Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the adequacy of training for teachers on child bereavement.

The Government does not prescribe the content of initial teacher training (ITT) courses. It is for ITT providers to use their discretion to determine the content and structure of courses, but they must be designed so that teacher trainees can demonstrate that they meet all of the Teachers' Standards at the appropriate level to be awarded Qualified Teacher Status. The Standards set out the key elements of effective teaching minimum expectations for the professional practice and conduct of teachers. They can be viewed here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-standards.

Teachers’ Standards require trainees to “have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’ ability to learn, and how best to overcome these; and demonstrate an awareness of the physical, social and intellectual development of children, and know how to adapt teaching to support pupils’ education at different stages of development.”

‘A Framework of core content for Initial Teacher Training’, published in July 2016 says providers “should equip trainees to analyse the strengths and needs of all pupils effectively, ensuring that they have an understanding of cognitive, social, emotional, physical and mental health factors that can inhibit or enhance pupils’ education.” The Framework can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-government-response-to-carter-review.

Ofsted is responsible for making judgements about the quality of training and the leadership and management of an ITT partnership. As part of ITT provider inspections, Ofsted has due regard to the Teachers’ Standards and framework of core content. 99% of all ITT partnerships inspected by Ofsted were judged to be either good or outstanding at their most recent inspection. The Ofsted ITT inspection handbook can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-education-inspection-handbook