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19 July 2006 : Column 461W—continued
Figures for the number and percentage of pupils who achieved grade A*-C in a GCSE foreign language are given in the following table.
| 15-year-old pupils( 1 ) achieving grade A*-C in a GCSE foreign language( 2) | ||||
| England | East Riding of Yorkshire | |||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
Figures for the number and percentage of pupils who achieved grade A*-G in a GCSE foreign language are given in the following table.
| 15-year-old pupils( 1 ) achieving grade A*-G in a GCSE foreign language( 2) | ||||
| England | East Riding of Yorkshire | |||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| (1) Pupils aged 15 at the start of the academic year, i.e. 31 August. (2) Maintained institutions only. | ||||
2004/05 GCSE examinations saw the first pupils for whom modern foreign languages were not compulsory.
Figures for the number of pupils who were entered for an A-level foreign language in (a) England and (b) East Riding of Yorkshire in each of the last nine years are given in the following table.
| Pupils entered for an A-level foreign language | ||
| Number | ||
| England( 1) | East Riding of Yorkshire( 2) | |
Figures for the number of pupils who achieved an A-E grade in at least one A-level foreign language are
given as follows, and are given as a proportion of all candidates entered for an A-level foreign language.
| Pupils entered for an A-level foreign language | ||||
| England( 1) | East Riding of Yorkshire( 2) | |||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| (1) All schools. (2) Maintained institutions only. | ||||
School Sports
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures he is taking (a) to increase participation in sporting activities at schools and (b) to widen the number of sporting activities that are available to pupils while at school. [86418]
Jim Knight: The Government are investing over £1.5 billion (including lottery funding) in the five years to 2008 to implement the national school sport strategy. The Departments for Education and Skills and for Culture, Media and Sport share a public service agreement target to increase the percentage of five to 16-year-olds who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality physical education and school sport to 75 per cent. by 2006 and 85 per cent. by 2008. The long-term ambition—by 2010—is to offer all children four hours of sport. Spearheading action is the creation of a national network of sports colleges and school sport partnerships.
Good progress is being made. Currently 80 per cent. of schools in England are within a school sport partnership and all schools will be by September 2006. The 2004/05 school sport survey found that 69 per cent. of pupils in schools within a partnership were spending at least two hours in a typical week on high quality physical education and sport, an 11 per cent. increase on 2003/04. The survey also found that partnership schools offer on average almost 15 different sports. Copies of the 2003/04 and 2004/05 survey reports have been placed in the House Library.
Slave Trade
Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received on including teaching on the slave trade as part of the national curriculum; and if he will make a statement. [86344]
Jim Knight:
Members of the Deputy Prime Minister's Advisory Group on the 2007 Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade have raised this issue on a number of occasions. I am also aware that there have been a large number of letters on the issue addressed to the lead officers at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority who are responsible for
developing the national curriculum. Although we are reducing the amount of detailed prescription in the national curriculum, I am keen to see what can be done to ensure that this important part of our nation’s history is properly understood. The £910,000 of funding that my Department is providing for the understanding slavery initiative (www.understandingslavery.com), in partnership with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, is an important part of this.
Special Schools
Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what advice his Department provides to local education authorities on the role of special schools in the teaching of students with (a) special educational needs and (b) behavioural, emotional and social difficulties. [86011]
Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 17 July 2006]: Our SEN strategy “Removing Barriers to Achievement” makes clear that we see a vital and continuing role for special schools. The Government believe that special schools have an important role to play within the overall spectrum of provision for children with special educational needs—educating some children directly and sharing their expertise with mainstream schools. We are promoting the participation of special schools in the Department’s diversity programmes, including the Specialist Schools Programme, to make the most of the skills and expertise in the special sector, by promoting collaboration, outreach, training and other activities.
Special schools are specially organised to make provision for pupils with special educational needs, so all special schools will teach pupils with special educational needs. There is a wide spectrum of special educational needs that are frequently inter-related. Needs fall broadly into four areas: communication and interaction; cognition and learning; behaviour, emotional and social development; and sensory and/or physical.
The Department through its National Primary and Secondary Strategies provides materials designed to raise standards in teaching and learning for both special and mainstream schools.
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the work of special schools; and what role he plans for such schools in the provision of education for children with special needs. [86417]
Mr. Dhanda: In 2003 we published the ‘The Report of the Special Schools Working Group’ which mapped out a future programme for the special schools sector. The report proposed that special schools should increasingly cater for the population of children with severe and complex needs; that they should be outward-looking centres of expertise and work more collaboratively with mainstream schools.
Our SEN strategy “Removing Barriers to Achievement” made it clear that we see a vital and continuing role for special schools. Special schools have an important role to play within the overall spectrum of provision for children with special educational needs
educating some children directly and sharing their expertise with mainstream schools. We are promoting the participation of special schools in the Department’s diversity programmes, including the Specialist Schools Programme, to make the most of the skills and expertise in the special sector, by promoting collaboration, outreach, training and other activities.
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