| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Student Stress
Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment his Department has made of levels of stress experienced by students (a) taking written and oral exams and (b) undertaking coursework and continual assessment. [86714]
Jim Knight: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), which is responsible for the regulation of qualifications and examinations in England, takes the issue of the assessment burden on candidates seriously, including stress levels. When qualifications are developed, the QCA looks both at the overall manageability and the burden on students taking the qualifications. In recent years, for example, measures have been taken to reduce the length of some A level examination papers in order to reduce the total exam burden for students. The 14-19 White Paper, published last year, gave QCA a remit to address three concerns about coursework assessment, one of which related to the overall burden on students. QCA has recently submitted its advice to the Secretary of State and we will be responding in due course.
Sure Start
John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the Sure Start schemes in Easington constituency; and what plans he has for the future of Sure Start in Easington. [87862]
Beverley Hughes: There are four designated Sure Start children’s centres within the Easington constituency with a further four planned by the end of September 2006. The centres will reach a total of 3301 children under the age of five. Three of the children's centres are based on Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLPs) and two are based on mini Sure Start local programmes. Each of the Sure Start local programmes carried out their own local evaluations assessing progress against a range of outcomes as part of their local level monitoring and evaluation. Findings from the local evaluations have been used to inform good practice in Sure Start children's centres. Local authorities play a key role in identifying numbers of children’s centres, their location and the range of services offered. They are also responsible for putting in place effective monitoring and performance management arrangements to assess the quality of the centres.
There is some excellent practice in Easington, with Sure Start Peterlee being awarded the Partners in Excellence Award in December 2004 for its work on developing a model of intervention to measure child development. The programme was also short listed in the Achieving with Partners category in December 2005. The overall impact of Sure Start local programmes nationally is being assessed through the National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS).
Two
additional children’s centres with a planned reach of 989
children under the age of five will be
established within the Easington constituency, during phase two of the
children’s centre development. children’s centres
services will then be available to all children under the age of five
in
Easington.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what training staff in Sure Start projects are expected to have regarding identifying people with mental health problems and dealing with them appropriately. [88020]
Beverley Hughes: The Sure Start Children’s Centres Practice Guidance (published in November 2005) gives advice to local authorities on the sort of prevention and intervention services children’s centres should provide in order to promote the mental health and well-being of young children and their parents. Local authorities together with key partners such as primary care trusts are responsible for ensuring services are of high quality. This includes identifying and addressing the training needs of staff working in children’s centres.
Teachers
Mr. Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many full-time equivalent qualified teachers were employed in primary schools in Swindon in each year since 1997; [86633]
(2) how many full-time equivalent qualified teachers were employed in secondary schools in Swindon in each year between 1997 and 2006. [86969]
Jim Knight: The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of regular qualified teachers employed in maintained nursery/primary and secondary schools in Swindon local authority in each January from 1997 to 2005 (the latest year for which information is available at local authority level). Information for England from 1997 to 2006 is also given to enable comparison.
It is anticipated that local authority level information for January 2006 will be published in September.
| Full-time equivalent qualified teachers employed in maintained nursery/primary and secondary schools in Swindon local authority and England, January 1997 to 2006 | ||||
| Nursery/Primary | Secondary | |||
| Swindon | England | Swindon | England | |
| (1)
Swindon local authority was created in the local Government
reorganisation of 1.4.97. (2) Provisional. Notes: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. Source: Survey of teachers in service and teacher vacancies, (618g) | ||||
Mr. Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many newly qualified teachers obtained employment in full-time teaching positions in schools related to the subject in which they trained in 2006. [87955]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what training teachers receive on how to deal with children with (a) special educational needs and (b) communication disabilities; and if he will make a statement. [87960]
Mr. Dhanda: In order to be awarded Qualified Teacher Status, all trainee teachers must demonstrate that they understand their responsibilities under the statutory Special Educational Needs Code of Practice, know how to seek advice from specialists on less common types of SEN, can differentiate their teaching to meet the needs of pupils, including those with SEN, and within that pupils with speech, language and communication difficulties, and can identify and support pupils who experience behavioural, emotional and social difficulties.
The current standards for teachers are under review. Once revised, it is proposed that they will be strengthened to include a standard which requires teachers to know and comply with current legislation on well being of children and young people, one which requires teachers to know and understand the role of others when dealing with children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and one which requires teachers to communicate effectively with parents and carers.
Induction Standards require Newly Qualified Teachers to demonstrate that they can plan effectively to meet the needs of pupils in their classes with SEN, with or without a statement, and in consultation with the school’s SEN Co-ordinator (SENCO), can contribute to the planning for individual needs.
Once qualified, all teachers are expected to discuss their own development needs in performance management reviews, and to address development priorities. This could include strengthening knowledge and understanding of communication difficulties. Where schools have identified a need to strengthen knowledge and understanding of SEN or communication difficulties, as a school improvement priority, this should be addressed through their school improvement and development plans.
All schools receive a School Development Grant which they are able to use to support improvements in any aspect of teaching and learning. A wide variety of courses are available covering SEN, ranging from awareness-raising through to in-depth studies leading to specific qualifications. It is, however, a matter for individual teachers and their schools to determine their own particular training and development needs. Local authorities may retain a proportion of this grant, under certain conditions, to provide specific training and development of SEN.
The
Department’s published SEN Strategy, ‘Removing Barriers
to Achievement’ recognised the important of training and
committed us to work
closely with the Training and Development Agency for Schools to ensure
that initial teacher training and programmes of continuing professional
development provide a good grounding in core skills and knowledge of
SEN. We have commissioned the IDA to carry forward a range of
initiatives designed to improve and strengthen the SEN skills and
confidence of trainees, newly qualified and established teachers. These
initiatives will be implemented over the period 2005-08 at a cost of
approximately £1.1
m.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers (a) retired and (b) retired on the grounds of ill health, broken down by type of ill health, in each year since 1997. [88441]
Jim Knight: The following tables provide: (a) the number of teachers who retired in each year from 1989-90 to 2004-05 broken down by the type of award, (premature, age and ill health); and (b) ill health retirements by diagnosis in each 12-month period from 1 October 2002, the earliest date from which data have been collected in this form.
Further information on teacher retirements has been published in the Statistics of Education School Workforce in England Volume, 2005 edition, which can be downloaded from the following URL:
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000633/index.shtml.
| Retirements from the maintained schools sector( 1) : Type of award and sex by year of award, 1989-90 to 2004-05—England | ||||||
| Premature( 2) | Age | |||||
| Financial year (1 April to 31 March) | Men | Women | Men and women | Men | Women | Men and women |
| Ill-health retirements by diagnosis( 1) | |||
| Diagnosis | 2002-03( 2) | 2003-04( 2) | 2004-05( 2) |
| (1)
Figures are for ill-health retirements from all education sectors in
England and Wales pensionable under the Teachers' Pensions
Scheme. (2 )Each year covers the period 1 October to
30 September. (3) Less than 5.
Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest 5. Source: DfES medical advisers. | |||
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |