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1483425

	registered interest
	date	27/06/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	National Curriculum Tests
	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 help ensure that SATs do not have a negative impact on the emotional wellbeing of primary school students.
	tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
	tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
	uin	25963
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2022 answer text <p>​Assessment is a crucial part of a child’s schooling and fundamental in a high-performing education system. At primary school, statutory assessments are an essential part of ensuring that all pupils master the basics of reading, writing and maths to prepare them for secondary school. Assessment data also enables parents, schools and the department to understand the impact of lost time in education and recovery initiatives.</p><p>Schools should encourage pupils to work hard and achieve well, but the department does not recommend that they devote excessive preparation time to assessments, and certainly not at the expense of pupils’ mental health and wellbeing. We trust schools to administer assessments in the appropriate way.</p><p>Research conducted by UCL Institute of Education, published in 2021, found that there was ‘little evidence to changes in [pupil] wellbeing around the time of key stage 2 tests, or that children in England become happier - either in general or about school - once these tests are over’.</p><p>Nevertheless, the department knows that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people and will have an impact in the longer-term. Mental health and wellbeing are a priority for the government, and we remain committed to promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges. In May 2021, the department announced an investment of over £17 million of mental health funding to improve mental health and wellbeing support in schools and colleges. This includes £9.5 million dedicated to training senior mental health leads in over 8,000 schools and colleges, with an additional £3 million announced this year to extend this training to even more schools and colleges. The training will equip leads with the skills and knowledge to develop a culture and ethos that promotes positive mental health wellbeing, as well as how to make the best use of local resources to support children and young people experiencing issues such as anxiety.</p><p>The department has also recently brought together all its sources of advice for schools and colleges into a single site on GOV.UK, which includes signposting to external sources of mental health and wellbeing support for teachers, school staff and school leaders. The site is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges#mental-health-and-wellbeing-resources" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-in-schools-and-colleges#mental-health-and-wellbeing-resources</a>. ​</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 05/07/2022 15:45:54 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney

1460040

	registered interest
	date	25/04/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Schools: Carbon Emissions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new schools built in England in each of the last 10 years have achieved net zero status.
	tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
	tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
	uin	159043
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2022 answer text <p>Over the past ten years, the department has designed schools that are good quality, easy to manage and maintain, and deliver low energy solutions.</p><p>In November 2021, the department launched its first specification to deliver schools that are net zero carbon in operation. All schools that are procured under this specification will not only be net zero in operation but will also incorporate a wider range of measures to tackle climate change. The department’s full specification can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/school-design-and-construction#output-specification" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/school-design-and-construction#output-specification</a></p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 28/04/2022 10:21:46 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney

1454047

	registered interest
	date	24/03/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Primary Education: Assessments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of potential merits of deferring (a) Key Stage 1 SATs, (b) Key Stage 2 SATs and (c) other statutory primary school assessments during the academic year 2021-22 to enable teachers to focus on supporting children to catch-up on learning after the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
	tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
	uin	146694
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/04/2022 answer text <p>The department is taking forward a full programme of primary assessments to take place in the 2021/22 academic year. The assessments will help parents, schools and the department to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pupils more clearly, and how this varies between different groups of pupils (for example, disadvantaged pupils compared with the wider population), schools and local authority areas. At a local level, the data will provide vital information to parents about their child’s attainment, support transition to secondary schools, and identify where additional support is best targeted to individuals. At a national level, the data will help inform policy decisions about support for schools, enable analysis to underpin education recovery initiatives and understand their effectiveness, and to track system progress as we emerge from the pandemic.</p><p>Although schools should encourage pupils to work hard and achieve well, the department does not recommend that they devote excessive preparation time to assessment. The department trusts schools to administer assessments in the appropriate way.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 01/04/2022 10:23:33 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney

1422809

	registered interest
	date	18/02/2022
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Literacy: World Book Day
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact of World Book Day on literacy rates.
	tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
	tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
	uin	125386
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2022 answer text <p>The government is committed to continuing to raise literacy standards, including those of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. English is fundamental to learning and provides the skills and knowledge pupils need to communicate with others, both in school and in the wider world.</p><p>The department welcomes the important work of the World Book Day charity, an annual celebration of reading. It is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. World Book Day gifts free £1 vouchers to purchase special £1 editions of books, or to put towards purchasing another book. World Book Day, and other literacy charities such as the National Literacy Trust, organise events and partnerships to help ensure children have the opportunity to discover a love for reading.</p><p>The department has not undertaken any specific assessment of World Book Day, but note that the charity commissioned the National Literacy Trust to evaluate the impact of the work on children aged 8 to 11 in the UK. The 2021 impact report can be found here: <a href="https://www.worldbookday.com/resource/exploring-the-impact-of-world-book-day-on-childrens-reading/" target="_blank">https://www.worldbookday.com/resource/exploring-the-impact-of-world-book-day-on-childrens-reading/</a>.</p><p>The department’s English Hubs regularly mark the day in several ways, including sharing best practice guidance, promoting reading for pleasure, and organising book talks for children. Ministers from the Department for Education will contribute to the celebrations this year.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 25/02/2022 15:02:25 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney

1422964

	registered interest
	date	18/02/2022
	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, what plans his Department has to allocate additional funding to cover the costs of (a) sickness cover for teachers and (b) sanitation in schools incurred as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
	tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
	uin	125392
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/02/2022 answer text <p>The department recognises that schools are facing pressures. Teachers and school leaders have contributed hugely to the nation’s efforts to respond to the challenges arising from the COVID-19 outbreak, and we are very grateful for their continued hard work.</p><p>School funding remains a key priority for the department. The government is increasing funding to deliver year on year, real terms per pupil increases to school funding. This is starting with a £7 billion increase in the core schools budget by the financial year 2024-25, compared with the financial year 2021-22, taking total funding to £56.8 billion by 2024-25.</p><p>Future increases in funding have been frontloaded to rapidly get money to schools. In the financial year 2022-23 alone, core schools funding will increase by £4 billion, compared to 2021-22. This represents a 5% increase in real terms per pupil boost. This will help schools rise to the challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak, increase teacher pay, and meet the cost of the Health and Social Care Levy, while continuing their work to raise attainment.</p><p>Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, schools have continued to receive core funding, regardless of any periods of reduced attendance. Schools have the flexibility to make their own decisions on how to prioritise their spending to invest in a range of resources and activities that will best support their staff and pupils. Schools will be able to use their existing budgets to help with the costs associated with COVID-19 absences.</p><p>The department re-introduced the COVID-19 workforce fund in the autumn term to provide financial support to eligible schools and colleges. The fund has been extended until Easter to cover the cost of term-time staff absences experienced between 22 November 2021 and 8 April 2022. The fund is available to support schools and colleges facing the greatest staffing and funding pressures to continue to deliver face-to-face, high-quality education to all pupils.</p><p>All schools can access a range of school resource management tools to help them get the best value from their resources. Schools in financial difficulty should contact the Education and Skills Funding Agency or their local authority.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 25/02/2022 13:03:01 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney

1386936

	registered interest
	date	10/12/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	GCE A-level and GCSE: Coronavirus
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to introduce measures for the assessment of (a) GCSEs and (b) A-Levels for the 2021-22 academic year to reflect disruption from school absence due to covid-19 infection.
	tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
	tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
	uin	90928
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2021 answer text <p>The department continues to monitor the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on education closely, including through attendance data. It remains the government’s firm intention that examinations and assessments should go ahead next year. The department and Ofqual consulted on and announced a range of adaptations to exams and assessments over this academic year. The package of measures includes:</p><ul><li>Choice of topics in GCSE English literature, history, ancient history and choice of content in GCSE geography.</li><li>Provision of advance information by 7 February 2022 on the focus of the content of exams to be used as revision guidance in all GCSE subjects without optionality, and in AS and A levels.</li><li>Changes to the requirements for the delivery of practical activities in science subjects, and assessment in art and design.</li><li>Provision of support materials in GCSE mathematics, physics and combined science exams.</li></ul><p>The department engaged with a range of stakeholders, including students and parents, on these measures, and sought to ensure that students have breadth of knowledge, whilst also giving them support with focusing revision.  In the interests of fairness to students, Ofqual has also confirmed that 2022 will be a transition year for grading and has set out its plans for a mid-point between 2021 and pre-COVID-19 grades.</p><p>If there is significant further disruption to education, the government has the flexibility to bring forward advance information to support students further. Furthermore, the government understands that contingency arrangements are also needed to deal with the unlikely event that exams cannot go ahead fairly or safely.  Following a joint consultation with Ofqual, the department has confirmed that should exams not be able to go ahead, students will receive teacher assessed grades (TAGs) instead. The changes to the TAGs process for 2022 takes account of lessons learned from 2021 and minimises burdens on both teachers and students. Further information on plans for 2022 assessments can be found here <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/contingency-plans-confirmed-for-gcses-as-and-a-levels" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/contingency-plans-confirmed-for-gcses-as-and-a-levels</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 15/12/2021 15:39:13 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney

1386937

	registered interest
	date	10/12/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Curriculum
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will issue updated guidance on disapplication of the national curriculum.
	tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
	tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
	uin	90929
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2021 answer text <p>The department recognises that teaching a broad and balanced curriculum is important to the academic, social, and personal development of children and young people. All schools should continue to teach a broad and balanced curriculum in all subjects.</p><p>In response to education catch-up, taking the planned, sequenced curriculum as a starting point, schools should prioritise teaching missed content that will allow pupils to make sense of later work in the curriculum. This includes key knowledge, skills, vocabulary, concepts, and the links between concepts. For schools that are required to follow it, these are outlined in the national curriculum.</p><p>Schools can use existing flexibilities to create time to cover the most important content in which pupils are not yet secure. Further information can be found in the non-statutory guidance: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-a-broad-and-balanced-curriculum-for-education-recovery" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-a-broad-and-balanced-curriculum-for-education-recovery</a>.</p><p>Up to and including key stage 3, prioritisation within subjects of the most important components for progression is likely to be more effective than removing subjects. This avoids depriving pupils of the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.</p><p>In exceptional circumstances, and where a subject is not one mandated, schools may consider it appropriate to suspend some subjects for some pupils. When this happens, schools are expected to be able to show that this is in the best interests of these pupils, and this should be in discussion with parents. Further guidance on disapplying aspects of the national curriculum can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disapplying-aspects-of-the-national-curriculum" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disapplying-aspects-of-the-national-curriculum</a>.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 15/12/2021 16:46:29 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney

1386942

	registered interest
	date	10/12/2021
	answering body	Department for Education
	answering dept id	60
	answering dept short name	Education
	answering dept sort name	Education
	hansard heading	Curriculum: Asylum
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make a comparative assessment of the (a) percentage of asylum seekers at a school and (b) applications for disapplication of the national curriculum.
	tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
	tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
	uin	90930
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2021 answer text <p>The department does not collect data on the asylum seeker status of children and therefore cannot make an assessment of the percentage of asylum seekers at a school and applications for disapplication of the national curriculum.</p><p>The number of pupils recorded as not following the national curriculum is published at a school level in the file ‘School level underlying data.’ This is available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 15/12/2021 17:37:19 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney