Pupils: Health

(asked on 28th November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2017 to Question 114597, if she will make it her Department's policy to hold data on whether schools have received guidance on their statutory duty towards their pupils' health.


Answered by
Robert Goodwill Portrait
Robert Goodwill
This question was answered on 6th December 2017

Social media activity supporting promotion of guidance on supporting pupils at school with medical conditions was made under the routine activity of the Social Media team of the Communications Group at my department.

Section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on governing bodies of maintained schools, proprietors of academies and management committees of pupil referral units (PRUs) to make arrangements for supporting pupils at their school with medical conditions.

It is not my department's current policy to hold data on whether schools have received guidance on their statutory duty. Data management in schools was a key issue emerging from our 2014 school workload challenge. In light of that, an independent review group was set up to look at workload associated with data management, chaired by Lauren Costello OBE (then managing director of the White Horse Federation), and including headteachers such as Edison David and Sarah Thompson, teachers, sector experts and representatives from Ofsted and trade unions.

Their report highlighted the need to streamline practice and maintain a proportionate approach. Their report on data management sets out clear principles for government and the education sector related to reducing data burdens. These include commitments only to collect what is needed to support outcomes for children, and to consider the workload burden of any new data collections.

Reticulating Splines