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29 Oct 2002 : Column 722W—continued
School Exclusions
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what powers she has to overturn the decision (a) to exclude a pupil and (b) to reinstate an excluded pupil; and what effect legislation enacted since 1997 has had on the powers of her office. [76778]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: The Secretary of State has no powers to overturn the decision to exclude a pupil and no powers to reinstate an excluded pupil. These matters fall to be determined at local level. In respect of exclusions and exclusion appeals legislation enacted since 1997 has not changed the powers of her office.
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children have been excluded from (a) state primary and (b) state secondary schools in West Sussex at each of the key stages, in each year since 1997. [76872]
Mr. Miliband: The available information is shown in the table. Information collected centrally on permanent exclusions does not record the Key Stage of the pupil; a breakdown of the figures by age is given as a proxy. Figures are not available centrally on fixed-term exclusions.
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| Age of pupils | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 and under | 7 to 10 | 11 and over | Total | |
| Primary schools(19) | ||||
| 1996–97 | ||||
| Number of permanent exclusions | 10 | 8 | 2 | 20 |
| Percentage of all permanent exclusions(20) | 50.0 | 40.0 | 10.0 | 100.0 |
| Percentage of school population(21) | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.09 | 0.03 |
| 1997–98 | ||||
| Number of permanent exclusions | 2 | 18 | 3 | 23 |
| Percentage of all permanent exclusions(20) | 8.7 | 78.3 | 13.0 | 100.0 |
| Percentage of school population(21) | 0.01 | 0.06 | 0.12 | 0.04 |
| 1998–99 | ||||
| Number of permanent exclusions | 6 | 24 | 3 | 33 |
| Percentage of all permanent exclusions(20) | 18.2 | 72.7 | 9.1 | 100.0 |
| Percentage of school population(21) | 0.02 | 0.07 | 0.12 | 0.05 |
| 1999–2000 | ||||
| Number of permanent exclusions | 5 | 21 | 4 | 30 |
| Percentage of all permanent exclusions(20) | 16.7 | 70.0 | 13.3 | 100.0 |
| Percentage of school population(21) | 0.02 | 0.06 | 0.14 | 0.05 |
| 2000–01(18) | ||||
| Number of permanent exclusions | 7 | 27 | 7 | 41 |
| Percentage of all permanent exclusions(20) | 17.1 | 65.9 | 17.1 | 100.0 |
| Percentage of school population(21) | 0.03 | 0.08 | 0.27 | 0.07 |
(18) Permanent exclusions data for 2000–01 have been estimated as they are known to be incomplete.
(19) Includes middle schools as deemed.
(20) The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the total number.
(21) The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the number (headcount) of full and part-time pupils (excluding dually registered pupils in special schools) in January each year.
Source:
Annual Schools Census
29 Oct 2002 : Column 724W
School Milk
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many primary schools provide school milk; and what proposals she has to reintroduce it in all schools. [77009]
Mr. Stephen Twigg: My Department does not collect statistics on the provision of school milk. We do not have any plans to reintroduce free school milk, but the nutritional standards for school lunches, brought in April 2001, strongly recommend that drinking milk is available as an option every day.
Schools (Portsmouth)
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) pupils, (b) teachers and (c) support staff there were in each school in the Portsmouth, South constituency at the end of the 2001–02 academic year; and if she will make a statement. [76789]
Mr. Miliband: The latest available information is shown in the table below. This gives numbers of pupils as published in the Primary and Secondary School Performance Tables for 2001. Otherwise, school level information is not routinely published.
(22) Includes schools which have pupils eligible for Key Stage 2 tests or pupils aged 15 and for whom results are published in the primary and secondary performance tables. The primary performance tables only include maintained primary schools with Key Stage 2 eligible pupils. Independent schools and infant schools are therefore excluded.
Source:
2001 Primary and Secondary Performance Tables
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Secondary School Standards
Martin Linton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress she has made in improving standards in secondary schools in (a) England and (b) Wandsworth. [77287]
Mr. Miliband: We are committed to raising standards significantly in secondary schools. That is why we have set challenging targets for raising pupil attainment at 14 and 16. The GCE results for Wandsworth are currently not available, though we know nationally that over 51 per cent of 16-year olds-have achieved five or more GCSEs or GNVQ equivalent. This is an increase of 4.9 percentage point from when targets were first introduced in 1997/98.
In the case of 14-year-olds, there has been an improvement nationally of 1 percentage point in English and mathematics, while in science the large gains made last year have been consolidated. Provisional data for Wandsworth suggest that the number of 14 year olds achieving the standard expected at the end of Key Stage 3 has risen by 4 percentage points in English, and 2 percentage points in maths and science. This is good news, and suggests that our Key Stage 3 strategy has made an early impact on raising pupil standards in the early years of secondary education.
Technology Paper III
Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance was issued to schools this year in respect of changes to the Technology Paper III exam. [77646]
Mr. Miliband [holding answer 28 October 2002]: No such guidance was given by the Department. Guidance to schools on examination matters is the responsibility of the awarding body which offers the qualification.
Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions his Department has had with the OCR Board in respect of this year's Technology Paper III. [77647]
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Mr. Miliband [holding answer 28 October 2002]: The Department has had no such discussions. Examination contents and assessment are the responsibility of the awarding body which offers the qualification.
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