| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
26 Mar 2007 : Column 1289W—continued
Parliamentary Questions
Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he will answer Question 106146, on departmental energy use, tabled by the hon. Member for Wealden on 23 November 2006.
Mr. Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 7 March 2007, Official Report, column 2070W.
Pupil Exclusions: City Academies
Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many pupils were excluded from each academy in the last school year; and if he will make a statement. [127272]
Jim Knight: The available information is given in the table.
| Academies ( 1) : Number and percentage of permanent exclusions 2004/05 Schools in England | |||
| 2004/05 | |||
| Establishment name | Local authority name | Number of permanent exclusions | Percentage of school population( 2) |
| n/a = Not available (1) Academies with one or more permanent exclusions during 2004/05. (2) The number of permanent exclusions expressed as a percentage of the headcount of pupils in the school as at January 2005. (3) 1 or 2 exclusions, or a rate based on 1 or 2 exclusions Note: These figures are as reported by schools and are unconfirmed. Source: School Census | |||
Exclusions data are collected retrospectively. Information on exclusions during the 2005/06 school year is expected to be published in June 2007.
Exclusions in academies are high relative to national averages. However, academies are placing great emphasis on getting the basics right and improving behaviour in particular. Academies often inherit a large number of disruptive pupils and need to establish good behaviour in order to raise attainment. As the new ethos and behaviour policy are enforced in an academy’s early days, the number of exclusions may rise, but it typically drops down as behaviour improves.
This phenomenon is not unique to academies—the same effect is often observed when a new head teacher transforms a struggling maintained school.
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority derived the six groups within the personal, learning and thinking skills framework. [127321]
Jim Knight: The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority’s (QCA) personal, learning and thinking skills framework was designed following extensive consultation. The QCA carried out an online survey with local authorities, teacher associations, sector skills councils, awarding bodies and partner organisations between 3 October and 2 December 2005. In addition, the QCA discussed the framework at over 40 meetings with partners and stakeholders during the same period. The QCA also carried out a separate specific consultation for young people.
Mr. Gibb:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) on what dates the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's Secondary
Curriculum Review External Committee has met since it was established; [127322]
(2) how the members of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority Secondary Curriculum Review External Committee were appointed; and who was responsible for their appointment; [127328]
(3) pursuant to the answer of 7 March 2007, Official Report, column 2077W, on the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, what the terms of reference are of the Secondary Curriculum Review External Committee; and who the members of the committee are. [127343]
Jim Knight: A number of representatives from government bodies, educational organisations, schools and other stakeholders were invited by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to join its Secondary Curriculum Review External Committee. The QCA was responsible for the appointment of committee members.
The current committee members are:
Peter Walker, Secondary National Strategy
Keith Wheeldon, Ofsted
Mr. Hugh Baldry, The Training and Development Agency for Schools
Ms Jenny Jupe, The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
Ms Kathy Baker, General Teaching Council
Professor John White, Institute of Education
Dr. Gordon Stobart, Institute of Education
Ms Sue Kirkham, Field House
Mr. Steve Labedz, Admiral Lord Nelson School
Mr. Martin Buck, Lister Community School
Alison Mottram, Ashton on Mersey School
Mrs. Carol Penney, South and West Association of Leaders in Special Schools
Corri Van de Stege, The Learning and Skills Network
Yasmin Bevan, The National College for School Leadership
Julie Bramman, DfES
Tina Isaacs, QCA
Kate Moorse, QCA
Jeremy Tafler, QCA
John Brown, QCA
David Downes, QCA
The Committee’s terms of reference are:
To bring an external perspective to the development of the key stage 3 curriculum and its assessment;
To help shape consultations with pupils, teachers, parents and other stakeholders;
To help shape trialling and piloting aspects of the proposed curriculum and assessment changes; and
To anticipate, and seek solutions for, possible implementation issues.
The committee met on 17 May 2005, 21 September 2005, 24 November 2005, 6 February 2006, 21 April 2006, 2 November 2006 and 6 December 2006.
School Sponsorship
Sarah Teather:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what representations he has received from organisations based primarily outside the United Kingdom about sponsoring (a) an academy
and (b) a foundation school with a foundation; [111814]
(2) when he will reply to question 111814, on academy and foundation schools, tabled by the hon. Member for Brent East on 23 January 2007. [128738]
Jim Knight: Officials in the Department for Education and Skills had preliminary discussions with two companies based primarily outside the United Kingdom back in 2005. They were keen to sponsor several academies in England but have since decided to withdraw from the proposal.
Officials in the Department for Education and Skills have discussed supporting foundation schools with foundations (trust schools) with a wide range of organisations, including some based primarily outside the United Kingdom. Microsoft Ltd are confirmed as a partner for one of the trust school pathfinder schools. However the Department does not hold a comprehensive list of every organisation that has expressed an early interest or asked for information about forming a foundation to support a school.
Schools: Admissions
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of pupils were admitted to their first preference school in the last year for which figures are available for all secondary schools. [126114]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally.
Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) which admissions authorities include ballot by lottery amongst their oversubscription criteria, in each local authority; [127384]
(2) which admissions authorities allocate places (a) primarily by lottery and (b) by lottery within fair banding, in each local authority; [127385]
(3) which admissions authorities include catchment area amongst their oversubscription criteria, broken down by local authority; [127386]
(4) which admissions authorities allocate places primarily by catchment area, broken down by local authority; [127387]
(5) how many children living within a catchment area for a school which they listed as first preference did not get a place in that school in the latest period for which figures are available, in each local authority; [127388]
(6) how many children living within a catchment area for a school to which they applied did not get a place in that school in the latest period for which figures are available, in each local authority. [127393]
Jim Knight: None of the data requested is collected centrally, but they may be available from individual local authorities.
The admissions framework is flexible enough to allow admission authorities to take account of local circumstances. They may set whatever admission criteria they consider appropriate as long as they are in accordance with the School Admissions Code.
Random allocation, use of catchment areas, or banding are all acceptable means of determining which children should be given priority for admission to oversubscribed schools. They can also be used together—for example, by using random allocation within a defined catchment area—or alongside other criteria—for example, giving priority to siblings.
Schools: Bexley
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the dedicated schools grant was for the London Borough of Bexley in each of the last five years. [119889]
Jim Knight: The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) was first introduced in 2006-07; the funding that Bexley received in 2006-07 and the indicative allocation for 2007-08 are detailed in the following table:
| £ | ||
| 2006-07 (final) | 2007-08 (indicative) | |
| Notes: 1. Figures are on a cash basis 2. Prior to the introduction of the DSG, funding for nursery, primary and secondary school aged pupils was through the Education Funding System (EFS) which was part of the local government finance settlement. EFS was based on what an authority needed to fund education whereas DSG is largely based on an authority’s previous spending. EFS also included funding for an authority's central functions, this is still part of DCLG’s local government finance settlement rather than DSG. For these reasons EFS and DSG are not comparable. 3. The DSG does not represent the totality of education funding; there are other grants that support the schools budget which have not been included in the table. Source: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=9405 | ||
Schools: Construction
Mr. Willetts:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 14 December 2006, Official Report, columns 1397-98W,
on schools: construction, how many schools have completed the BREEAM schools assessment process; and what rating they have achieved. [129644]
Jim Knight [holding answer 23 March 2007]: The numbers of schools that have registered for BREEAM Schools certification now stands at 470 up from 347 in December 2006. Of these, 459 are currently undergoing assessment.
11 schools have now completed the assessment process; four in England and seven in Scotland. In England, two schools achieved a “good” rating, one a “pass” rating, and one a “very good” rating. All seven schools in Scotland achieved a “good” rating.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |