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28 Apr 2008 : Column 234W—continued
Schools: Curriculum
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what guidance his Department provides to schools on the proportion of teaching time which should be allocated to (a) English and (b) mathematics at Key Stage (i) 1, (ii) 2 and (iii) 3; and if he will make a statement; [200990]
(2) what funding he plans to allocate to schools for new curriculum requirements on (a) cookery and (b) culture; and if he will make a statement; [201059]
(3) pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2008, Official Report, column 1096W, on food: secondary education, for what reasons cookery lessons will be compulsory in all maintained schools other than academies; and if he will make a statement; [201321]
(4) what guidance his Department has issued to schools on the amount of weekday education in cultural subjects to be delivered; and if he will make a statement. [201322]
Jim Knight: The statutory national curriculum programmes of study set out what is to be taught in each subject, not how it is to be taught, nor for how many hours each week. The Department does not prescribe the amount of time that should be allocated to the teaching of English, mathematics or culture. However, the Rose Review of the teaching of reading recommended that 15-20 minutes a day should be spent on the teaching of phonics in order to secure children's early reading, particular during key stage 1.
In February 2008 the Government announced a £25 million Find Your Talent programme of 10 pilots that will trial different ways of offering young people a range of cultural experiences for at least five hours a week, both in and out of school. The pilots will test a variety of approaches to a cultural offer over the next three years and will build on the considerable amount of cultural activity already taking place, and provided by a range of partners in addition to schools.
In compulsory food technology lessons pupils will be taught a broad range of practical skills and techniques and how to use them to develop, plan and cook a range of dishes. They will also learn about health and safety, the characteristics of a broad range of ingredients and a balanced diet. This will equip them with the skills, knowledge and understanding they need to eat a healthy, balanced diet. This new curriculum for food technology will be introduced from September 2008 and will become compulsory from September 2011. From September 2011 schools will share £2.5 million a year towards the cost of ingredients for pupils on free school meals.
Schools: Facilities
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what guidance his Department has issued to (a) local authorities, (b) head teachers and (c) school governors on hygiene and the cleaning and maintenance of school toilet facilities; [201216]
(2) if he will assess the availability of fresh drinking water in schools for (a) pupils and (b) staff; and if he will make a statement. [201215]
Jim Knight: Although we have not issued discrete advice on hygiene and the maintenance and cleaning of school toilets, the Department’s guidance on standard specifications for secondary schools, “Toilets in Schools” at
makes clear the importance of well-designed and well-maintained facilities, so that pupils can and will readily make use of them.
We have no plans to assess the availability of drinking water in schools. The Education (School Premises) Regulations 1999 require schools to have a wholesome supply of water for domestic purposes including a supply of drinking water. The responsibility for ensuring maintained schools’ compliance with the regulations rests with local authorities.
Schools: Finance
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what resources from standards funds have been allocated by his Department in the last 12 months, broken down by source fund. [201127]
Jim Knight: The following table shows the Standards Fund allocations made to local authorities for 2007-08.
| Standards fund allocations to local authorities 2007-08 | |
| Grant | £ million |
Schools: Sales
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many former school sites have been sold since 1997. [201700]
Jim Knight: We do not hold this information. Although local authorities and maintained schools in England need consent before they can dispose of a school playing field or any part of a school playing field, they do not require approval to sell buildings, or the marginal non-playing field land surrounding those buildings. Such decisions are made locally.
Schools: Sports
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools played inter-school sport in the latest period for which figures are available. [201867]
Kevin Brennan: The 2006/07 PE and School Sport Survey found that 94.1 per cent. of primary schools and 99.8 per cent. of secondary schools provided inter-school competition for their pupils.
Schools: Standards
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which publicly funded agencies and departmental bodies are responsible for raising standards in schools; and if he will make a statement. [201437]
Jim Knight: Within their specific areas of responsibility, all the Department's agencies and other bodies which work with schools work to raise standards and narrow attainment gaps.
The main departmental bodies helping schools to raise standards are:
British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA)
National Strategies
National College for School Leadership (NCSL)
Ofsted
Partnerships for schools (PfS)
Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA).
Schools: Water
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much (a) water and (b) electricity was used by schools in (i) 2001, (ii) 2002, (iii) 2003, (iv) 2004, (v) 2005, (vi) 2006 and (vii) 2007. [200310]
Jim Knight: The Department does not have information on the volumes of water and electricity supplied to all schools in England. However, we have gathered benchmarking information on electricity and water use for the years 2001-2006 for a sample of schools. This has been analysed to determine average water use per pupil and electricity use per square metre of floor area as summarised in the following tables.
| Average annual water consumption (cu.m/pupil) | |||||
| Nursery | Primary | Secondary | |||
| With pool | Without pool | With pool | Without pool | ||
| Average annual electricity consumption (kWh/m2) | |||||
| Nursery | Primary | Secondary | |||
| With pool | Without pool | With pool | Without pool | ||
| (1)Based on samples of approximately 16,000 schools (2)Based on samples of approximately 4,000 schools | |||||
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