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19 Feb 2008 : Column 524W—continued
Pupils: Attendance
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the most recent attendance figures are for pupils in each school year from year three to year 11; and if he will make a statement. [163320]
Jim Knight:
The first year for which information is available on absence rates by national curriculum year
groups is 2005/06 and relates to secondary schools only. This analysis was published in Statistical First Release 11/2007 in March 2007 at: (http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000718/index.shtml) and is provided as follows.
Data for 2006/07 are expected to be available in February 2008 and will also include figures for primary and special schools.
| Maintained secondary schools, city technology colleges and academies( 1) : Pupil absence by national curriculum year group( 2 ) 2005/06—England | ||||||||
| Maintained secondary schools | City technology colleges | |||||||
| Percentage of half days missed( 3) | Percentage of half days missed( 3) | |||||||
| National curriculum year group | Number of day pupils of compulsory school age( 4) | Authorised absence | Unauthorised absence | Overall absence | Number of day pupils of compulsory school age( 4) | Authorised absence | Unauthorised absence | Overall absence |
| Academies | Total | |||||||
| Percentage of half days missed( 3) | Percentage of half days missed( 3) | |||||||
| National curriculum year group | Number of day pupils of compulsory school age( 4) | Authorised absence | Unauthorised absence | Overall absence | Number of day pupils of compulsory school ag e( 4) | Authorised absence | Unauthorised absence | Overall absence |
| n/a = Not applicable (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) See Notes to Editors 10 of SFR11/2007 for further information on how absence figures by national curriculum year group have been derived. (3) The number of sessions missed due to authorised/unauthorised/overall absence expressed as a percentage of the total number of possible sessions. (4) Pupil numbers are as at January 2006. Includes pupils aged 5 to 15 with sole and dual (main) registration. Excludes boarders. (5) Less than 5 pupils, or absence rates based on a small number of pupils. (6) Includes pupil enrolments for whom information on national curriculum year group was missing. Notes: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of the component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. Source: School Census | ||||||||
Pupils: Data Protection
Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what guidance his Department provides on monitoring the security of IT equipment holding children's data on school premises. [177866]
Jim Knight: Becta is responsible for producing and publishing guidance for schools on how to ensure the security of their IT systems. Becta's latest guidance was published in September 2007 and is available on its website. This guidance includes information for schools on monitoring the physical security of ICT equipment, data security and the security of pupil information and data.
Pupils: English Language
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps the Government have taken to assist teachers with the change in the number of pupils with English as a second language since 1997. [175850]
Jim Knight:
The Government's policy is to encourage rapid English language acquisition as the key to successful integration into the UK education system and the wider community. Newly arrived pupils are given additional help in learning English by specialist advisers and teachers of English as an additional language (EAL) and bilingual classroom assistants, who work in collaboration with classroom teachers to plan lessons and teaching materials. The
evidence indicates that EAL pupils typically catch up with their peers in attainment terms within two years of first admission to a school in England.
The number of pupils for whom English is an additional language (EAL) rose from 500,000 to 790,000 between 1997 and 2007. Putting this in perspective, such children now comprise 12 per cent. of all pupils as against 7.5 per cent. in 1997 and 9 per cent. in 2001. Funding for EAL children has fully kept pace with these increasing numbers through:
an element within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for primary schools which was some £256 million in 2004-05, rising to £299 million in 2007-08, with a further rise to over £330 million in 2010-11—an 11 per cent. real terms increase on the 2004-05 level;
a substantial provision for EAL through the ring fenced Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG), which has risen from £162 million in 2004-05 to £179 million in 2007-08 and will rise to £206 million by 2010-11—a 9 per cent. increase on the 2004-05 level;
in addition an Exceptional Circumstances Grant (ECG) has been introduced to reflect changes in local authorities' pupil numbers which occur after the three year indicative allocations of DSG have been announced.
These increases form part of the substantial overall increase in school funding: over the past 10 years since 1997, overall per pupil revenue funding for schools has increased by 67 per cent. in real terms. We expect local authorities to be able to manage new pressures from within these increases, and to ensure that the resources reach the individual schools affected by new arrivals and EAL speakers.
The Government have recently launched a New Arrivals Excellence Programme intended to provide practical support for local authorities, schools and individual teachers. This programme is backed by other practical support including measures to improve the supply, training and qualifications of EAL specialist staff, and to deliver new web-based teaching and learning materials.
Pupils: Intimidation
Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps the Government has taken to reduce bullying in schools since 1997. [184116]
Kevin Brennan [holding answer 4 February 2008]: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 13 November 2007, Official Report, column 159W.
Pupils: Per Capita Costs
Mr. Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much was (a) budgeted for and (b) spent per pupil on average in (i) schools, (ii) primary schools and (iii) secondary schools in each local authority area in 2006-07; and how much has been budgeted for each category in 2007-08. [186195]
Jim Knight: The available information has been placed in the House Library.
School Meals
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of schools demonstrate a surplus on their school meals service; and if he will make a statement. [163318]
Jim Knight: The requested information is not collected centrally.
School Meals: Expenditure
Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average daily cost to the public purse was of food provided in schools for each pupil in the most recent period for which figures are available. [168205]
Kevin Brennan: The information requested is not collected by this Department.
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