Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions his Department has had with schools in Birmingham on access to remote learning equipment during the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown period.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people.
This includes over 750,000 laptops and tablets that were delivered to schools, trusts and local authorities by the end of last week.
Laptops and tablets are owned by schools, trusts or local authorities who can lend these to children and young people who need them most during the current COVID-19 restrictions.
Some pupils who have difficulty engaging in remote education may be considered to be vulnerable children and therefore eligible to attend school. It is up to the child’s school or local authority to make this decision. The decision would be based on the needs of the child and their family, and a range of other factors, as set out in our published guidance.
The Department understands that schools may face staffing pressures that can create challenges in trying to deliver both high quality on site and remote education, especially where pupil attendance on site remains high due to high numbers of key worker and vulnerable children. Leaders in schools and colleges should ensure the balance of on site and remote teaching is manageable for staff and reflect this in the offer posted on their school or college website.
For schools that do not already have a full remote education curriculum or resources in place, or where they may face staffing pressures, the Department strongly recommends that they consider using Oak National Academy or other high quality resource providers.
9,294 laptops have been delivered directly to Birmingham local authority this academic year. Further devices have also been delivered to academy trusts that include schools located in Birmingham local authority which are not included in this figure.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has published for teachers and teaching assistants to ensure that they are aware that children who cannot access remote learning equipment will be classified as vulnerable children and will have the right to attend face-to-face education in the school environment during the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Nick Gibb
During the national lockdown, schools should only allow vulnerable children and young people and the children of critical workers to attend. Guidance for this is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision. The definition of vulnerable children has been in place since March, has been consistent throughout our response to the COVID-19 outbreak, and includes those children who may be vulnerable for a reason at local discretion. Several examples of the sorts of factors that may contribute to vulnerability are included, but it is not an exhaustive or definitive list.
On 8 January 2021, the Department published updated guidance on remote education, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/950510/School_national_restrictions_guidance.pdf. In this guidance, we refer to the definition of vulnerable children, which notes that some children who have difficulty engaging in remote education may be considered vulnerable and, therefore, eligible to attend provision. It is up to the child’s education provider or local authority to make this decision. The decision would be based on the needs of the child and their family, and a range of other factors, as set out in the following guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision#vulnerable-children-and-young-people.
The updated remote education guidance also sets outs that where pupils continue to experience barriers to digital remote education, the Department expect schools to work to overcome these barriers. This could include distributing school-owned laptops or supplementing digital provision with different forms of remote education, such as printed resources or textbooks. This should be supplemented with other forms of communication to keep pupils and students on track, or answer questions about work.
The Department has also published a good practice guide, which provides advice to teachers and school leaders to support effective delivery of the curriculum remotely. This is available here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/remote-education-good-practice/remote-education-good-practice. This is part of our broader package of support for schools, accessible via the following ‘Get Help with Remote Education’ page: https://get-help-with-remote-education.education.gov.uk/good-teaching-practice.html.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help increase student numbers at the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The Department for Education is working closely with the Department for Transport and High Speed 2 (HS2) Ltd to encourage more learners to take up opportunities to gain key skills needed across the transport and infrastructure sectors. As a National College, it is expected that students will not just be located in the local constituency but will have a different travel to learn pattern given their specialist national higher level skills offer.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of for what reason there are only three students from Birmingham Ladywood constituency enrolled at the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure that is located in that constituency.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The Department for Education is working closely with the Department for Transport and High Speed 2 (HS2) Ltd to encourage more learners to take up opportunities to gain key skills needed across the transport and infrastructure sectors. As a National College, it is expected that students will not just be located in the local constituency but will have a different travel to learn pattern given their specialist national higher level skills offer.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure improve management structures and student outcomes following that college's inspection in November 2019.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The department has accepted the Further Education Commissioner (FEC) recommendation that a Structure and Prospects Appraisal (SPA) was the most appropriate way forward to safeguard the strategically important provision and ensure its financial sustainability. The conclusion of the SPA is expected in late summer, when a proposal and the cost of maintaining the provision will be considered. In the interim, the department is supporting the corporation in its efforts to improve the outcomes for learners. Our other employer-led further education colleges, in the form of Institutes of Technology, have recently become operational and are currently financially sustainable.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made towards creating new employer-led further education institutions throughout the UK similar to the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
Institutes of Technology (IoTs) are employer-led further education institutions focussing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills. IoTs are a different model to National Colleges as they are a collaboration bringing together existing further education providers with higher education institutions and employers, to lead delivery of higher-level technical STEM skills to drive future economic growth operating across England at a sub-regional scale.
Eight IoTs are already operational with a further 4 approved: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/institutes-of-technology--2. A second competition for additional IoTs is to be launched later this year. Details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/institutes-of-technology-wave-2-competition-prospectus.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve the financial sustainability of (a) the National College for Advanced Transport and Infrastructure and (b) other employer-led further education colleges.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The department has accepted the Further Education Commissioner (FEC) recommendation that a Structure and Prospects Appraisal (SPA) was the most appropriate way forward to safeguard the strategically important provision and ensure its financial sustainability. The conclusion of the SPA is expected in late summer, when a proposal and the cost of maintaining the provision will be considered. In the interim, the department is supporting the corporation in its efforts to improve the outcomes for learners. Our other employer-led further education colleges, in the form of Institutes of Technology, have recently become operational and are currently financially sustainable.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer in advance of the spending review on increasing school funding in the West Midlands.
Answered by Nick Gibb
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, meets ministers from HM Treasury regularly to discuss matters of shared interest, including funding for schools.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish the safeguarding strategy for unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The safeguarding strategy on unaccompanied and refugee children will be published this autumn.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free schools have been inspected by Ofsted in the (a) first and (b) second year of their operation.
Answered by Edward Timpson
No free schools were inspected in the first year of operation. 169 were inspected during the second year of operation.