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1485437

	registered interest
	date	28/06/2022
	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, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the steps his Department has taken to help children’s education recover from the impact of the covid-19 outbreak.
	tabling member constituency	Stretford and Urmston
	tabling member printed	Kate Green
	uin	900850
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 05/07/2022 answer text <p>Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 disruption on the attainment and progress of all students is a key research priority for the government. That is why we invested in research into academic progress over the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years with Renaissance Learning and the Education Policy Institute. The latest findings from this research, published 28 March, include data from the first half of the 2021-22 autumn term. The findings from this research have been published on gov.uk at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-progress-in-the-2020-to-2022-academic-years" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-progress-in-the-2020-to-2022-academic-years</a></p><p>Our latest evidence suggests recovery is happening, with primary pupils recovering around 0.1 months in reading and 0.9 months in maths since Summer 2021, and recovering 1.5 months in reading and 1.7 months in maths since Spring 2021, with pupils now only 0.8 months and 1.9 months behind in reading and maths respectively.</p><p>This is equivalent to recovering around two thirds of progress lost due to the pandemic in primary reading and around half of progress lost in primary maths since Spring 2021.</p><p>Progress for secondary pupils in key stage 3 remains a concern, with pupils now on average around 2.4 months behind in reading, having seen losses since Summer 2021.</p><p>We are making some progress in closing gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers, additional gaps created by the COVID-19 pandemic appear to have reduced in primary maths and secondary reading since Summer 2021. However, the gap for primary reading appears to have grown.</p><p>In line with this evidence, we have announced £1 billion to extend the recovery premium over the next two academic years. This will enable schools to provide additional support for the most disadvantaged, and will be weighted more towards secondary pupils to reflect evidence showing greater learning loss for older pupils, who also have less time left in education. This is part of the nearly £5 billion of funding we have announced for an ambitious, multi-year education recovery plan to support young people to catch up on missed learning.</p><p>Recovery funding is already making a difference. By May 2022 1.5 million courses had been started by children across England through the National Tutoring Programme, and £950 million of direct funding through the catch up and recovery premia, was helping schools to deliver evidence-based interventions based on pupil needs. In light of the success of this year’s school-led tutoring route through the National Tutoring Programme, next year we will allocate all tutoring funding directly to schools, simplifying the system and giving schools the freedom to decide how best to provide tutoring for their pupils.</p><p>In addition to this, the Schools White Paper, 'Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child', sets out how our education system will deliver recovery, not just through our specific recovery investments, but through a wider programme of ambitious reforms that truly level up outcomes and ensure we build back better from the pandemic.</p><p>The Parent Pledge in the Schools White Paper will also make the government’s vision clear that any child who falls behind in English or maths will receive the right evidence-based targeted support to get them back on track.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 05/07/2022 16:17:55 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4120 label Biography information for Kate Green

1416847

	registered interest
	date	26/01/2022
	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, what assessment his Department has made of the impact on the education of children with covid-19 symptoms who cannot undergo PCR testing due to sensory issues and who have to isolate regardless of whether or not they have covid-19.
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham East
	tabling member printed	Nadia Whittome
	uin	112724
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2022 answer text <p>The decision on whether to admit a child with symptoms lies with the school. In the schools COVID-19 operational guidance and in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) COVID-19 operational guidance it says: ‘‘In most cases, parents and carers will agree that a pupil with symptoms should not attend the school, given the potential risk to others. If a parent or carer insists on a pupil attending your school, you can take the decision to refuse the pupil if, in your reasonable judgment, it is necessary to protect other pupils and staff from possible infection with COVID-19. Your decision would need to be carefully considered in light of all the circumstances and current public health advice.’’</p><p>Where a pupil or student is unable to attend their education provider because they are complying with clinical or public health advice, we expect their education provider to be able to offer them access to high quality remote education. It is important that systems are put in place to keep in contact with them and regularly check if they are accessing remote education. If they have a social worker, they should also agree the best way to maintain contact and offer support.</p><p>Teachers are best placed to know how to most effectively meet pupil and student needs, ensuring they continue to make progress if they are not in face to face education because they are following public health advice. We recognise that some pupils and students with SEND may not be able to access remote education without adult support, and expect schools and colleges to work collaboratively with families and implement reasonable adjustments so that pupils with SEND can successfully access remote education appropriate for their level of need.</p><p>Where children and young people with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) are not attending their education provision because they are following public health advice, multi-agency professionals should collaborate to agree how to meet their duties to deliver the provision set out in the EHCP. This may include face to face visits to the home, or virtual support by means of video or telephone calls, or via email.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 02/02/2022 16:14:53 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4869 label Biography information for Nadia Whittome

1416340

	registered interest
	date	25/01/2022
	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, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on increasing covid-19 vaccination uptake among school pupils.
	tabling member constituency	Crewe and Nantwich
	tabling member printed	Dr Kieran Mullan
	uin	111753
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/02/2022 answer text <p>Vaccines are the best way we can protect ourselves and keep children and young people in face-to-face education. On 22 December, the government accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation that a primary course of vaccination should be offered to children aged 5 to 11 years old who are in a clinical risk group, or who are a household contact of someone (of any age) who is immunosuppressed. On 24 January, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that the department will distribute a total of £8 million in funding to NHS England to support secondary schools with the vitally important in-school vaccination programme for young people. This comes as over 50% of 12 to 15-year-olds, over 1.5 million people, have now had at least one dose of the vaccine.</p><p>To accelerate the COVID-19 programme in schools, the NHS has bolstered the in-school offer to make it more efficient and increase the scale and pace of delivery, as well as target communications to parents, young people and the public to improve uptake and increase overall confidence in the programme.</p><p>To ensure even more young people can get the vaccine as quickly as possible, the national booking service is open for vaccination bookings for young people. This service is available at: <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/" target="_blank">https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/</a>.</p><p>To support schools, and based on feedback we gathered, we have published a new ‘how to’ guide which is available here: <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cT6adcSVsLer0kvcSuI4QcBYdlmdgb5x" target="_blank">https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cT6adcSVsLer0kvcSuI4QcBYdlmdgb5x</a>. This includes useful information and resources for schools, including a template letter that can be used to communicate with parents. The COVID-19 vaccination guidance and leaflets for parents, children and young people are being translated by Public Health England. The accessible versions include braille and British Sign Language, as well as web and print versions in 27 languages.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 02/02/2022 12:16:42 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4860 label Biography information for Dr Kieran Mullan

1415989

	registered interest
	date	24/01/2022
	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, what measures he is putting in place to support pupils with long covid who are taking exams in 2021-22.
	tabling member constituency	Batley and Spen
	tabling member printed	Kim Leadbeater
	uin	110645
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/02/2022 answer text <p>Exams are the best and fairest way of judging students’ performance. Exams give students a fair chance to show their knowledge and understanding of a subject. It is the government’s firm intention that exams and assessments should go ahead this year. The department recognises the disruption many students have experienced and has worked with Ofqual, exam boards, and representatives of the sector to review existing arrangements for exams. This is to ensure they appropriately reflect scenarios arising from the COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>Together with Ofqual, the department has confirmed a package of measures, including adaptations to exams and assessments and changes to grading, to ensure fairness and help mitigate the disruption to students’ education.</p><p>Pupils or students absent from their education for a prolonged period due to long COVID-19 should be supported in the same manner as those absent due to other medium to long-term illnesses or medical conditions.</p><p>Students with any long-term health conditions, such as long COVID, may be eligible to apply for reasonable adjustments under the existing exam arrangements. Reasonable adjustments are changes made to an assessment or to the way an assessment is conducted that reduce or remove a disadvantage caused by a student’s disability. An example of this could be supervised rest breaks or extra time for assessments. They are needed because some conditions can make it harder for students to show what they know and can do in an assessment than it would have been had the student not been disabled. The Joint Council for Qualification (JCQ) has published detailed guidance on reasonable adjustments.</p><p>Furthermore, where students miss an assessment in a subject, for example due to illness, but have completed other exams or non-exam assessments in that subject, they may be able to use the existing special consideration process to apply to receive a grade based on the assessments they did complete. The JCQ has also published guidance on when students may be eligible for special consideration and how it works.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 01/02/2022 10:54:40 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4923 label Biography information for Kim Leadbeater

1400348

	registered interest
	date	06/01/2022
	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, how many children and young people in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools have been confirmed with covid-19 in Wansbeck constituency since September 2021.
	tabling member constituency	Wansbeck
	tabling member printed	Ian Lavery
	uin	98944
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/01/2022 answer text <p>The department collects data on the total number of pupils that are absent each day from school with confirmed COVID-19, as opposed to the total number of positive test results in an area. As we collect the total number of pupils absent from school, we are unable to determine if the same pupil is absent on consecutive days, so are unable to provide a total for the number of pupils absent in this period.</p><p>The proportion of pupils in state-funded primary and secondary schools absent due to COVID-19, since the start of the academic year, can be found on Explore Education Statistics. The lowest geographical level the data is split to is local authority level. Published data for Northumberland is available at: <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/3d84bca3-0d0c-4c10-9163-a37d888dc624" target="_blank">https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/3d84bca3-0d0c-4c10-9163-a37d888dc624</a>.</p><p>The latest set of published data is from 11 January, available at this link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic--6" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic--6</a>.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 14/01/2022 11:23:14 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4139 label Biography information for Ian Lavery

1383856

	registered interest
	date	01/12/2021
	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, what recent assessment he has been made on the potential impact of covid-19 on access to education for child aged under 12 who are clinically extremely vulnerable.
	tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
	tabling member printed	Justin Madders
	uin	85309
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/12/2021 answer text <p>Our priority is to maximise the number of children in face-to-face education or childcare.</p><p>The latest evidence suggests that children and young people face a very low risk of serious illness from COVID-19. This includes children previously considered clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV).</p><p>Children and young people previously considered CEV were advised to return to childcare, nurseries, schools and colleges when shielding paused on 1 April 2021, and on 19 July 2021 people previously identified as CEV, including children and young people, were advised to follow the same guidance as the rest of the population. Schools should continue to support pupils who were formerly considered CEV so that they can attend school, in line with the wider population. The guidance can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19/guidance-on-shielding-and-protecting-extremely-vulnerable-persons-from-covid-19</a>.</p><p>If a child has been advised to isolate or reduce their social contact by their specialist, due to the nature of their medical condition or treatment, they should continue to follow the advice of their specialist.</p><p>The department’s published operational guidance for nurseries, schools and colleges provides details on the testing, ventilation and hygiene measures that all should have in place to manage the transmission of COVID-19 day to day. The guidance is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-schools-coronavirus-covid-19" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-schools-coronavirus-covid-19</a>.</p><p>The contingency framework includes the additional measures nurseries, schools and colleges should include in their contingency plans in case they are advised to take extra steps because of a spike in infections: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-local-restrictions-in-education-and-childcare-settings/contingency-framework-education-and-childcare-settings" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-local-restrictions-in-education-and-childcare-settings/contingency-framework-education-and-childcare-settings</a>.</p><p>If parents, carers or pupils are anxious about attendance, they should speak to the education setting about their concerns and discuss the measures that have been put in place to reduce the risk. Nurseries, schools and colleges should continue to conduct risk assessments for their particular circumstances and take appropriate action in line with our guidance.</p><p>The department is committed to protecting education, which is why the safety measures are based on the latest scientific advice and strike a balance between managing transmission risk with measures such as regular testing, enhanced ventilation and hygiene and reducing disruption to face-to-face education.</p> answering member constituency Worcester answering member printed Mr Robin Walker question first answered 07/12/2021 16:29:20 answering member 4091 label Biography information for Mr Robin Walker
	tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders