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9 May 2008 : Column 1198W—continued
Literacy: Teaching Methods
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which reading programmes are approved by his Department for the teaching of synthetic phonics. [202070]
Jim Knight: High-quality, systematic phonics, as advocated by the Rose review, should be the prime approach in teaching children to read.
The Department does not approve commercial phonics teaching programmes. To help schools and early years settings in choosing the appropriate phonics support, we have provided a set of core criteria that define the key features of an effective phonics teaching programme. The core criteria build directly on Jim Rose's recommendations.
Schools and settings are able to access self-assessments of commercial phonics resources on the Department's phonics website at
However, the existence of publishers' self-assessments on this site does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement of the products they represent.
Nurseries: Standards
Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) maintained and (b) independent nurseries in each local authority were placed in special measures in each year since 2001. [202181]
Jim Knight: This is a matter for Ofsted. HMCI Christine Gilbert has written to the hon. Member, and a cop of her reply has been placed in House Library.
Nurseries: Vacancies
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of trends in the level of staff vacancies in (a) maintained and (b) private voluntary and independent nurseries since 1997. [204139]
Beverley Hughes: The 2006 Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey estimated that there was a total of 10,400 vacancies in childcare providers (full day care, sessional care and out of school clubs).
The percentage of settings recruiting for none, one, two and three or more vacancies, by type of ownership is shown in Table 1.
| Table 1: Percentage of providers trying to recruit staff, by type of provision and ownership, 2006 | ||||||||
| Private | Voluntary | |||||||
| Number of vacancies | None | 1 | 2 | 3+ | None | 1 | 2 | 3+ |
| (1) Data not included due to a very low base size. Notes: 1. Figures on numbers of vacancies being recruited for in providers under local authority, school/college or other types of ownership are not shown due to very low base sizes. 2. Percentages may not sum to 100 per cent due to rounding and 'don't know' responses. | ||||||||
Data on numbers of vacancies being recruited for in providers under local authority, school/college or other types of ownership are not available due to very low base sizes.
Figures for previous years are not available.
Pre-School Education
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of existing early years workers who will require additional qualifications once the integrated qualifications framework comes into effect. [203899]
Beverley Hughes: The integrated qualifications framework, which will be available in 2010, will not impose a requirement for existing early years workers to undertake additional qualifications. The Department has not therefore made any such estimate.
Pupils: English Language
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what additional support is provided for schools with large numbers of children who have English as a second language; and if he will make a statement; [203496]
(2) what additional funding is made available to (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in respect of each pupil who has English as a second language; what the duration of the additional funding is; and if he will make a statement. [203499]
Jim Knight: The Government provide funding for children including those with English as an additional language through the Dedicated Schools Grant. This grant is supplemented by substantial provision through the ring-fenced Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG) distributed to local authorities. For 2008-09 EMAG is worth £187.6 million, rising to £206 million in 2011.
In addition, an Exceptional Circumstances Grant has been introduced to reflect changes in local authorities’ pupil numbers which occur after the three- year indicative allocations of the Dedicated Schools Grant have been announced. It has three elements, covering an increase of more than 2.5 per cent. in overall pupil numbers; an increase of more than 2.5 per cent. in the proportion of pupils with English as an additional language; and a one-off payment to authorities with proportions of pupils with English as an additional language below 10 per cent. which go up by more than 2.5 per cent.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what guidance his Department provides for (a) local authorities and (b) schools on the entering for key stage tests of pupils with English as a second language who arrive in England and are enrolled in school shortly before the test date; and if he will make a statement. [203497]
Jim Knight: The Department’s advice is set out in: “New Arrivals Excellence Programme: Guidance” published in September 2007, of which a copy has been placed in the Library. It draws attention to the importance of initial assessment for new arrivals, and advises on appropriate methods. Guidance on entering children for key stage tests is provided by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority through its Assessment and Reporting Arrangements publications, which can be accessed from the website
This guidance covers all children, whether or not they have recently arrived in the UK or have English as an additional language. In essence the advice is to enter children wherever they are working at the level of the tests. However, schools may apply for a recently arrived child’s results not to be recorded in published Attainment and Achievement Tables.
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the proportion of pupils who spoke English as a second language in (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) all schools in each local authority area in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [203498]
Jim Knight: The proportion of pupils whose first language was other than English for the years 1997 to 2008 (provisional) is as follows:
| Percentage | ||
| Primary | Secondary | |
| (1) 2008 figure includes pupils at city technology colleges and academies; figures for earlier years do not. | ||
Analysis by local authority can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Schools: Admissions
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of surplus school places there were in those local authorities ranked in the (a) top 10 and (b) bottom 10 in terms of the share of pupils achieving five A* to C GCSEs, including English and mathematics in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [203493]
Jim Knight: The Department collects information from each local authority on the number of surplus school places through an annual survey. The most recent data available relate to the position at January 2007.
The following table shows the number of surplus places in maintained secondary schools in local authorities that ranked nationally in the top 10 and lowest 10 in terms of the share of pupils achieving five A*-C GCSEs, including English and mathematics.
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