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7 Dec 2009 : Column 145W—continued
Table 9 gives a breakdown of the reasons for exclusion. Persistent disruptive behaviour was the most common reason for exclusion, representing 30.9 per cent. of permanent exclusion and 23.2 per cent. of fixed period exclusion.
Good behaviour is fundamental to school standards, and Ofsted recently reported (24 November) that 80 per cent. of secondary schools are good or outstanding on behaviour, up from 72 per cent. in 2007/08. In September my Department launched a Behaviour Challenge with an ambition that, by 2012, all schools will have a good or outstanding Ofsted rating on behaviour or be on track to achieve one. Support and challenge will be provided to schools through local authorities, the National Strategies, and School Improvement Partners. We have also asked National Strategies colleagues to support local authorities with high exclusion rates, and high rates of multiple fixed period exclusion, to help their schools increase the use of early intervention to improve behaviour and minimise the need for exclusion.
We are making all 16 and 17-year-olds an offer of suitable place in learning through the September Guarantee. My Department has asked local authorities to focus in particular on those who are disengaged from education or missing school. The 14-19 curriculum reforms are creating a range of different learning opportunities suit all young people, including those who need help to re-engage in learning. Connexions services provide tailored support and advice, both on accessing education, employment or training, and on personal issues.
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced on 18 November plans to extend the guarantee to any 16 and 17-year-old who is not in education, employment or training (NEET) in January. This will give those who were not ready to engage in learning in September, or who have since left, a further opportunity to get the skills they need to succeed.
The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act, 2009 introduced tough statutory disciplinary powers to strengthen teachers' rights to punish bad behaviour in and out of the classroom. These include a strong statutory power to punish pupils in school and en route to and from school; a statutory power to reasonably confiscate mobiles or music players used disruptively; and reaffirming powers to use physical force to break up fights and restrain pupils. The Act also introduced a duty for schools to work together in partnership to improve behaviour and reduce absence.
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average length of a fixed-period exclusion for pupils from (a) primary, (b) secondary and (c) all schools was in the last 12 months. [304893]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The latest available data on the average length of fixed period exclusions for the 2007/08 academic year are published at
Data for 2008/09 are expected to be published in July 2010.
Pupils: Abuse
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what guidelines his Department provides to teachers who suspect abuse or maltreatment of a pupil on action to be taken in such circumstances. [304404]
Dawn Primarolo: Guidelines on the actions that anyone, including a teacher, should take if they have concerns about abuse or maltreatment of a child are set out in "What to do if you are Worried a Child is being Abused." This practice guidance tells people about the procedures to follow when passing on concerns and what will then happen. Guidance on the wider responsibilities of local authorities and governing bodies of schools and FE colleges in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is contained in "Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education."
Pupils: Per Capita Costs
Mr. Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his most recent estimate is of the average annual cost of educating a secondary school child in a pupil referral unit in (a) England and (b) each local authority area. [301871]
Mr. Coaker:
The Department published the White Paper "Back on Track" in May 2008 setting out proposals to transform the quality of alternative provision, including pupil referral units. At that time, we estimated a cost of
around £15,000 a year for a full-time placement in a pupil referral unit. Pupil numbers in pupil referral units can be volatile and the calculation was based on pupil numbers at a fixed point in time. This may not be fully representative of the average number of pupils over a year.
We have not made any further estimates since that time, and the figure has not been broken down by local authority area. The figure is likely to vary considerably between different local authority areas.
Pupils: Weapons
David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what record his Department maintains relating to the number of pupils who, following a search, were found to be in the possession of (a) a knife, (b) another weapon and (c) drugs on school premises; [303561]
(2) how many pupils in England were found to be in the possession of (a) a weapon and (b) drugs on school premises in each of the last three years. [303562]
Mr. Coaker: The Department does not record the number of pupils found to be in possession of a knife, other weapon, or drugs, whether following a search or otherwise.
In 2007 we gave head teachers the power to search, without consent, any pupil suspected of carrying a knife or other offensive weapon. Schools can also screen pupils at random or search with consent. However, we do not require schools to tell us when such an article has been found. They should inform the police, to whom they must pass the article.
We have recently extended the power to search without consent so that schools can search pupils without consent for illegal drugs (and for alcohol and stolen property) with effect from September 2010.
Schools: Finance
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average funding per capita was for (a) urban areas and (b) rural areas under dedicated schools grant in the latest period for which figures are available. [301516]
Mr. Coaker: The latest figures available are shown in the following table below (2007-08). Figures for 2008-09 are still to be collected and validated by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
| Comb ined local authority and school- based expenditure per pupil ,( 1) 2007-08: Cash terms figures as reported by local authorities in England as at 23 November 2009( 2,3) | |
| Total combined LEA and school-based expenditure( 1) (£ per pupil) | |
| 1. Combined local authority and school-based expenditure includes all expenditure on the education of children in local authority maintained establishments and pupils educated by the authority other than in maintained establishments. This includes both school-based expenditure and all elements of central LA expenditure except youth and community and capital expenditure from revenue (CERA). Certain elements of central local authority expenditure cannot be attributed to a particular phase of education and consequently a sector breakdown is not available. Pupil figures include all pre-primary pupils, including those under-5s funded by the authority and being educated in private settings, pupils educated in maintained mainstream schools and any other local authority maintained pupils. All pupil numbers are adjusted to be on a financial year basis. 2. The classification of local authorities into those which are predominately urban and predominately rural is based upon The Rural and Urban Area Classification (2004) sponsored by the Countryside Agency (CA), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and the Welsh Assembly Government. Predominantly rural local authorities are classified as those which consist of more than 50 per cent. rural Output Areas. 3. Figures are rounded to the nearest £10. | |
Schools: Herefordshire
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding was provided per child under the dedicated schools grant in Herefordshire in 2009-10. [301515]
Mr. Coaker: The guaranteed funding per pupil for Herefordshire for 2009-10 is £3,830. The amount of dedicated schools grant that local authorities receive is dependent on the number of pupils on roll. Herefordshire has received just over £87 million for 2009-10.
Schools: Rural Areas
Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what funding is provided towards other educational programmes for rural areas other than through the dedicated schools grant. [301517]
Mr. Coaker: Local authorities are responsible for the distribution of funding (including funding provided through the dedicated schools grant (DSG)) to schools in their area. The overall DSG settlement for 2009-10 is £29.6 billion and of this settlement £194.87 million is notionally for sparsity. This funding is allocated to rural authorities in recognition that they need small schools which are more expensive to run. The Department does not provide additional education funding outside of the DSG specifically for rural areas.
Schools: Standards
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many schools were given notices to improve by Ofsted in (a) September, (b) October, (c) November and (d) December 2008. [304660]
Mr. Coaker: The following table gives the requested information:
| Schools given a notice to improve by Ofsted during autumn term 2008 | |
| 2008 | Number |
Secondary Education: Gloucestershire
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families who is responsible for the implementation in Gloucestershire of the recommendations made in the report of the Badman review of secondary education. [301350]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: It is the responsibility of Gloucestershire local authority to implement the recommendations made in the report of the Badman review of the National Challenge.
Secondary Education: Outdoor Education
Mr. Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what research his Department has undertaken into a link between the uptake of fieldwork in secondary schools and the number of post-16 students taking science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects; [301438]
(2) what steps he is taking to increase the uptake of fieldwork by pupils in secondary schools. [301441]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department has not commissioned research to examine the link between take up of fieldwork in secondary schools and the number of post-16 students taking science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects.
The Government are doing much to increase the take up of fieldwork by pupils in secondary schools. This includes:
Contracting with the Association for Science Education to run a support programme to improve the use of practical work in science across secondary schools.
Sending Practical Work in Science booklets to all secondary schools which include good examples of fieldwork activity.
Continuing to fund the National Network of Science Learning Centres to provide continuing professional development opportunities for teachers including those that support the use of fieldwork across all stage of the curriculum.
Publishing the STEM directory of science enhancement and enrichment activities which lists a vast range of activities, including fieldwork related ones, that schools can access to enliven science teaching and learning.
Developing online resources and guidance through Government funding for the Action Plan for Geography, which is managed by the Royal Geographical Society and the Geographical Association to help teachers with fieldwork. These are available on the Geography Teaching Today website which includes a virtual fieldwork and local learning centre to help teachers make the most of geography in their local areas. This includes expert advice and planning on embedding fieldwork in the curriculum.
The Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto which was launched in November 2006 and aims to provide all young people with quality learning experiences outside the classroom covering the whole curriculum. This is made explicit in the new secondary curriculum which also provides that practical and enquiry skills are something that pupils need to learn to make progress in their science and geography learning.
Teachers: Pay
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of teachers and teaching staff in maintained schools earn more than £50,000 per annum. [300811]
Mr. Coaker: In March 2008, an estimated 30,000 full-time qualified teachers employed in local authority maintained schools in England and Wales earned £50,000 or more per annum. This is 8 per cent. of the total number.
The source of the salary information is the Database of Teacher Records (DTR) and is provisional. Overall teacher numbers from the Annual Survey of Teachers in Service and Teacher Vacancies, 618g and the Welsh Stats 3 survey were apportioned by the information from the DTR to provide the estimate of the numbers of teachers receiving these salaries.
Teachers: South East
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) teachers and (b) classroom assistants were employed in each local education authority area in the South East in each year since 1997. [301280]
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many (a) teachers and (b) classroom assistants were employed in maintained schools in each local authority in the South East in each year since 1997. [301353]
Mr. Coaker: The information requested for 1997, 2001 to 2009 is published in tables 19 and 26 of the Statistical First Release (SFR) "School Workforce in England (including Local Authority level figures) January 2009 (Revised)" published on 29 September 2009. The SFR is available at the following web link:
The information requested for 1998 to 2000 is published in tables 18 and 24 of the Statistical First Release (SFR) "School Workforce in England (including pupil:teacher ratios and pupil:adult ratios), January 2006 (Revised)" published on 28 September 2006. The SFR is available at the following web link:
Teachers: Training
Mr. Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of schools funding which is retained by schools for the professional development of teachers. [301558]
Mr. Coaker: Funding for the continual professional development (CPD) of teachers is included within school's delegated budgets for the whole work force. It is for schools to determine how to spend this based on individual teacher needs, identified and agreed through the performance management process, and the school's own development/improvement priorities.
However, Section 52 outturn data-which are the Department's source of information on expenditure across all local authority maintained schools-suggest that in the financial year 2007-08 maintained schools in England spent £180 million from delegated budgets on development and training for staff in schools; representing around 0.5 per cent. of total expenditure in schools. This includes expenditure on:
development and training costs for all staff (directly and not directly employed) at the school;
cost of all in-service training courses and other development opportunities; and
cost of equipment and resources to provide in service training.
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