Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 2 May 2023 to Question 182481 on Secondary Education: Teachers, whether her Department (a) provides and (b) plans to provide support for non-specialist teachers who do not qualify for an eight-week subject knowledge enhancement course and need to increase their subject knowledge for religious education.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of teachers remains high, with over 468,000 full time equivalent teachers working in state funded schools across the country, over 27,000 more than there were in 2010.
The Department provides funded Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) courses for 9 subjects, including religious education, for those who have yet to start an initial teacher training course. Eligibility is subject to an applicant meeting the requirements to train to teach in England and the applicant accepting a conditional offer which specifies the requirement to complete a SKE course. Eligible participants can receive a bursary of £175 per week. Religious education courses last 8 weeks.
Once teachers are qualified and working in schools, the responsibility for supporting non specialist teachers rests with head teachers, as they are best placed to assess the needs of their staff and provide appropriate support, such as continuing professional development.
Oak National Academy will provide both specialist and non specialist teachers with access to high quality digital curriculum resources. This includes resources for religious education. Oak will work closely with the sector and utilise sector expertise when developing these new curriculum resources.
The Department has also transformed the training and support available to teachers of all subjects. An entitlement to at least three years of structured training, support and professional development for all new teachers has been created, to bring teaching into line with other prestigious professions such as law, accountancy and medicine. Underpinning this is the new Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework and the Early Career Framework, and together, these ensure that new teachers will benefit from at least three years of evidence based training, across ITT and into their induction.
Beyond the first few years of teaching, the Department’s priority is to help all teachers and head teachers to continuously develop their expertise throughout their careers so that all pupils get the best start in life.
National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) are available to education professionals at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice, to those leading multiple schools across trusts. The qualifications have been designed with professionals in mind, using the latest and best available evidence, and can be completed flexibly around existing commitments.
Four specialist NPQs are available, for those who want to broaden their existing knowledge, expertise, and skills in specialist areas of teaching practice including an NPQ in Leading Teaching where participants will learn how to lead the teaching of a subject, year, group or phase.
Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 2 May 2023 to Question 182481 on Secondary Education: Teachers, whether her Department is taking steps to ensure the quality of continuing professional development provision for non-specialist teachers teaching religious education.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of teachers remains high, with over 468,000 full time equivalent teachers working in state funded schools across the country, over 27,000 more than there were in 2010.
The Department provides funded Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) courses for 9 subjects, including religious education, for those who have yet to start an initial teacher training course. Eligibility is subject to an applicant meeting the requirements to train to teach in England and the applicant accepting a conditional offer which specifies the requirement to complete a SKE course. Eligible participants can receive a bursary of £175 per week. Religious education courses last 8 weeks.
Once teachers are qualified and working in schools, the responsibility for supporting non specialist teachers rests with head teachers, as they are best placed to assess the needs of their staff and provide appropriate support, such as continuing professional development.
Oak National Academy will provide both specialist and non specialist teachers with access to high quality digital curriculum resources. This includes resources for religious education. Oak will work closely with the sector and utilise sector expertise when developing these new curriculum resources.
The Department has also transformed the training and support available to teachers of all subjects. An entitlement to at least three years of structured training, support and professional development for all new teachers has been created, to bring teaching into line with other prestigious professions such as law, accountancy and medicine. Underpinning this is the new Initial Teacher Training (ITT) Core Content Framework and the Early Career Framework, and together, these ensure that new teachers will benefit from at least three years of evidence based training, across ITT and into their induction.
Beyond the first few years of teaching, the Department’s priority is to help all teachers and head teachers to continuously develop their expertise throughout their careers so that all pupils get the best start in life.
National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) are available to education professionals at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice, to those leading multiple schools across trusts. The qualifications have been designed with professionals in mind, using the latest and best available evidence, and can be completed flexibly around existing commitments.
Four specialist NPQs are available, for those who want to broaden their existing knowledge, expertise, and skills in specialist areas of teaching practice including an NPQ in Leading Teaching where participants will learn how to lead the teaching of a subject, year, group or phase.
Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department plans to take steps to increase the confidence of non-subject specialist secondary teachers in teaching (a) music, (b) drama and theatre, (c) religious education and (d) geography as additional subjects.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The number of teachers remains high, with over 465,500 full-time equivalent (FTE) working in state funded schools across the country, which is over 24,000 more than in 2010.
To improve recruitment in particular subjects, a range of measures have been put in place, including bursaries, to encourage talented trainees to teach key subjects. For example, geography trainees may receive a tax-free bursary of £25,000.
Responsibility for supporting non-specialist teachers rests with secondary schools, as they are best placed to assess the needs of their staff and provide appropriate support, such as continuing professional development (CPD). The Department provides support to schools through a range of relevant programmes, including in music, English (which includes drama), religious education (RE) and geography.
Through the existing Music Hub programme, the Department will be placing a stronger emphasis on CPD for music education. Music Hubs currently offer CPD support, including to non-specialist secondary music teachers.
In RE, the Department is continuing to offer eight-week subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses, for candidates who have the potential to become outstanding teachers, but need to increase their subject knowledge. More information on these courses is available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/subject-knowledge-enhancement-an-introduction.
Although the Department does not provide specific funding for geography, non-specialist teachers secondary teachers can access resources offered by the Geographical Association at all stages of their careers to ensure they receive appropriate support and to enable them to constantly improve their practice.
Across all these subjects, curriculum resources will be procured by Oak National Academy, starting with English, geography and music in the first tranche of work and subsequently for RE during the second tranche of its work. Oak will work closely with the sector and utilise sector experience when producing new materials. This will ensure that high-quality lessons are available nationwide, benefitting specialist and non-specialist secondary teachers, as well as pupils.
Additionally, National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) are available to education professionals at all levels, from those who want to develop expertise in high quality teaching practice, to those leading multiple schools across trusts. The qualifications have been designed with professionals in mind, using the latest and best available evidence, and can be completed flexibly around existing commitments.
Four specialist NPQs are available for those who want to broaden their existing knowledge, expertise, and skills in specialist areas of teaching practice. This includes an NPQ in Leading Teaching, where participants will learn how to lead the teaching and learning of a subject, year, group or phase.
Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support neurodiverse university students; and whether she supports mandatory neurodiversity training for university staff.
Answered by Robert Halfon
This government believes it is important that all students, including those with neurodiverse conditions and/or disabilities, receive an appropriate level of support wherever and whatever they choose to study. The government is committed to ensuring that all students receive the support they need to enable them to study alongside their fellow students on an equal basis.
The government expects all higher education (HE) providers to fulfil their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to be making reasonable adjustments for all students, including students with neurodiverse conditions and disabled HE students, not just those in receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA).
In terms of funding, DSA is available in addition to the standard support package to help students with the additional costs they may face in HE because of their disability, including long-term health conditions, mental health conditions, or specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia.
DSA is not means tested and does not have to be repaid. It is available to full-time and part-time students at undergraduate and postgraduate level, alongside support available from HE providers, and in line with the recommendations of the student’s DSA Needs Assessment. There is no list of approved disabilities: to receive DSA, any student must be eligible for the main support package and disabled in line with the definition contained in the Equality Act 2010.
Wherever possible, disabled students and students with neurodiverse conditions should expect to have their needs met through inclusive learning practices and individual reasonable adjustments made by their HE providers.
Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government takes to help ensure that families are kept together throughout the fostering and adoption process.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Shadow Minister (Equalities)
Before the decision is made to remove a child, local authorities, where possible, offer early help and support in order to keep the families together. In ‘Children's Social Care: Stable Homes, Built on Love’, the government has outlined plans to build on the strengths of current early help services, through the creation of Family Help. The aim is to provide effective, joined up support to help families overcome multiple and complex problems before they escalate. Further details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/childrens-social-care-stable-homes-built-on-love.
The department recognises the value of family arrangements, including Kinship Care. We have made a commitment to implement or explore each of the recommendations on Kinship Care from the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, including a commitment to invest £9 million to establish a new kinship carer training offer in this Spending Review period and over £45 million to begin implementing family network support packages through the Families First for Children pathfinder. As part of this, the department will also invest in pilots that solely focus on Family Network Support Packages, in seven local areas. These pilots will allow us to test and evaluate the impact of these packages on keeping families together and keeping children out of care, and build on the investment we have already made to establish a network of up to 100 peer support groups for kinship carers across England.
When it is not possible for a child to live with their parent, a person with parental responsibility, or someone named in a child arrangements order, section 22C of the Children Act 1989 states that the local authority must:
The Children Act 1989 makes clear that when determining the most appropriate placement for a looked after child who has a sibling, the local authority must also, as far as reasonably practicable, ensure the placement is such that the child can live with their sibling if that sibling is also looked after.
Where a child is placed in foster care, the local authority has a duty to promote contact between the child and their friends, relatives and others connected to the child or with parental responsibility, unless this is not reasonably practical or consistent with the child’s welfare. Details for promoting and maintaining contact must be included in the child’s care plan.
Where the court decides the best decision for the child is adoption, it is important that siblings are placed together. The adoption statutory guidance says that siblings should be adopted by the same prospective adopter, unless there is good reason why they should not be. Where an agency is making a placement decision on two or more children from the same family, it should be based on a comprehensive assessment of the quality of the children’s relationship, their individual needs and the likely capacity of the prospective adopter to meet the needs of all the siblings being placed together. Where it is not possible for the siblings to be placed together, the agency should carefully consider the need for the children to remain in contact with each other and the need for adoption support.
Where safe and appropriate, maintaining relationships with birth family members is important to wellbeing of the child. The government committed to improving contact practice in the National Adoption Strategy. Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) leaders are trialling what good contact practice looks like, with a view to setting national standards in this area. RAAs are also currently trialling a programme called ‘Letterswap,’ a new digital platform to improve the current ‘Letterbox’ system.
Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2022 to Question 37614 on Schools: Buildings, which schools in Wakefield constituency had at least one construction element in (a) condition grade C and (b) condition grade D when that data was collated; and which of those schools (a) have already received funding from the School Rebuilding Programme and (b) are expected to receive funding from the School Rebuilding Programme in the next two years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Condition Data Collection (CDC) is one of the largest and most comprehensive data collection programmes in the UK’s 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 capital funding 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 CDC reports have been shared with every school and their responsible body to use alongside their existing condition surveys to plan maintenance schedules and investment plans. The Department plans to publish detailed school level CDC data. The Department is still preparing the data and will publish it as soon as possible.
Well maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Department. Our funding is directed both to maintaining the condition of the school estate and rebuilding schools. The Department has allocated over £13 billion for improving the condition of schools since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed this financial year.
The ten year School Rebuilding Programme (SRP) is condition led. 400 of the 500 available places on the programme have been provisionally allocated. A list of these schools and the methodology used to select them is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-rebuilding-programme-schools-in-the-programme.
The following table shows the constituencies specified that have schools or colleges selected for the SRP:
Parliamentary constituency | Schools selected for SRP |
Wakefield | Ossett Academy and Sixth Form College, announced December 2022 |
Stockton North | St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, announced July 2021 St Paul's Catholic Primary School, announced July 2021 |
The 239 schools announced in December 2022 will enter delivery at a rate of approximately 50 per year, over a five year period from 2023. The Department is currently undertaking due diligence on these schools prior to scheduling them, with schools prioritised according to the condition of their buildings, readiness to proceed, and efficiency of delivery. The scope and funding for each project will be confirmed following detailed feasibility studies and condition surveys of buildings.
Where a school identifies significant safety issues with a building, that cannot be managed within local resources, the Department considers additional support on a case-by-case basis. This includes applications for Urgent Capital Support (UCS) from eligible institutions. Schools eligible for Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) can apply for UCS where there are urgent health and safety issues that threaten school closure and cannot wait until the next CIF bidding round.
Asked by: Simon Lightwood (Labour (Co-op) - Wakefield and Rothwell)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools with costs associated with the removal of asbestos from school buildings where it is deemed necessary due to the repair or development of those buildings.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Well-maintained, safe school buildings are a priority for the Department. The Department takes the issue of asbestos in schools seriously and is committed to supporting schools, Local Authorities and Academy Trusts to fulfil their duty to manage asbestos safely.
The Department has allocated over £13 billion for improving school buildings since 2015, including £1.8 billion committed for the 2022/23 financial year. This funding can be used for asbestos removal during the completion of works when it is required.
The Department expects all Local Authorities, governing bodies and Academy Trusts to have robust plans in place to manage asbestos in school buildings effectively, in line with their legal duties. To support this, the Department published updated guidance on ‘Managing asbestos in your School’ in 2020, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/asbestos-management-in-schools.
The Department follows expert advice from the Health and Safety Executive that as long as asbestos-containing materials are in good condition, well protected, and are unlikely to be worked on, it is usually safer to manage them in place. Asbestos is often removed as part of wider work to improve or replace buildings. Asbestos containing materials should also be removed if they are likely to be disturbed during routine maintenance work or daily use of the building, and will release fibres, without being easily repaired and protected.