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11 July 2007 : Column 1508W—continued
| Maintained secondary | ||||||||
| Ribble Valley | England( 2) | |||||||
| Number of permanent exclusions | Percentage of school population( 3) | Number of permanent exclusions | Percentage of school population( 3) | Number of permanent exclusions | Percentage of school population( 3) | Number of permanent exclusions | Percentage of school population( 3) | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) National figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. (3) Number of exclusions expressed as a percentage of the number (headcount) of all pupils (excluding dually registered pupils). (4) Fewer than three, or a rate based on fewer than three. (5) Not available. (6) Not applicable. Source: School census | ||||||||
Pupils: Basic Skills
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps his Department is taking to improve the standard of basic skills of school leavers. [148243]
Jim Knight: The percentage of 16-year-olds achieving five A*-C GCSE grades or equivalent has risen from 45.1 per cent. in 1997 to 58.1 per cent. In 2006.
Teaching literacy and maths at primary school is the essential foundation for every child's learning. Last year we revised the primary framework for literacy and mathematics for the first time since the national literacy and numeracy strategies were introduced. The revised document embeds best practice in systematic phonics teaching, as recommended by the Rose review, and raises expectations for pupils' progress. For example they are expected to learn their times tables a year earlier.
We have provided schools with significant funding for personalised learning: reaching £900 million this year. This can be used to support small group and one-to-one tuition for those who have fallen behind national expectations in English and maths. The Budget announced further funding sufficient to provide an average of 10 hours of one-to-one tuition in schools for over 300,000 under-attaining pupils a year in both English and mathematics by 2010-11. We have provided schools with guidance and support on how to help pupils who are at risk of falling behind in English and maths through programmes such as Study Plus, which targets pupils who are struggling with English and maths at Key Stage 4 (ages 14 to 16). Changes to the curriculum at KS3 will also, over time, support higher standards of literacy and numeracy.
We know that demonstrating basic competence and the ability to apply practically what they learn in English, maths and ICT is vital to young people's future employability. Competence in functional skills in these areas will be tested as an important part of the new diplomas for 14 to 19-year-olds which are being piloted from September 2008 and will be available nationally from 2013. For students embarking on GCSEs in English, maths and ICT from September 2010, it will also be necessary to demonstrate the appropriate level of functional skills in order to obtain a pass at grades A* to G*. Pilots of functional skills will be taking place in a range of schools and colleges across England from this September, supported by a
programme of professional development for teachers to support the necessary changes in teaching and learning.
Pupils: Per Capita Costs
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding per head was provided to school children up to 18 years of age in (a) Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency and (b) Telford constituency in (i) 2004, (ii) 2005 and (iii) 2006. [147676]
Jim Knight: The requested information is allocated to local authorities and not at constituency level. The Shrewsbury constituency is part of Shropshire LA, and the Telford constituency is part of Telford and Wrekin LA. The revenue funding figures per pupil aged three to 19 for Shropshire LA and Telford and Wrekin LA for years 2003-04 to 2005-06 are as follows:
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what amount in (a) percentage and (b) real terms the Government have spent on (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools from its education budget in the last five years. [147846]
Jim Knight [holding answer 11 July 2007]: The requested figures are in the following table. These are extracted from table 12.3 of the 2007 Department for Education and Skills departmental report, a link to which follows:
| Education expenditure( 1) by central and local government( 2) by sector in real terms( 3) in England 2002-03 to 2006-07 | |||||
| £ million | |||||
| Schools( 4) | 2002-03 outturn | 2003-04 outturn | 2004-05 outturn | 2005-06 provisional outturn | 2006 -07 estimated outturn |
| (1) Figures within departmental expenditure limits (DEL), Excludes DfES administration costs and expenditure on other areas than education, for instance on children and families and on skills. (2) The recurrent local authority figures in this table are drawn from Table 8.4 of the 2007 departmental report; the footnotes to that table set out the underlying data sources. Central Government figures are drawn from the Combined Online Information System (COINS). (3) All figures have been converted to 2005-06 price levels using the 28 March 2007 gross domestic product (GDP) deflators. (4) Figures from 2003-04 onwards reflect the transfer of responsibility from the Department to LEAs of costs relating to teachers’ pensions, (5) Primary figures exclude expenditure on under fives. | |||||
Pupils: Qualifications
Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 were entered for a qualification provided by the awarding body CACHE in the last year for which figures are available; [147306]
(2) how many pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 were entered for a CACHE Level 2 Certificate in Child Care and Education in the last year for which figures are available. [147309]
Jim Knight: This information is not available.
Pupils: Transport
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) whether parents will need to demonstrate that (a) they are registered disabled and (b) that they have been assessed for a certain level of community care services for home to school transport to be provided to their children, with reference to sections 87 and 88 of his Department's guidance on home to school travel and transport; [148439]
(2) whether home to school transport will be provided to children if their parent's disability varies in severity from day to day, with reference to sections 87 and 88 of his Department's guidance on home to school travel and transport; [148440]
(3) whether home to school transport will be provided to children in circumstances where they have parents with disabilities who are in receipt of support from community care services, with reference to sections 87 and 88 of his Department's guidance on home to school travel and transport. [148441]
Jim Knight
[holding answer 9 July 2007]: It is for the local authorities to ensure that their policies and practice
take account of the provisions of disability discrimination legislation, when determining entitlement to free home to school transport.
Schools: Admissions
Mr. Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many surplus places there were in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in each local education authority on 1 January 2007, broken down by school type; and how many schools of each type there were in each authority. [147510]
Jim Knight: The number of surplus places in primary and secondary schools in each local authority at January 2006 is contained in the following tables which have been placed in the House Libraries.
The number of surplus places in primary and secondary schools at January 2007, broken down by school type, is currently being collected from local authorities and will be published in January 2008; this is the first year that the Department has collected surplus places data by school type. Surplus places data are published on Teachernet at:
Schools: Ethnic Groups
Mr. Love: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he is taking to tackle the incidence of school populations dominated by one ethnic type in English schools; and if he will make a statement. [146736]
Jim Knight: Where communities are ethnically diverse their schools should aspire to reflect that diversity. However, it is unlawful for schools to take account of a child's ethnic background when allocating places. What is important is that all parents are able to exercise their fundamental right to decide what school they would like their child to attend confident that they will not be discriminated against because of their background. The new school admissions code, which came into force on 28 February 2007, has established a framework to ensure that every child has an equal opportunity to attend a good school. In addition, the governing bodies of maintained schools in England have a duty under section 38 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006 to promote community cohesion and Ofsted will report on the discharge of this duty.
Schools: Finance
Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to his predecessor’s answer of 27 June 2007, Official Report, column 331, which pupils in North Oxfordshire have received £1,000 extra funding; and how many pupils have received such funding. [147695]
Jim Knight:
The Department for Children, Schools and Families allocates education funding to local authorities and not at constituency level, The requested information is for Oxfordshire local authority. Between 1997-98 and 2005-06 the revenue funding from
Government for nursery, primary and secondary school pupils in Oxfordshire local authority rose by £1,030 (or 34 per cent.) in real terms. In addition, following the introduction of the Dedicated School Grant in 2006-07, the per pupil revenue funding in Oxfordshire rose by 6.8 per cent. in 2006-07 and 6.4 per cent. in 2007-08.
Schools: Literacy
Mr. Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what progress has been made on the review of the national literacy strategy; and if he will make a statement; [148244]
(2) what measures his Department is taking to improve the standard of literacy in schools. [148190]
Jim Knight: We commissioned the Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading—carried out by Jim Rose—to inform our efforts to improve standards of literacy in primary schools.
We have revised the primary framework for literacy and mathematics for the first time since the national literacy strategy was introduced in 1998, putting phonics at the heart of the teaching of reading. The renewed framework and associated training are the key vehicle for implementing Jim Rose's recommendations.
To provide further support to teachers we have produced a full, high quality, phonics teaching programme—‘Letters and Sounds’—which was published on 30 April.
We are also providing support for children who struggle to learn to read through the Every Child a Reader programme. This three-year, £10 million pilot, funded in partnership with the KPMG Foundation and other charitable and corporate funders, is helping 5,000 six-year-olds with significant literacy difficulties to learn to read. ECAR will be rolled out nationally from 2008-09, benefiting over 30,000 children a year by 2010-11.
Our reforms to the secondary curriculum are designed to support the continued development of functional skills in English, maths and ICT. The curriculum changes proposed by QCA would also create flexibility for teachers to tailor the curriculum to provide extra support for children who are at risk of falling behind in English or maths.
In addition to developing literacy skills, we are also taking steps to encourage a broader appreciation of English; for example through our Boys into Books programme, which has made a selection of books likely to appeal to boys available to all secondary schools. We have also worked with the Globe Theatre to develop a podcast to help children to study Much Ado About Nothing.
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