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25 Jun 2008 : Column 413W—continued
Religion: Education
Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what procedures are in place to ensure that private schools offer religious education teaching. [213839]
Jim Knight: Independent schools are required to meet standards set out in regulations which cover the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. The relevant parts of this standard require schools to:
Enable pupils to develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence;
Enable pupils to distinguish right from wrong and respect the law;
Encourage pupils to accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative and understand how they can contribute to community life;
Assist pupils to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures in a way that promotes tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions.
Schools: Standards
Matthew Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many schools received a classification of outstanding in Ofsted reports in (a) Cornwall, (b) each constituency in Cornwall, (c) the South West and (d) England in 2006-07. [211010]
Jim Knight: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the hon. Member and a copy of her reply has been placed in the Library.
Letter from Christine Gilbert, dated 17 June 2008:
Your recent parliamentary question has been passed to me, as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, for a response.
Between 01 September 2006 and 31 August 2007, three schools in Cornwall, 92 schools in the South West and 1,148 schools in England were judged to have outstanding overall effectiveness. These figures are shown in Table 1, where to put them in context, I also provide the numbers of maintained schools inspected by Ofsted over the same period. The schools in Cornwall judged outstanding during 2006/07 are listed in Table 2, with their parliamentary constituencies.
| Table 1: Maintained schools (including city technology colleges and academies) inspected by Ofsted between 01 September 2006 and 31 August 2007 | ||
| Area | Number of schools judged outstanding for overall effectiveness | Number of schools inspected |
| Table 2: Maintained schools in Cornwall inspected in 2006/07 and judged outstanding for overall effectiveness | |||
| School name | Phase | School address | Parliamentary constituency |
A copy of this reply has been sent to Jim Knight, Minister for Schools and Learners, and will be placed in the library of both Houses.
Secondary and Primary Education
Mr. Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many secondary schools ( a) opened, (b) closed and (c) were amalgamated in each local education authority in each year since 1997-98; [213621]
(2) how many primary schools (a) opened, (b) closed and (c) were amalgamated in each local education authority in each year since 1997-98. [213622]
Jim Knight: Two tables showing the numbers of primary, secondary (and middle deemed primary and middle deemed secondary) schools opened and closed in each year since 1997, broken down by local authority, have been placed in the Library. The tables separate the phases of education.
A further table showing school amalgamations has also been placed in the Library. It is not possible to
accurately state the number of amalgamations by year since 1997 as records did not always record the reason for opening/closure. Even the records from 1999 to 2002 can be inaccurate, as some of these were proposed prior to 1999, but implemented post 1999.
There are significantly more closures than new schools, because an amalgamation can be either where:
(a) two or more schools close and are replaced by a new school (sometimes on the site of a closing school(s)), or
(b) one or more schools close and a continuing school is altered, to accommodate the displaced pupils.
Secondary Education: Lancashire
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average (a) pupil to teacher and (b) pupil to adult ratio at key stage 3 was in secondary schools in (i) Chorley constituency and (ii) Lancashire local education authority area in the most recent period for which figures are available. [213641]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally.
School pupil:teacher ratios in local authority maintained secondary schools are readily available. Figures for Chorley constituency, Lancashire local authority and England for January 2007 are provided in the following table.
| Pupil:teacher ratios( 1) in local authority maintained secondary( 2) schools 2007: | |||
| Chorley constituency | Lancashire local authority | England | |
| (1) The within-school PTR is calculated by dividing the total FTE number of pupils on roll in schools by the total FTE number of qualified teachers regularly employed in schools. (2) Excludes academies. | |||
Secondary Education: Standards
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many secondary schools were in special measures in (a) Chorley, (b) Lancashire and (c) England in each year since 1997. [213382]
Jim Knight: The following table shows the number of secondary schools that were in special measures at the end of each academic year since 1997/98 in (a) Chorley, (b) Lancashire and (c) England.
| Number of secondary schools in special measures | |||
| End of academic year | Chorley | Lancashire | England |
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what percentage of 11 year olds achieved the target level 4 in both English and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2 in (a) Chorley and (b) Lancashire in each year since 1997. [213383]
Jim Knight: The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Figures for 11 year olds achieving level 4 and above in both English and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2 are only readily available at national level from 2003; these figures together with local authority level tables showing the percentages achieving the expected level in each of these subjects separately can be found in the Statistical First Release “National Curriculum Assessments at Key Stage 2 in England, 2007 (Revised)”, which is accessible via the following link:
Local authority level information showing the percentage achieving the expected level in both English and mathematics will be published in the summer. These statistics will cover years 2005, 2006 and 2007 and will be placed on the Research and Statistics Gateway accessible via the link:
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many secondary schools in Chorley constituency (a) were placed in special measures, (b) were issued notices to improve and (c) had at least 30 per cent. of students achieving five GCSEs, graded A* to C, including English, science and mathematics in 2007. [213640]
Jim Knight: No secondary schools in Chorley were placed in special measures or issued with notices to improve during 2007.
The information requested for (c) is not published by the Department and can be provided only at disproportionate cost. All six secondary schools in Chorley had more than 30 per cent. of pupils achieving 5 A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent, including GCSE English and mathematics in 2007. Further information on the performance of Chorley’s secondary schools can be found in the secondary school (GCSE and equivalent) achievement and attainment tables at:
Teachers
Mrs. Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) newly qualified teachers (NQTs), (b) mathematics NQTs and (c) science NQTs were teaching in secondary schools as a proportion of all teachers in each category in each of the last 10 years. [214193]
Jim Knight: The information requested is not available in the format requested.
Truancy
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many truancy sweeps were conducted by each local authority in England in each of the last five years; [213177]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effects of truancy on standards attained in education; and if he will make a statement; [213178]
(3) what guidance his Department has issued to (a) local education authorities and (b) the police on the detention of children truanting from school; and if he will make a statement. [213179]
Kevin Brennan: Under Section 16 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (as amended), police officers may, if authorised to do so by a chief police officer, take excluded pupils who are in a public place during normal school hours and children who they believe are out of school without lawful authority to a designated place established by the local authority or to the school. This power is often used during a “school attendance and exclusions sweep”.
This Department and the Home Department have issued joint guidance to local authorities and police services on the use of the power to remove pupils from public places and the organisation of exercises using it called "School Attendance and Exclusions Sweeps: Effective Practice and Advice" which explains the law and gives examples of practice that is in use.
Under Section 444A of the Education Act 1996 (as amended) police officers may issue fixed penalty notices to parents who fail to secure their child's regular attendance, if they have been authorised to do so by the local code of practice on the use of penalty notices.
Police community support officers may also use the powers to remove pupils from a public place and to issue fixed penalty notices, if they have been designated to do so under the Police Reform Act 2002 by the .chief officer of the force concerned.
The Department has not collected data on the number of “school attendance and exclusions sweeps” conducted by local authorities since autumn 2006, when we ceased co-ordinating national sweeps, allowing authorities to run sweeps according to local need. I have put the data we collected as part of the rationally co-ordinated exercises in the Library of the House.
Analyses of national data show that there is a correlation between absence from school and pupils' levels of achievement, with average performance of pupils in schools with lower levels of absence better than pupils in schools with higher levels of absence. Data for 2006-07 showed that in secondary schools with an average of 12 days absence per pupil 36 per cent. of pupils or more obtained five of more GCSEs at grade A* to C including English and maths compared with 91 per cent. of pupils in secondary schools with an average of less than six days absence per pupil In primary schools with an average of more than 12 days absence per pupil 52 per cent. of 11-year-olds achieved level 4 or above in English and mathematics compared with 84 per cent. of pupils in schools where the average absence was less than six days per pupil.
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