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25 Jan 2010 : Column 622W—continued
Physical Education: Birmingham
Mr. Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much funding his Department and its predecessors have allocated for the encouragement of physical exercise for pupils in schools in Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath constituency in each of the last three years. [312189]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department for Children, Schools and Families funds school sport partnerships across the country to increase opportunities in physical education (PE) and sport for young people and to raise participation levels. The Department also funds specialist sports colleges to raise standards in PE and sport and to use their specialism to raise whole school standards. In each of the last three years, the Department has funded the following school sport partnerships and specialist sports colleges in, or near, the Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath constituency:
| £ | ||||
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | Total | |
Pupils: Absenteeism
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the unauthorised absence rate was for pupils in (a) Lewes constituency and (b) East Sussex in each year since 1997. [308459]
Mr. Coaker: The available information is shown in the following table.
To provide information for further years would incur disproportionate cost.
Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average (a) authorised, (b) unauthorised and (c) persistent absence rate for (i) boys and (ii) girls at Key Stage 4 was in each year since 1997. [310558]
Mr. Coaker: The available information is shown in the table.
The first year for which information is available on absence rates by gender is 2005/06 and relates to secondary schools only. This was extended to primary and special schools in 2006/07.
| Maintained primary, state-funded secondary and special schools( 1, 2, 3) , absence rates and persistent absentee rates( 4) for key stage 4( 5) pupils, 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08, England | ||||||
| Boys | Girls | |||||
| Authorised absence rate( 6) | unauthorised absence rate( 6) | Percentage of pupil enrolments that are persistent absentees( 4, 7) | Authorised absence rate( 6) | unauthorised absence rate( 6) | Percentage of pupil enrolments that are persistent absentees( 4, 7) | |
| (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes maintained secondary schools, city technology colleges and academies (including all-through academies). (3) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools. Excludes general hospital schools. (4) Persistent absentees are defined as having 64 or more sessions of absence (authorised and unauthorised) during the year, typically over 20 per cent. overall absence rate. (5) Key stage 4 pupils are pupil enrolments with national curriculum year group 10 or 11. (6) The number of sessions missed due to authorised/unauthorised expressed as a percentage of the total number of possible sessions. (7) The number of persistent absentee enrolments expressed as a percentage of the total number of enrolments with the same characteristics. (8) 2005/06 pupil level data are available for secondary school pupils only. Source: School Census. | ||||||
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his policy is on the recording in statistics on absenteeism those children who are receiving treatment, in hospital or at home, for illness or injury; and if he will make a statement. [310838]
Mr. Coaker [holding answer 14 January 2010]: Where a child is absent from school due to illness or injury then their absence will be recorded in the school register as an authorised absence. It is good practice for schools to monitor and escalate any concerns about high levels of absence due to illness or injury.
Children with long term illnesses and other medical conditions may need additional support to continue their education, such as home tuition provided by the local authority or attendance at hospital schools. This should be tailored to suit the child's individual needs. Where such an education is provided schools can record those sessions as an approved educational activity and not as an absence.
Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many and what proportion of pupils (a) eligible and (b) not eligible for free school meals were classified as persistent absentees in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2003; [312795]
(2) how many and what proportion of white British (a) boys and (b) girls who were eligible for free school meals were classified as persistent absentees in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2003. [312796]
Mr. Coaker: The requested information is not available. The first year for which information is available on persistent absence and on absence by pupil characteristics is 2005/06 and relates to secondary schools only. This was extended to primary and special schools in 2006/07.
Pupils: Attendance
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether pupils who do not attend school because of (a) travel difficulties and (b) school closure in severe weather are classified as absent for the purposes of his Department's statistics. [311808]
Mr. Coaker: Where pupils are unable to attend school because of severe weather conditions their absence will be counted as an authorised absence. However, where pupils who rely on transport that is provided by the school or a local education authority to get to school are not able to do so because of severe weather conditions, then their absence is not counted in the statistics. Where a school is forced to close due to severe weather conditions the pupils' absence is not counted in the statistics.
Every lesson counts and it is right that schools should stay open during poor weather conditions where it is safe to do so. Those schools that remained open during the recent spell of poor weather should be commended for doing so.
It is for this reason that we are asking local authorities to ensure that schools are not penalised for remaining open during the recent snow and to make it clear that we expect authorities to take any increased absences due to the poor weather into consideration when looking at school absence figures-where the head teacher is able to provide suitable evidence.
The Pupil Registration Regulations 2006 are clear that where a school is open and pupils do not attend, their non-attendance has to be recorded whether it is due to the poor weather or for any other reason (e.g. illness, or being on holiday). While this will mean that those schools will have a higher absence rate than if they had been forced to close, head teachers should not take decisions about closing schools based on concerns about absence records. Their primary concern in such cases should be for the welfare of their pupils and staff.
The Department are currently looking at ways that absences due to exceptional circumstances, such as the recent poor weather conditions, can be reported and monitored within the school absence data. However, we will not be able to do this for the recent snow.
Pupils: Epilepsy
Mr. Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on local health services training for school staff in the administration of emergency medication for pupils with epilepsy; [312673]
(2) whether his review of Managing Medicines in School is considering improvements to advice for the management of children with epilepsy when they have seizures at school. [312676]
Dawn Primarolo: Discussions between both Departments have resulted in the Child Health Strategy and the Healthy Child Programme and a joint commitment to update and reissue guidance on Managing Medicines in Schools and Early Years Settings.
We would expect schools and local Primary Care Trusts to work together to arrange training that is appropriate to the needs of the pupils and the staff involved.
The revised guidance aims to offer schools and settings appropriate advice and information to supplement the necessary training and support from other agencies. The guidance will include clear statements of those involved in supporting pupils with medical conditions, including schools and primary care trusts. Our intention is to publish the new guidance in spring 2010 which will be supported by an awareness-raising campaign for schools.
Mr. Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children with epilepsy there are in mainstream schools. [312674]
Ms Diana R. Johnson: The Department does not collect this information.
Schools: ICT
Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how much local authorities spent on IT procurement for schools in the last 12 months for which figures are available. [311880]
Mr. Coaker: The Department funds schools for technology purposes by the Harnessing Technology Grant.
| Funding allocation to local authorities | |
| Financial year | £ million |
However the Harnessing Technology Grant will not be the total that local authorities spend on IT as schools are also free to use money from other sources on technological services and infrastructure. This figure will also exclude the national Home Access programme which is not administered by local authorities.
Schools: Snow and Ice
Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many schools have closed owing to adverse weather conditions in (a) Leicester, (b) the East Midlands and (c) England in January 2010 to date; and how many pupils in each location have not been able to sit exams as a result. [312225]
Mr. Coaker: There is no duty on local authorities or schools to report closures to the Department, so the Department does not collect this information. No definitive data are available on the number of students missing exams as a result of the weather, though we believe that the number missing exams because of school closure was very small. More information will be available after exams have been completed next month, though it will not be possible to be certain about the numbers of students missing exams because of the weather rather than for other reasons; nor will it be possible to provide a geographical breakdown of the student numbers.
Secondary Schools: Manpower
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the average staff to pupil ratio is in secondary schools in (a) York and (b) England. [312887]
Mr. Coaker: The following table provides the pupil to adult ratio in local authority maintained secondary schools in York local authority and England in January 2009. This is the latest information available.
| Pupil:adult ratio in local authority maintained secondary schools, January 2009, York local authority and England | |
| Pupil:adult ratio | |
| Notes: 1. Excludes academies and city technology colleges. 2. The pupil to adult ratio is calculated by dividing the total full-time equivalent (FTE) number of pupils on roll in schools by the total FTE number of all teachers and support staff employed in schools, excluding administrative and clerical staff. Source: School Census. | |
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