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Special Measures

5. Mr. Jeff Ennis (Barnsley, East and Mexborough): How many (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools have been taken out of the special measures category since the beginning of the current academic year. [88968]

The Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Mr. David Blunkett): I am pleased to be able to announce that last term, for the first time, the number of schools going into special measures was exceeded by the number coming out. There were 135 entering special measures and 149 coming out, of which 109 were primary schools, 24 were secondary and 16 were special schools. By the end of this term a further 40 schools will have come out of special measures.

Mr. Ennis: I thank my right hon. Friend for his response and I congratulate the Government on their progress towards achieving their objective of making every school in this country a good school. Is my right hon. Friend aware that Milefield primary school in Grimethorpe in my constituency has recently been taken out of the special measures category? Having visited Grimethorpe, he will be aware of the hardships that it has suffered in recent years, particularly in 1993 when the local pit was deliberately closed as an act of political spite, not economic necessity, by the previous Government. Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating everyone connected with Milefield school, including the headmistress, Judith Hurst, the governors, the staff, the parents and particularly the children, on their recent achievement?

Mr. Blunkett: We all appear to be able to rejoice at Milefield school coming out of special measures in February. I congratulate all who have made that possible, including the head, the teachers and the parents. When I visited Grimethorpe last Friday, I was deeply impressed by the spirit of self-help and regeneration in the community, and by the older and younger people who were making that possible. It is with that spirit of self-help that the devastation caused by the previous Government will be set aside.

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Early Learning

6. Mr. Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley): What assessment he has made of the level of support from the voluntary sector for the early learning goals. [88969]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Ms Margaret Hodge): The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority recently published its report which analyses responses to the review of desirable learning outcomes. This shows that over 95 per cent. of respondents from across the range of sectors support the aims of the proposed early learning goals. This includes support from the voluntary sector, at 95 per cent.

Mr. Hoyle: Does my hon. Friend agree with the Ofsted report, which concluded that children do not suffer emotionally by being encouraged to achieve early learning goals, such as counting to 10 and learning the alphabet? I am sure that most parents would agree with that.

Ms Hodge: We know from the response to our consultation that most parents do agree with that. It is outrageous to suggest that children who are almost six should not be able to feel comfortable with early numbers and early literacy achievements. We will pursue those early learning goals as a way of raising standards throughout the education system.

Mr. Don Foster (Bath): The Minister's reply notwithstanding, can she explain to the House why, despite the large positive response to which she referred, the Early Childhood Education Forum--which represents nearly every organisation involved in early-years education across the country--has described the proposals as a mess and a muddle? The forum said that the goals were far too prescriptive and that there would be an early introduction of formal education which, as evidence from other countries in Europe suggests, is the wrong approach. As an example, can the Minister explain why she believes it right to have it as a goal that children by the age of six should learn to sit still, rather than that they should be able to jump on to and off a log?

Ms Hodge: I had better engage the hon. Gentleman about falling off logs--[Interruption]--and sooner rather than later. He was with me when the Select Committee visited Switzerland, one of the countries which engages in a more structured and rigorous approach to early-years education. It is not an issue of choosing between play and learning; nor is it an issue of over-formalising education. We are attempting to ensure--I would want the hon. Gentleman's support--that children at this early stage of their development get those skills that we know are necessary for effective learning. To ensure that that happens, we need to have the structure and rigour of a foundation stage and early learning goals.

Mr. Paul Marsden (Shrewsbury and Atcham): Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating Shrewsbury sixth form college on the development of the new learning centre at the heart of the town, which will be open to all,

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young and old, and which will be completed in September? What help is available from the Government for encouraging more community learning schemes?

Ms Hodge: A community learning fund will be available to colleges such as the one my hon. Friend described, from which they can get support for the sort of schemes that he would wish to make progress.

Mrs. Theresa May (Maidenhead): The Minister cannot simply cast aside the growing concerns about the increasing formalisation of education for children at a very young age and the increasing pressure being put on them by having to go to primary school at an earlier age and by the early learning outcomes. Is she aware of the article by Dr. Cousins, an adviser to the United Nations on early-years education, who said:


There is a great risk that learning through play is being cast aside, as evidenced by the closure of 1,500 pre-schools in the past two years and the expected closure of 1,700 this year. Will the Minister confirm that when she claims that hundreds of pre-schools have opened in the past year, that includes instances in which the leader of a pre-school has changed address or an existing pre-school has been taken over by a new leader? Is not this just another case of fiddling the figures?

Ms Hodge: That really takes the biscuit. The increase in the number of children going into reception classes was entirely due to the nursery voucher scheme introduced by the previous Government. I wonder whether the hon. Lady really thinks it wrong for her own children, by the time they are five, almost six, to be able to count to 10, to know the alphabet, to recognise the M on a McDonald's sign and to be able to deal with simple words. If she wants that for her own children, is it not good enough for other children? Is it not about time that Conservative Members started to show some concern for the three quarters of all four-year-olds currently experiencing their nursery education in the maintained sector?

Specialist Schools

7. Mr. Ben Chapman (Wirral, South): What support has been given to specialist schools to enable them to increase their links with the community. [88971]

The Minister for School Standards (Ms Estelle Morris): The criteria for specialist school applicants provide clear guidance on their community role. From September, we will make available additional funding of up to £20,000 a year to support the development of links with other primary and secondary schools and the wider community.

Mr. Chapman: I join my hon. Friend in welcoming the expansion of the specialist schools programme, which includes Plessington high school in my constituency. Is not that evidence of the Government delivering on diversity, just as they are delivering on early years and on class sizes? What evidence is there of successful achievement by pupils in the specialist schools?

Ms Morris: I thank my hon. Friend for his comments and congratulate Plessington on being designated a

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specialist school. It is indeed an example of the Government modernising the comprehensive principle. There were 200 specialist schools when we took office and we have found additional resources so that there will be 800--one in four secondary schools--by 2002. We have ensured that they share their resources and expertise with other secondary and primary schools in the area so that we can raise standards for all children, not only a few. I know that all hon. Members will welcome that.

Mr. Michael Jack (Fylde): The former Lytham St. Anne's high school in my constituency has taken on the specialist role of a technology college, but unfortunately it faces problems with its second round funding application. It was led to believe that £100 per capita would be available in the second phase, but it is now affected by a new policy that appears to impose a cap. Will the Minister assure me that an official from her Department will make early contact with the headmaster, Mr. Michael Payne, to review the situation and get a first-hand briefing on the problem?

Ms Morris: There are no new criteria. The financial arrangements for the second round were made clear some time ago. The specialist schools receive considerable extra money. There is matched funding of £100,000 for capital work and up to an additional £100,000 to provide for revenue work both for the schools' own students and for others. I have every confidence that the school in the right hon. Gentleman's constituency will use the money to good effect to raise standards for its students and those in the neighbouring schools.

Mrs. Anne Campbell (Cambridge): Will my hon. Friend investigate the unwillingness of the Conservative- controlled Cambridgeshire local education authority to match the Government's standards fund to provide literacy classes for parents in my constituency? Those parents will miss out on a valuable source of funding that the Government want to use to raise standards.

Ms Morris: I share my hon. Friend's concern about that. In the drive to raise literacy standards for children, it is just as important to work with their parents. Much of the money made available by the Government for the literacy strategy should be taken up locally, and I very much regret the action of the Cambridgeshire authority. If it had decided to passport the money that the Government have made available for schools, it would not have had to make the decision that it has made.

Mr. James Clappison (Hertsmere): Given that specialist schools involve a measure of selection, will the Minister take this opportunity to say whether the Government still believe the assurance given by the Secretary of State to the constituents of the hon. Member for Wirral, South (Mr. Chapman) in the by-election there in 1997? That assurance was given in a Labour publication and was headed "Grammars are safe with Labour". The Secretary of State said:


Does that assurance stand?

Ms Morris: I look forward to the day when the hon. Gentleman asks a question that does not refer to the

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161 grammar schools, but is about the 24,000 other schools that make up the rest of the English state system. My right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State have made the Government's policy quite clear, both before and since the election. They have said that the decision about whether to change the admissions arrangements for grammar schools, in the Wirral and elsewhere, will lie in the hands of parents. The House knows that the last time that many grammar schools closed was under Baroness Thatcher. She did not allow parents to make that decision, but took it herself, in conjunction with local authorities. I should have thought that, on such important decisions, the House would welcome the fact that we are asking those whose lives will most be affected.


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