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8 Sept 2003 : Column 140W—continued
Science Curriculum
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what plans he has to reassess the provision for fieldwork within the curriculum for science (a) GCSE and (b) A-level; and if he will make a statement; [127750]
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- (2) what assessment he has made of the resource implications that would arise if all secondary schools were required to make provision for fieldwork for all pupils; [127751]
(3) what assessment he has made of the implications for environmental awareness of access to field work as part of the biology curriculum; [128064]
(4) what information his Department collects centrally about secondary schools providing science or biology field work opportunities for all pupils; and what strategies he has for encouraging such provisions. [128065]
Alan Johnson: There are no plans to reassess the provision for field work within science GCSE or A-level. The existing science National Curriculum at Key Stages 1–4, together with current GCSE and A-level syllabuses, encourages field work; there is also a pilot at A-level which places particular emphasis on it. Additionally, all primary and secondary schools are required to make provision for fieldwork for all pupils as part of the Geography curriculum. The Department does not collect information centrally about the provision of science or biology field work opportunities for pupils.
No assessment has been made of the implications for environmental awareness of access to field work as part of the biology curriculum. "Growing Schools" encourages schools to use the 'outdoor classroom' as a resource in all subjects including science. The National Association of Field Studies Officers and the Field Studies Council are members of the National Advisory Group.
Special Needs
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what types of specific handicap or special need are defined as constituting special needs; and how many children there were with each specific type of handicap, at 11 July. [127923]
Margaret Hodge: Section 312 of the Education Act 1996 sets out that children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. Children are defined as having a learning difficulty if they:
- a. have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age;
b. have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the local education authority; OR
c. are under compulsory school age and fall within the definition above or would so if special educational provision was not made for them.
a. Cognition and learning needs
- Specific learning difficulty
Moderate learning difficulty
Severe learning difficulty
Profound and multiple learning difficulty
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-
b. Behaviour, emotional and social development needs
Behaviour, emotional and social difficulty
- Speech, language and communication needs
Autistic spectrum disorder
- Visual impairment
Hearing impairment
Multi-sensory impairment
Physical disability
Standards Fund
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether it is his policy that increases in schools formula spending share made in 2003–04 to reflect the removal of standards funds will be reversed to reflect the restoration of standards funds in 2004–05 and 2005–06. [127925]
Alan Johnson: The restoration of the standards funds in 2004–05 and 2005–06 are a separate issue from the transfer of funding to schools formula spending share in 2003–04. Therefore the restoration of standards fund in 2004–05 and 2005–06 will have no effect on the level of the schools formula spending share for those years.
Teachers
Mrs. Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria are to be applied in September 2004 for teachers to move from upper pay scale 2 to upper pay scale 3; and if he will make a statement. [126843]
Mr. Miliband: For Upper Pay Scale 3, we have proposed to the School Teachers Review Body STRB) that there should be a series of changes including a simple new application requirement for progression, as well as a clear role for the governing body in deciding well in advance how many teachers should progress. We also plan rigorous new excellence criteria for progression, and to cash-limit resources to a level that will find progression at about a third of those eligible in September 2004. We have asked the STRB to make recommendations in November so that schools can better plan their budgets for 2004–05.
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher redundancies have been made in (a) Dorset, (b) Poole and (c) Bournemouth local education authorities in each year since 1997. [125034]
Mr. Miliband: Definitive information on redundancies of teachers is not collected centrally. Provisional statistics on teacher and support staff numbers and teacher vacancies at January 2003 were published in April in Statistical First Release 10/2003.
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Statistics due to be released on 9 September will provide regional and LEA level breakdowns of these figures; provisional national figures for January 2004 are due to be published next April. In May this year, in response to concerns about the difficulties some schools are facing as a result of changes to the funding arrangements, my Department liaised with local education authorities (LEAs) to make a broad assessment of the extent to which schools were making changes in their teaching staff complements. This included whether teachers were being made compulsorily redundant, and the possible reasons for changes in staffing, including falling rolls. LEAs' assessments were based on the best information available to them at that time; many told us that definitive information was not available and that the situation was changing rapidly as schools finalised their budgets and their staffing. In addition they advised that a significant number of the redundancy notices were 'protective' and were likely to be withdrawn as the situation within schools and the LEA became clearer. My Department will continue to work closely with our national partners, including representatives of teachers, and have regular contact with LEAs.
Mr. Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 7 July 2003, Official Report, column 633W, on teacher redundancies, what the reasons were for the delay in answering the question; at what level information on redundancies is collected centrally; if he will place that information in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [125772]
Mr. Miliband: The answer to the hon. Member's earlier question was being processed in the usual way and was answered at the earliest opportunity. Provisional statistics on teacher and support staff numbers and teacher vacancies at January 2003 were published in April in Statistical First Release 10/2003. Statistics due to be released on 9 September will provide regional and LEA level breakdowns of these figures; provisional national figures for January 2004 are due to be published next April. In May this year, in response to concerns about the difficulties some schools are facing as a result of changes to the funding arrangements, my
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Department liaised with local education authorities (LEA)s to make a broad assessment of the extent to which schools were making changes in their teaching staff complements. This included whether teaches were being made compulsorily redundant, and the possible reasons for changes in staffing, including falling rolls. LEAs' assessments were based on the best information available to them at that time; many told us that definitive information was not available and that the situation was changing rapidly as schools finalised their budges and their staffing. In addition they advised that a significant number of the redundancy notices were 'protective' and were likely to be withdrawn as the situation within schools and the LEA became clearer. My Department will continue to work closely with our national partners, including representatives of teachers, and have regular contact with LEAs.
Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much his Department has spent on the fast track teacher training programme in each year, broken down by category of expenditure since the scheme commenced; how many applications there were for each year; how many were allocated a place each year; how many obtained qualified teacher status; how many entered teaching, broken down by (a) primary, (b) special secondary, (c) community, (d) foundation, (e) voluntary aided, (f) voluntary controlled and (g) independent school; and how many have subsequently left teaching. [126936]
Mr. Miliband: The Fast Track teaching programme is a long-term investment in developing effective leadership in schools. This year has seen a record number of appointments to the programme, more than double the totals in previous years.
| 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Information and Publicity | 1.83 | 1.99 | 1.75 |
| Application materials, assessment and selection | 2.38 | 3.78 | 2.38 |
| ITT and CPD | 0.00 | 0.65 | 1.87 |
| Pay, mentoring, career guidance and miscellaneous costs | 0.40 | 1.85 | 2.08 |
| Total | 4.60 | 8.27 | 8.07 |
| By September | New applications to join Fast Track | New offers made to join Fast Track | New entrants to Fast Track ITT(29) | Newly Completed ITT and gained QTS(29) | In Fast Track teaching posts | On Fast Track teaching programme |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1,574 | 136 | 110 | n/a | n/a | 120 (incl. 10 deferring) |
| 2002 | 1,010 | 161 | 117 | 100 | 110 | 249 (incl. 22 deferring) |
| 2003 | 2185 | 378 | (30)310 | 110 | 239 | (30)549 |
(29) Not applicable to those already holding QTS when selected for Fast Track.
(30) Provisional.
| Type of school | Total |
|---|---|
| Primary | 69 |
| Secondary | 168 |
| Special | 2 |
| Total | 239 |
| of which: | |
| Community | 168 |
| Foundation | 31 |
| Voluntary aided | 27 |
| Voluntary controlled | 12 |
| City Academies | 1 |
Six individuals accepted onto the Fast Track programme since its inception have subsequently left the programme to enter teaching in the independent sector; four from the first year's intake and two from the second.
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No-one who has taken up a Fast Track teaching post has subsequently left teaching. One individual has left her Fast Track teaching post to take up promotion as an Assistant Head.
Mr. Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher vacancies there are within the Leeds education authority. [127297]
Mr. Miliband: Teacher vacancies at local authority level for January 2003 will be published in a Statistical First Release on 9 September 2003. Data for 1997 to 2002 were published in table 14 of the Teachers in Service and Teacher Vacancies Statistical First Release (SFR18/2002) in August 2002. A copy has been placed in the Library. The table is also available on the statistics section of the DfES website at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics/DB/SFR/s0346/index.html.
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher vacancies there were in special schools in each of the last five years, broken down by local education authority. [127919]
Mr. Miliband: The table shows the number of teacher vacancies in maintained special schools in England at January of each year. Data for 2002 are the most recent available at local authority level. Provisional figures for January 2003 show that the number of vacancies in maintained special in England schools fell to 240.
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Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to his answer of 7 May 2003, Official Report, column 695W, whether he has set a date for the launch of the Teachernet emergency planning website; and what the cost has been of developing the website. [121562]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 24 June 2003]: Following the trialling we hope to be able to launch the website by the end of October, assuming that all the further development work and testing are satisfactorily completed and clearances obtained. The cost of developing the site, approximately £60,000, remains unchanged from my previous reply of 7 May.
The website will bring together a range of information already publicly available to schools. It will cover: planning, including health and safety, evacuation
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procedures and emergency services; types of incidents, which includes fire, flooding, terrorism and threats by post; and resources, such as forms to help schools with risk assessments.
Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what statistics his Department collects on assaults on teachers; and how many teachers have been the subject of (a) physical assaults, (b) verbal assaults and (c) other threatening behaviour from (i) children and (ii) parents in each year since 1988. [127896]
Mr. Miliband: The Department does not collect information on assaults on teachers. However, serious injuries to primary and secondary school teachers in Great Britain caused by physical violence reported to the Health and Safety Executive under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 have been as follows:
| Year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1996/97 | 83 |
| 1997/98 | 119 |
| 1998/99 | 124 |
| 1999/2000 | 135 |
| 2000/01 | 135 |
| 2001/02 | 110 |
The figures include major injuries and also injuries resulting in more than three days' absence from work as a result of assault. Information is not available on whether the assaults were carried out by children, parents or others.
Mr. Dorrell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers were employed in Leicestershire schools expressed as full-time equivalents on 1st April in each year from 1997 to 2002. [127266]
Mr. Miliband: Teacher numbers as at January in each of these years were published in table 13 of the Teachers in Service and Teacher Vacancies Statistical First Release (SFR18/2002) in August 2002. A copy has been placed in the Library. The table is also available on the statistics section of the DfES website at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics/DB/SFR/s0346/index.html
Linda Perham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on salaries of teachers in the Greater London area. [127833]
Mr. Miliband: Teachers' salaries are regularly monitored using the Department's Database of Teachers' Records. Regional salary data from this source are published each year in the Department's evidence to the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB), a copy of which is in the library. The evidence is also available on the DfES website at http://www. teachernet.gov.uk/management/payandperformance/pay/strb2003/. The STRB also carries out a sample
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survey of about 3,000 schools in England and Wales each year to inform its annual teachers' pay review. The results of this survey can be found on the STRB website at: http://www.ome.uk.com/stp review.cfm.
Mr. Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many (a) teachers and (b) classroom assistants there were in schools in (i) the Taunton constituency and (ii) Somerset in each year since 1997. [127776]
Mr. Miliband: The number of full time equivalent (FTE) teachers and teaching assistants in the maintained sector in Taunton constituency and Somerset LEA since 1997 are shown in the following table.
| Taunton constituency | Somerset LEA | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTE number of teachers(31) | FTE number of teaching assistants(31),(32) | FTE number of teachers(33) | FTE number of teaching assistants(31),(32) | |
| 1997 | 680 | 140 | 3,480 | 610 |
| 1998 | 650 | 150 | 3,480 | 660 |
| 1999 | 650 | 160 | 3,380 | 680 |
| 2000 | 670 | 170 | 3,530 | 710 |
| 2001 | 690 | 210 | 3,770 | 830 |
| 2002 | 720 | 230 | 3,770 | 920 |
(31) Source: Annual School Census.
(32) Includes nursery assistants, special needs support staff, minority ethnic pupil support staff and other teaching assistants.
(33) Source: 618G survey of teacher numbers and vacancies.
Annual school census and 618G have a survey date of the third Thursday in January.
Local education authority level data for 2003 will be published in a statistical first release on 9 September.
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