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1328086

registered interest
date	26/05/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Poverty
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what research his Department has carried out or commissioned on the effect of hunger and poverty on children's ability to learn effectively.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	7851
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/06/2021 answer text <p>The government supports the provision of nutritious food in schools, which ensures that pupils are well nourished, develop healthy eating habits and can concentrate and learn. Under the benefits-related criteria, there are currently 1.6 million pupils eligible for and claiming a free school meal, and a further 1.4 million infant-aged children who benefit from our Universal Infant Free School Meals policy.</p><p>The government also funds breakfast clubs in over 2,450 schools to support more than a quarter of a million children in the most disadvantaged areas of the country. Up to £24 million will be available to extend our support for school breakfast clubs until 2023, to make sure that thousands of children in disadvantaged areas have a healthy start to the day. We know that breakfast clubs can bring a wide range of benefits for children. An evaluation by the Education Endowment Foundation found that supporting schools to run a free-of-charge, universal breakfast club before school delivered an average of 2 months’ additional progress for pupils in key stage 1 with moderate to low security. Breakfast club schools also saw an improvement in pupil behaviour and attendance.</p><p>Backed by an investment of up to £220 million, the Holiday Activities and Food programme ran nationwide throughout the Easter holiday period and will run during the summer and Christmas holidays in 2021, supporting disadvantaged pupils with enriching activities, providing them with healthy food, helping them to learn new things and improving socialisation. This programme builds on pilots of the scheme since 2018, including last summer’s programme, which supported around 50,000 children across 17 local authorities. We have developed this programme, as we know that disadvantaged children are more likely to experience unhealthy holidays (in terms of nutrition and physical exercise), are less likely to take part in enriching activities and can experience isolation during the holidays.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 07/06/2021 12:06:29 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1305464

registered interest
date	24/03/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether a student who receives a positive result on a school-based lateral flow test may return to school and stop self-isolating, if they receive a negative result on a PCR test.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	174883
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/04/2021 answer text <p>In January, confirmatory PCR testing for pupils and students taking lateral flow tests in an assisted setting at school or college was paused. This was the same across all other sectors and NHS Test and Trace set out at the time that this was expected to be a temporary measure until prevalence was reduced. NHS Test and Trace and Public Health England have kept the changing clinical circumstances under review and have now advised that, due to the ability for PCR to now detect and track new variants and the lower prevalence of COVID-19, confirmatory PCR testing should now be reintroduced.</p><p> </p><p>If you conduct a lateral flow test at home or receive a supervised school/college-based lateral flow test (LFT) as part of the rapid asymptomatic testing programme and it is positive then you, your close contacts, and other members of your household should self-isolate immediately in line with NHS Test and Trace guidance. All positive results from rapid tests, whether conducted at home or at a school or college, will then need to be confirmed with a PCR test within two days of the positive LFT. This should be booked immediately either online or by calling 119. Whilst awaiting the PCR result, you and your close contacts should continue to self-isolate. If the PCR test is negative, provided it was taken within two days of the positive LFT, it overrides the LFT and you can return to school or college and you, your close contacts, and other members of your household can stop self-isolating.</p><p>NHS Test and Trace guidance is available to view here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works." target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works.</a></p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 14/04/2021 10:31:52 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1300957

registered interest
date	09/03/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	GCSE: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what specific support his Department will provide to help enable current in Year 10 pupil to be adequately prepared for GCSEs at the end of next academic year.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	165593
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/03/2021 answer text <p>The Government recognises that extended school and college restrictions have had a substantial impact on children and young people’s education and are committed to helping pupils make up lost education due to the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>We know that it is important that pupils in this cohort are able to obtain a grade safely and fairly and we will continue to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on all pupils to ensure that those due to take exams in 2022 are supported to move on to the next stage of their lives fairly.</p><p>The Department has appointed Sir Kevan Collins as Education Recovery Commissioner to oversee the long-term plan to help schools support pupils make up their education over the course of this Parliament. Sir Kevan will engage with parents, pupils, and teachers in the development of this broader approach and review how evidence-based interventions can be used to address the impact the COVID-19 outbreak has had on education. We will share further details in due course.</p><p>As an immediate step, on 24 February 2021, the Department committed an additional £700 million to support summer schools, tutoring, early language interventions and additional support to schools to help pupils make up their education. This builds on the £1 billion catch-up package announced in June 2020, which included a Catch-up Premium, shared across state primary and secondary schools to support schools to make up for lost teaching time over this academic year. It also includes the National Tutoring Programme which provides schools with access to high-quality, subsidised tuition in this academic year and next.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 17/03/2021 10:00:27 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1300139

registered interest
date	08/03/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Schools: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of offering the same provision of catch-up support available to state maintained schools to schools run by Community Interest Companies for pupils with state maintained places.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	164518
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/03/2021 answer text <p>In June 2020, the Government announced a £1 billion catch up package that included a £650 million catch up premium. Independent schools with pupils who have an education, health and care plan or special educational needs and disability support funded by the local authority attract catch up premium funding at a rate of £240 per pupil. Mainstream schools attract funding of £80 per pupil. We have applied additional weighting to specialist schools, recognising the significantly higher per pupil costs they face.</p><p>In February 2021, the Government announced a further £700 million Education Recovery plan. As well as a range of measures to support all pupils to recover lost education, the plan includes significant funding aimed at addressing the needs of disadvantaged pupils. This includes a one-off £302 million recovery premium for the next academic year that will be allocated to schools on the same methodology as the pupil premium. This will provide each mainstream school with £145 for each eligible pupil and special (including special units within a mainstream school), alternative provision and hospital schools with £290 per pupil across the 2021-22 academic year.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 16/03/2021 15:35:51 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1299905

registered interest
date	05/03/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Assessments: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that teacher assessed grades for the 2020-21 academic year are equitable in the (a) state and (b) private sector; and if he will publish guidance on that matter.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	163706
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2021 answer text <p>Pupils are working hard in preparation for their GCSEs, AS and A levels this year and teachers have made tremendous efforts to provide high quality education both in the classroom and remotely. Given the ongoing disruption to education caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, we announced in January that GCSE, AS and A level exams will not go ahead as planned this summer. Fairness to young people is fundamental to the Department and Ofqual’s decision making. We want to ensure all young people have the confidence that, despite exams not going ahead, they will receive a grade that reflects their ability and enables them to progress.</p><p> </p><p>This year, teachers will not be asked to judge the grade a pupil might have achieved if the COVID-19 outbreak had not occurred. They will be asked to make an evidence-based judgement of the grade each pupil is performing at. Guidance will be provided to teachers by the end of March 2021, to support them in making assessments fairly and consistently.</p><p> </p><p>Schools and colleges will have a range of supporting materials available to help them in marking and awarding grades. There will also be a process for both internal and external quality assurance to support teachers to do what is needed and ensure as much consistency as possible. Head teachers will have to confirm to the exam boards that the requirements for quality assurance have been met at the time of submitting the grades for their centre. Exam boards quality assurance will check the evidence to support grades submitted at a sample of centres, to ensure consistency in approach between centres. The sample of centres subject to these checks will be drawn to ensure representation of all types of centres, including state and private schools and colleges.</p><p> </p><p>As part of their quality assurance process, schools and colleges will be given guidance on the use of previous performance data for their centre to help benchmark their results. The use of previous performance data is intended for guidance only and will not limit grades awarded for a student if supported by evidence.</p><p> </p><p>We understand that whilst some independent schools choose to take qualifications regulated by Ofqual, many also choose international GCSEs, which are not regulated by Ofqual and are not part of the arrangements for summer 2021 that apply to GCSEs, A/AS levels and VTQs. We have worked closely with the exam boards who have confirmed that exams in England for their international GCSEs will not go ahead and pupils will be awarded grades using teacher assessment.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 15/03/2021 14:36:22 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1290214

registered interest
date	26/02/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupils: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of an educational recovery plan to support all pupils that have had their education disrupted as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	159325
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/03/2021 answer text <p>The Government is committed to helping all children and young people make up learning lost as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>In January 2021, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, committed to work with parents, teachers and pupils to develop a long-term plan to help pupils make up their learning over the course of this Parliament. As an immediate step to support early years settings, schools and colleges, on 24 February, we committed an additional £700 million to support summer schools, tutoring, early language interventions and additional support to schools to help pupils make up their learning. This builds on the £1 billion from last year and brings the total available to £1.7 billion.</p><p>We have also appointed Sir Kevan Collins as the Education Recovery Commissioner to advise on this broader plan. The objectives of the Education Recovery Commissioner as outlined in the terms of reference are to advise on the design and implementation of potential interventions that will help students catch up learning lost due to the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>The terms of reference for the Education Recovery Commissioner is published here: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/960070/Terms_of_reference.pdf#:~:text=Education%20Recovery%20Commissioner%3A%20role%20specification%20and%20terms%20of,approach%20for%20education%20recovery%2C%20with%20a%20particular%20focus" target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/960070/Terms_of_reference.pdf#:~:text=Education%20Recovery%20Commissioner%3A%20role%20specification%20and%20terms%20of,approach%20for%20education%20recovery%2C%20with%20a%20particular%20focus</a>.</p><p>The Department will continue to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on pupils and their catch-up needs to help target support across the system effectively.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 10/03/2021 09:28:06 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1290224

registered interest
date	26/02/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Children: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2021 to Question 96101 on Coronavirus: Children, what steps his Department is taking to monitor common covid-19 symptoms in children; and how the data on the most common covid-19 symptoms in children is taken into account when setting covid-19 testing criteria for children.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	159329
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2021 answer text <p>Monitoring of COVID-19 symptoms and criteria for Test and Trace are clinical issues, and therefore fall within the responsibility of the Department of Health and Social Care. As part of the return to face-to-face education from 8 March, all secondary school and further education college students will be offered regular asymptomatic testing for COVID-19, receiving four tests on their return with three of these on site. Thereafter, students will receive twice-weekly home tests.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 09/03/2021 13:35:10 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1288761

registered interest
date	23/02/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Relationships and Sex Education: Gender
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to monitor schools' ability to include education on gender stereotyping as required by the statutory guidance on Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	157203
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2021 answer text <p>The new subjects of Relationships Education (for primary aged pupils), Relationships and Sex Education (for secondary aged pupils) and Health Education (for all pupils in state-funded schools) became mandatory from September 2020. The statutory guidance sets out the content to be covered for each subject, which includes teaching about treating everyone with respect regardless of their background and characteristics, and how stereotypes can cause damage or might encourage prejudice.</p><p>As with other aspects of the curriculum, schools have flexibility over how they deliver the content of the new subjects so they can develop an integrated approach that is sensitive to the needs of all of its pupils. In light of challenges faced by schools because of the impact of COVID-19 and school closure, schools may choose to focus this year’s RSHE teaching on the immediate needs of their pupils, with particular attention to the importance of positive relationships, as well as mental and physical health, introducing a more comprehensive RSHE programme in September 2021.</p><p>All schools must follow the principles of the Equality Act 2010 – the need to eliminate discrimination, to promote equality of opportunity and to foster good relations between different groups in society.</p><p>In September 2020, the Department published a support package to help all schools increase their confidence and the quality of their RSHE teaching practice. This includes teacher training modules, non-statutory implementation guidance, and training for teachers led by Teaching Schools.</p><p>Ofsted’s routine graded school inspections are currently suspended. When those inspections resume, inspectors will take account of the relationships education taught in each school as part of its evaluation of pupils’ personal development.</p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 03/03/2021 16:41:38 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1286832

registered interest
date	19/02/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Pupil Premium
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2021 to Question 137960 on pupil premium allocation, how many pupils in (a) mainstream and (b) special educational needs schools (i) were eligible for the Pupil Premium as of 1 October 2020 and (ii) became eligible for Free School Meals between 2 October 2020 and 21 January 2021.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	154585
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/03/2021 answer text <p>The January 2021 census will be used to determine pupil premium eligibility for alternative provision and pupil referral units for the financial year 2021-22. Pupil premium eligibility for mainstream and special schools will be based on the October 2020 census. The Department will confirm pupil premium allocations for the financial year 2021-22 in June 2021.</p><p>Data on the number of pupils who have become eligible for free school meals since 2 October 2020 is currently being collected in the spring school census and is not yet available.</p><p>The Department publishes information on pupil premium allocations and the number of pupils eligible annually. The most recent publicly available figures can be found via this link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2020-to-2021" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium-allocations-and-conditions-of-grant-2020-to-2021</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Bognor Regis and Littlehampton answering member printed Nick Gibb question first answered 01/03/2021 17:56:16 answering member 111 label Biography information for Nick Gibb
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire

1282857

registered interest
date	02/02/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Extended Services: Coronavirus
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make financial support available to playscheme and breakfast club providers during the covid-19 outbreak.
tabling member constituency	Bristol West
tabling member printed	Thangam Debbonaire
uin	147907
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/02/2021 answer text <p>We appreciate that the wraparound childcare sector, like many sectors, is facing unprecedented financial pressures as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is for this reason that the government has made a range of financial packages of support available for businesses to access throughout the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes tax relief, business loans or cash grants through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, as well as a £594 million discretionary fund for councils and the devolved administrations to support local businesses that may not be eligible for other support, during the current national lockdown. More information on this can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support</a>.</p><p>Additionally, we have encouraged all local authorities to consider which local grants could be used to bolster this part of the childcare sector in their areas, to safeguard sufficient childcare provision for children of critical workers and vulnerable children. This includes funding streams such as the holiday activities and food programme. The expanded programme, which comprises a £220 million fund to be delivered through grants to local authorities, will be expanded to reach all local authority areas over the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays in 2021.</p><p>The National School Breakfast Programme continues to be funded, and our suppliers Family Action along with Magic Breakfast are working closely with participating schools to make sure that children can still receive healthy breakfasts during this period, including for children staying at home.</p><p>Family Action have reported that more than 1,000 schools in disadvantaged areas are registered to receive breakfast deliveries from this programme during the COVID-19 outbreak.</p> answering member constituency Chelmsford answering member printed Vicky Ford question first answered 10/02/2021 10:38:24 answering member 4674 label Biography information for Vicky Ford
tabling member	4433 label Biography information for Thangam Debbonaire