| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
30 Jan 2006 : Column 78W—continued
Foundation Stage Profile
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many and what proportion of children scored (a) scale score six or more and (b) scale score eight or more in all assessments in the Foundation Stage profile; [45991]
(2) how many and what proportion of children scored (a) scale score six or more and (b) scale score eight or more in (i) mathematical development, (ii) communication, language and literacy and (iii) the mathematical development and communication language and literacy assessments combined in the Foundation Stage Profile. [45993]
Beverley Hughes: My Department will be releasing final statistics for the Foundation Stage Profile (FSP) 2005 in a Statistical First Release on 16 February 2006. These figures will be available on my Department's website http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/index.shtml.
I will write to the hon. Member and provide him with the information he has requested by the end of February.
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether it is her policy that the child centred approach to learning as set out in the Foundation Stage should be applied to the reception year of primary school. [45992]
30 Jan 2006 : Column 79W
Jacqui Smith: The Foundation Stage is already applied to the reception year of primary schools. The Foundation Stage is a distinct phase of education focusing on the needs of children aged three to the end of the reception year of primary school, when some children will be almost five and others almost six.
Free Trade Goods
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps her Department is taking to encourage the purchase of free trade goods. [43081]
Jacqui Smith: Fair Trade products including tea, coffee, chocolate and biscuits are offered for sale in all DfES head office restaurants. We are currently in discussions with our catering supplier with a view to increasing the amount of Fair Trade products sold.
Grouping/Setting
John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in how many subjects she envisages more grouping and setting referred to on page 10 of the White Paper, Higher Standards, Better Schools for All". [46438]
Jacqui Smith: It is for schools to use their own professional judgment to decide which subjects to group or set pupils by ability. We will continue through the National Strategies and our Gifted and Talented programme to offer advice and guidance to schools on classroom practice so that they can make decisions about how to use pupil setting as part of their overall commitment to personalising and tailoring learning to meet the needs of all their pupils.
Head Teachers
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to promote the recruitment of head teachers. [46407]
Jacqui Smith: We are doing more than ever before to provide the incentives, pay and professional development to attract and retain effective head teachers.
The top of the leadership group pay spine in England and Wales has risen by 35 per cent. since 1997 to £93,327 now, with nearly £100,000 available in inner London. Schools and LAs have greater flexibility to award recruitment and retention incentives and they can set a head teacher's salary above the top of the pay spine. Vacancy rates for head teachers are low—0.8 per cent. in 2005.
Through the National College for School Leadership (NCSL), we will continue to develop strong school leaders with the necessary skills to help us achieve our objective of raising standards for every pupil in every school. Since 2001, over 14,000 candidates have completed the National Professional Qualification for Headship, which prepares aspiring heads to take up headship posts in schools.
And we have also asked the NCSL to consider how it can help schools make more effective succession planning arrangements and to work with governor
30 Jan 2006 : Column 80W
associations and other key partners, including local authorities, to develop advice to governors on recruitment, selection and succession planning.
Home Education
Mr. Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many parents in Milton Keynes are educating their children at home. [45430]
Jacqui Smith: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 23 January 2006, Official Report, columns 1915–916W.
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many parents in Coventry, South are educating their children at home. [42783]
Jacqui Smith [holding answer 19 January 2006]: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given on 23 January 2006, Official Report, column 1915W.
Independent Schools
Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils aged 11 years in each local education authority transferred to independent secondary schools in each of the last 20 years for which figures are available from (a) local authority schools and (b) grant maintained schools. [46424]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Mr. Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what percentage of children of compulsory school age in each local education authority area attended independent schools in the last year for which figures are available. [46494]
Jacqui Smith: The information requested is shown in the table.
(14) Solely registered pupils aged 5 to 15.
(15) Includes maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools, direct grant nursery schools, special schools, pupil referral units, independent schools, city technology colleges and academies.
(16) The number of pupils in independent schools expressed as a percentage of the number of pupils in all schools.
Note:
National and regional totals have been round to the nearest 10. There may be discrepancies between the sum of constituent items and totals as shown.
Source:
Annual Schools' Census
30 Jan 2006 : Column 83W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |