| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
28 Jun 2006 : Column 494W—continued
Special Needs Standards
Mr. Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how much (a) the Government and (b) local authorities have spent commissioning Edison to help local authorities to meet special needs standards; [79167]
(2) what role Edison is playing in helping local authorities to meet special needs standards; and if he will make a statement. [79168]
Jim Knight: The Department has not commissioned Edison Schools UK, nor has it made an assessment of the role Edison is playing, to help local authorities meet their duties in regard to special educational needs (SEN). Local authorities have duties to identify, assess and arrange suitable provision for children with SEN and to keep their arrangements for special educational provision under review. Local authorities can buy in consultancy advice to help them with their special needs duties, as can schools, including special schools. The Department does not record how much local authorities have spent commissioning Edison nor what, if any, of this has been spent on SEN consultancy. Through programmed annual performance assessments and periodic joint area reviews of children's services, Ofsted and other inspectorates inspect how local authorities meet their duties, including any arrangements they make with private or voluntary sector organisations.
Specialist Schools
Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of pupils at each specialist school which selects a proportion of its pupils by aptitude for its specialist subjects is so selected at each school. [79801]
Jim Knight [holding answer 26 June 2006]: The Department does not collect this data. However all schools including specialist schools are bound by the limitations set within the School Admissions Code of Practice. Relatively few such schools select in this way. When the Department last collected such data in summer 2001, only 45 schools or 6.5 per cent. of those that were specialist at the time did so.
Swimming Pools
Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding is available for swimming pools through the Building Schools for the Future programme; and whether there are plans to extend this provision. [80596]
Jim Knight: Funding for Building Schools for the Future is allocated formulaically, based on pupil numbers and our area guidelines for secondary schools, published in ‘Building Bulletin 98’. Within ‘Building Bulletin 98’ swimming pools are considered to be a ‘supplementary area’—in other words they are not part of the core school facilities which we fund.
While Building Schools for the Future funding allocations do not include money for new swimming pools, we do allow existing pools to be refurbished within the programme. It is for each local authority to decide how to make the best use of its overall Building Schools for the Future funding allocation across the schools in a particular project and the scope of works at each school. A decision could be taken locally to put some of the available funding towards a swimming pool instead of the second of the two PE spaces allowed for in our guidelines, but only if the resulting provision satisfies the school’s PE curriculum as well or better than the standard provision.
There is also the option of exploring other sources of funding to supplement that from Building Schools for the Future. In order to help facilitate that locally the Department has produced guidance on joining-up funding in the context of Building Schools for the Future.
Teachers
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers are teaching classes in (a) mathematics, (b) English, (c) biology, (d) physics, (e) chemistry, (f) French, (g) German, (h) history and (i) geography in secondary schools in England who have no higher qualification than an A-level in the subject. [80037]
Jim Knight: Information on the number of teachers teaching by subject and qualification is collected in periodic staffing surveys the last of which was conducted in November 2002.
The following tables provide the available information.
| D8 Teachers in Service: Full-time teachers in maintained secondary schools—Highest post A level qualifications( 1) held in the subjects they teach( 2) to year groups 7-13, England | |||||||
| Percentage | |||||||
| Degree( 3) | BEd | PGCE | Cert Ed | Other Qual. | No Qual. | Total teachers (Thousand) | |
| ‘-’ = zero or less than 0.5. (1) Where a teacher has more than one post A level qualification in the same subject, the qualification level is determined by the highest level reading from left (Degree) to right (Other Qual.). For example, teachers shown under PGCE have a PGCE but not a degree or BEd in the subject, while those with a PGCE and a degree are shown only under Degree. (2) Teachers are counted once against each subject which they are teaching. (3) Includes higher degrees but excludes BEds. (4) Teachers qualified in combined/general science are treated as qualified to teach biology, chemistry, or physics. Teachers qualified in biology, chemistry or physics are treated as qualified to teach combined/general science. (5) Teachers qualified in other/combined technology are treated as qualified to teach design and technology or information and communication technology. Teachers qualified in design and technology or information and communication technology are treated as qualified to teach other/combined technology. (6) Information and Communication Technology is abbreviated as ICT and Personal Social and Health Education is abbreviated as PSHE. (7) ‘Other’ not included in total percentages. Source: Secondary Schools Curriculum and Staffing Survey 2002. | |||||||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |