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46
After Clause 38, insert the following new clause--
(". Schedule 12 shall apply, with such modifications as may be prescribed by regulations, for the purposes of making or altering the instrument of government of a group.").
The Commons disagreed to this amendment for the following reason--
46A
Because each of the schools concerned should have its own dedicated governing body to oversee standards at the school.
47
After Clause 38, insert the following new clause--
(". The instrument of government for a group--
(a) may provide for the local education authority to have power to determine, in relation to every election of parent or teacher governors, the school or schools within the group--
(i) the parents of registered pupils at which are entitled to stand and vote at the election, or
(ii) the teachers at which are entitled to stand and vote at the election,
as the case may be; and
(b) where it so provides, shall require the authority to ensure that the position after any such election will be that there is no school within the group which will not have had an opportunity to participate in accordance with paragraph (a) in the election of at least one of the parent or (as the case may be) teacher governors of the group.").
The Commons disagreed to this amendment for the following reason--
47A
Because each of the schools concerned should have its own dedicated governing body to oversee standards at the school.
48
After Clause 38, insert the following new clause--
(".--(1) Where subsection (2) applies in relation to a school which is grouped with one or more other schools under section (Grouping of community, voluntary aided, voluntary controlled and community special schools under a single governing body), the local education authority shall review the grouping of those schools and consider whether or not it should be brought to an end.
(2) This subsection applies in relation to a school if proposals relating to it are made under any provision of Chapter II.
(3) Where on a review under this section a local education authority consider that any grouping of schools should be continued, and the Secretary of State's consent to the grouping, or to the continued grouping, of the schools was at any time required by section (Consent of Secretary of State as to grouping), the authority shall--
(a) report to the Secretary of State on the results of their review; and
(b) provide him with such information as he may reasonably require with a view to enabling him to consider whether or not the grouping should be brought to an end.").
The Commons disagreed to this amendment for the following reason--
48A
Because each of the schools concerned should have its own dedicated governing body to oversee standards at the school.
(".--(1) The Secretary of State may by order bring to an end any grouping under section (Grouping of community, voluntary aided, voluntary controlled and community special schools under a single governing body) in respect of which his consent was at any time required by section (Consent of Secretary of State as to grouping).
(2) Any grouping under section (Grouping of community, voluntary aided, voluntary controlled and community special schools under a single governing body) may, if the group does not contain a voluntary school, be brought to an end by resolution of the local education authority.
(3) Any such grouping may, if the group contains a voluntary school, be brought to an end--
(a) by resolution of the local education authority made with the agreement of the governing body, or
(b) by one year's notice given either by the authority to the governing body or by the governing body to the authority.
(4) Any instrument of government for two or more schools which are grouped under section (Grouping of community, voluntary aided, voluntary controlled and community special schools under a single governing body) shall be taken to have been revoked--
(a) in the case of a group which was established for a specified period, at the end of that period, or
(b) at the time when the grouping is brought to an end in accordance with subsection (1), (2) or (3).").
The Commons disagreed to this amendment for the following reason--
49A
Because each of the schools concerned should have its own dedicated governing body to oversee standards at the school.
Baroness Blackstone: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do not insist on their Amendments Nos. 43 to 49 to which the Commons have disagreed for their reasons numbered 43A to 49A.
Moved, That the House do not insist on their Amendments Nos. 43 to 49 to which the Commons have disagreed for the reasons numbered 43A to 49A.--(Baroness Blackstone.)
On Question, Motion agreed to.
50
Clause 42, page 34, line 24, at end insert ("; and
Line 2, leave out from ("school,") to the end and insert--
Lord Whitty: My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 50A to Lords Amendment No. 50. I speak also to Lords Amendment No. 52 and the reason numbered 52A.
I hope that the House will recognise that the Government have shown themselves ready to listen to genuine concerns in this House and to respond positively, while at the same time not cutting across other aspects of government policy. We listened carefully to the arguments advanced by the noble Baroness, Lady Young. I note that the noble Baroness is not in her seat today, although I understand that she may well be there tomorrow.
Baroness Blatch: My Lords, it is unfortunate. My noble friend Lady Young understood that the Statement was going to be taken after the preceding amendment. She is not present because she thought that there was to be another Statement. I think it unfortunate that we have pressed on with the amendments without informing this Front Bench.
Lord Whitty: My Lords, we would normally break at the appropriate point in the Bill. I regret that any misinformation has been spread, but I do not believe that that went through the normal channels.
Before I begin on the amendments themselves, I can announce that we have inserted a reference to spiritual, moral, social and cultural development into our draft statutory guidance on home-school agreements in recognition of the concerns of the House on that front.
The main considerations which have helped us to frame the amendment are, first, that the Government acknowledge the importance of pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and the right of parents to have an opportunity to discuss such matters at the annual parents' meeting.
Secondly, we recognise that parents have many other concerns about their children's education which deserve equal treatment. It would not be appropriate, in our view, to send a message that those other matters are of secondary importance.
The Government's first amendment builds on the proposition of the noble Baroness, Lady Young, in Committee by adding to the list of items that parents may discuss at their annual meetings. The noble Baroness's reference to the school's aims and values remains. Her other reference--to pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development--is reflected in the wider description of the purposes of education set out in subsections (d) and (e) of the revised clause.
We have added two further items which we believe are of particular concern to parents: pupils' standards of achievement and the school's contribution to their behaviour, discipline and general well-being. The final word would embrace concerns about, for example, pastoral care, health and safety, and security.
It may be helpful if I explain why we have not simply adopted the noble Baroness's words. We wanted to describe pupils' entire educational experience in as clear
the broader description in Section 351 of the 1996 Act refers to,
We have used that wording here, but with one addition. Subsection (e) of the revised clause refers to preparation for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life and citizenship. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State has made clear over the past year his commitment to the development by schools of a proper sense of citizenship in their pupils, and I know that that is welcome to many noble Lords. We believe that this approach removes any doubt that this provision covers social development in its fullest sense.
We have also applied this wider description to the school, rather than just the curriculum. This makes it consistent with the noble Baroness's amendment, which reflects the whole-school approach to spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. We believe that the revised clause will help signal to parents the range of issues in which they have an interest. We hope that it will help encourage as many parents as possible to attend these meetings, and to contribute their views on the way their schools are run.
I believe that that is a generous and constructive response to many of the points made by noble Lords in Committee. But I am afraid that we have not been able to go so far in considering the noble Baroness's other specific proposal for a statutory requirement to produce an annual statement by the governing body on these matters. The Commons' amendment therefore deletes that responsibility and I ask the House to sustain it.
Writing a proper annual policy statement is not a "back of the envelope" job. It demands careful thought, discussion and consultation. And the accumulation of such duties rapidly becomes a burden on governing bodies--particularly the most conscientious--which we owe it to them to police with vigilance.
In any case, we would prefer to encourage schools to tackle the issues, rather than have them divert their energies in producing a standardised report. The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority's draft guidance, currently being piloted in schools, sets out a thorough approach to developing and implementing a whole-school policy. We are not convinced that a statutory requirement to produce an annual statement would add any significant value. Governing bodies can produce such statements should they so wish.
The QCA pilot is just one of the elements feeding into that part of the national curriculum review concerned with "preparation for adult life". The Government intend that the curriculum should give higher priority to this in future. We attach great importance to pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural
I hope that your Lordships will accept these amendments in the spirit they are offered. I commend them to the House.
Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 50A to Lords Amendment No. 50.--(Lord Whitty.)
Lord Pilkington of Oxenford: My Lords, it is with great regret that my noble friend Lady Young cannot be here to discuss the amendment. She expected a Statement to be made at this time and, unfortunately, is at a meeting. I believe--as perhaps does my noble friend--that the Commons amendments dilute the original intention of her amendment.
Traditionally in English history, the first style of education was purely Church-based. Spiritual, moral and social development was seen within the context of revealed Christianity. When state education was first introduced in 1870, the schools took spiritual, moral, social and cultural development still within the context of Christianity. Even those teachers in the new state schools who did not believe in revealed religion still saw their teaching as within the ethic of Christianity. Many noble Lords who are of my age will remember that their teaching, even in a secular state school, was of this type.
The Commons amendment is more in the tradition of French secular education and is therefore a break with the English tradition. In France, after the Revolution, there was an absolute division between the religious Catholic schools and the state schools. In the state schools there was introduced at the beginning of every morning a pattern of teaching which I believe was called morale. It was designed to give republican secular virtue with no mention of the Christian basis. It sprang from good citizenship.
I am not against good citizenship; nor am I against people jumping around in gymnasiums and being fit; nor am I against good discipline. But my noble friend's amendment was not about all those virtues. It was about developing what can only be described in the old phrase as "the interior life". Schools devoted themselves to developing a sensitivity to the richness of the world and to all that lay in it.
I do not want to give a sermon. I believe that there is a strong secularisation within the amendment. It is very much against the traditions of English education. We have never had a tradition of republican citizenship and for better or worse it cannot be built up at a time of moral confusion such as now exists. It would have been far better to have stayed with my noble friend's amendment and allowed it to develop in the schools.
I cannot but remember that many noble Lords opposite, with notable exceptions, voted against my noble friend's amendment. Therefore, one must be somewhat mistrustful of its expansion, which to my mind appears to dilute its intention. Furthermore, I hope
In conclusion, the amendment is a dilution of my noble friend's amendment. It turns to a secular tradition which has no roots in this community. It is outside the context of what my noble friend proposed. It is unfortunate in coming from a party which owed more to Methodism than Marx and I believe that it is a bad amendment. I shall press it no further.
(c) the aims and values of the school, and the ways in which the school intends to promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of its pupils.").
The Commons agreed to this amendment, with the following amendment--
50A
("(d) how the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils is to be promoted at the school;
(e) how pupils are to be prepared for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life and citizenship;
(f) the standards of educational achievement of pupils; and
(g) how the governing body are to promote the good behaviour, discipline and well-being of pupils.").
"spiritual, moral, social and cultural development",
"the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school, and of society",
"the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life".
4 p.m.
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