Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to provide funds for a further increase in the number of grammar schools.
Answered by Justine Greening
There was no education bill in the Queen’s Speech, and therefore the ban on opening new grammar schools will remain in place.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if the Government will introduce universal free breakfasts for primary school children.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We are reflecting on our programmes in relation to school meals and will come forward with proposals in due course.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on the proposal set out in Schools that work for everyone, published in September 2016, on the 50 per cent admissions cap on faith schools.
Answered by Justine Greening
Schools play a vital role in promoting integration and promoting an understanding of different faiths and communities. We will continue to work closely with faith schools to promote and support integration and will set out further details in due course.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the proposals relating to universities in the Schools that Work for Everyone consultation document will be taken forward.
Answered by Justine Greening
As part of the Government's commitment to create more good school places, last September we published the consultation document: Schools that work for everyone. This asked how we could harness the resources and expertise of those in our higher education sector to work in partnership to lift attainment across the wider school system.
The Government has welcomed the way that our world-class higher education institutions are willing to think afresh about what more they could do to raise attainment in state schools, in recognition of their responsibility to their own local communities.
Universities are currently agreeing Access Agreements with the Office for Fair Access. Earlier this year, his strategic guidance to the sector, the Director for Fair Access set out an expectation that HEIs should set out in their access agreements how they will work with schools and colleges to raise attainment for those from disadvantaged and under-represented groups.
The Government hopes and expects more universities will come forward to be involved in school sponsorship and free schools, including more mathematics schools, although support need not be limited to those means.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the proposals relating to independent schools in the Schools that Work for Everyone consultation document will be taken forward.
Answered by Justine Greening
As part of the Government's commitment to create more good school places, last September we published the consultation document: Schools that work for everyone. This asked how we could harness the resources and expertise of those in our independent schools to work in partnership to lift attainment across the wider school system.
The Government has welcomed the way that our independent schools have actively considered and proposed what more they could do to raise attainment in state schools, in recognition of their responsibility to their own local communities. Over this Parliament, we intend to build on the positive and constructive conversations we have had with the sector to agree how they could do more to improve attainment for children from all backgrounds, and increase the number of good school places.
Officials will continue to work with the Independent Schools Council to agree how best to take forward the proposals for more independent schools to support state schools.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve rates of teacher recruitment and retention in schools in England.
Answered by Nick Gibb
At a national level we are retaining and recruiting the teachers we need. We recognise, however, that the strengthening economy and growth in pupil numbers have made the situation more challenging, and that this is more acute in certain subjects and particular schools or areas of the country.
We have more teachers in our schools than ever before and the number of teachers has kept pace with changing numbers of pupils. The number of teachers in state-funded schools throughout England is up more than 15,000 since 2010. This year we have recruited more than 27,000 people to postgraduate teacher training programmes and we have exceeded our recruitment targets in a number of key subjects including biology, English, geography and history.
We are spending over £1.3 billion up to 2020 to attract new teachers into the profession. We have funded the expansion of Teach First into every region of England; continued to fund targeted leadership programmes; and we are supporting schools to bring more former teachers back into the classroom.
Latest statistics show that teacher retention one year after qualifying has remained stable at around 90% for the past two decades. We are actively addressing the key issues that evidence suggests cause teachers to consider leaving the profession, for example, by supporting schools to reduce unnecessary workload and improving behaviour management training for new teachers.
Asked by: William Wragg (Independent - Hazel Grove)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Education for All Bill will require academies to provide sex and relationships education.
Answered by Edward Timpson
All schools should offer high quality, age-appropriate sex and relationship education, and build a curriculum that meets the needs of all their students. Sex and relationship education is compulsory in all maintained secondary schools. Academies do not have to teach sex and relationship education but many choose to do so as part of their statutory duty to provide a broad and balanced curriculum.
The content of any forthcoming Bill will be announced in due course.