the bar that all teachers need to meet in order to achieve Qualified Teacher Status. Providers are therefore obliged to ensure their courses will ensure their trainees are able to demonstrate a clear understanding of systematic synthetic phonics.
The department contracted Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to provide an independent review of all the peer reviewed evidence on what makes good teaching. This includes the latest evidence and research on approaches to literacy. There is sound evidence that systematic phonics is a highly effective method for teaching early reading.
In 2016, England achieved its highest ever score in reading, moving from joint 10th to joint 8th in the progress in International Reading Literacy Study ranking. This follows a greater focus on reading in the primary curriculum, and a particular focus on phonics. In 2019, 82% of pupils in Year 1 met the expected standard in the phonics screening check, compared to just 58% when the check was introduced in 2012. In 2018 we launched a £26.3m English Hubs Programme. The English Hubs programme is supporting nearly 3000 schools across England to improve their teaching of reading through systematic synthetic phonics, early language development, and reading for pleasure.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of teacher trainees learning approaches to literacy which have been successful in other countries and other parts of the UK other than systematic synthetic phonics.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework (2019) sets out a core minimum entitlement that every trainee must receive. To ensure all trainees receive this entitlement, the new ITT Core Content Framework is mandatory (through the ITT Criteria) so all providers will need to ensure their ITT programmes encompass the entitlement in full.
The framework does not set out the full curriculum for trainee teachers and it leaves room for providers to integrate additional analysis and critique of theory, research and expert practice as they deem appropriate., In designing their curricula, providers should carefully craft the experiences and activities detailed in the ITT Core Content Framework into a coherent sequence that supports trainees to succeed in the classroom. It is important to stress that the ITT Core Content Framework does not replace the Teachers' Standards (2011), which remain as the bar that all teachers need to meet in order to achieve Qualified Teacher Status. Providers are therefore obliged to ensure their courses will ensure their trainees are able to demonstrate a clear understanding of systematic synthetic phonics.
The department contracted Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to provide an independent review of all the peer reviewed evidence on what makes good teaching. This includes the latest evidence and research on approaches to literacy. There is sound evidence that systematic phonics is a highly effective method for teaching early reading.
In 2016, England achieved its highest ever score in reading, moving from joint 10th to joint 8th in the progress in International Reading Literacy Study ranking. This follows a greater focus on reading in the primary curriculum, and a particular focus on phonics. In 2019, 82% of pupils in Year 1 met the expected standard in the phonics screening check, compared to just 58% when the check was introduced in 2012. In 2018 we launched a £26.3m English Hubs Programme. The English Hubs programme is supporting nearly 3000 schools across England to improve their teaching of reading through systematic synthetic phonics, early language development, and reading for pleasure.