Schools Minister Jacqui Smith answered questions on the Education Bill in a Downing Street webchat.
Read the transcript
Moderator says: Jacqui Smith will be here at 1445 to answer your questions.
Jacqui says: Hello. This is Jacqui Smith. It’s really good to be taking part in this webchat today and I’m looking forward to your questions.
Dermot Rathbone: The Whit Paper is liberating, as you will not find many teachers here in the East Riding of Yorkshire with a good thing to say about the LEA.
However I’m concerned that the Govt will introduce selection by the back door via "Choice Advisors" who could put pressure on parents of difficult and challenging pupils to go down the City Academy route, as these are quite clearly designed as sink schools for the 21st Century. What assurances can you give on this?
Jacqui replies: We are absolutely determined that this Bill will support more good schools and, therefor a greater choice for parents. That means fair access to those places for all children and the idea behind Choice Advisers to make sure that parents who may find it difficult to navigate through school choices get the support and help they need to make the right decisions for their child.
City Academies certainly won’t be sink schools. We are already seeing them being both successful and popular with parents - and they’ve replaced schools that really weren’t giving children a fair chance to make the most of their education.
STINKY: I am 43 and I dont recall teachers in my time having any problems
concerning disipline and unruly children, the gov made alot of noise
blaming childrens lack of respect for disruption in the classroom could it be that the standards of teachers today may be at the root of the problem and not the kids
Jacqui replies: OFSTED tells us that most of our schools are orderly places and most children are well behaved. But bad behaviour and particularly chatter and talking back in class are wearing for teachers and get in the way of other children learning.
We’ve already done a lot to support schools and teachers in ensuring discipline, but we wanted to ask heads and teachers themselves what was important. We set up a group chaired by headteacher Sir Alan Steer and one of their key recommendations was that there should be a clear legal right for teachers to discipline so that nobody could say ‘you can’t tell me, Miss’. We’ll be doing that in this Bill and I know it’s something teachers will welcome.
Phil Gosling: Are major decisions on education best made at local level with parents, teachers and local authorities or should central government always keep its veto?
Jacqui replies: Day to day decisions about children’s learning and how to drive improvements in schools should be made by the governors, heads, teachers and other staff on the front line. That’s why we’ve been empowering schools to do just that.
Local planning of school places, tackling schools that aren’t doing well enough and championing parents and pupils should be the role of local authorities - we’re giving them extra powers in the Bill to do just that.
Government needs to set national standards and, of course, as this government has, invest in our children’s future!
K D Overment: Would it not be productive for there to be an academic split at roughly 14 years of age so that those children who have a more practical rather than academic bent can be allowed to pursue more vocational subjects e.g. trade based subjects, classically woodwork an metalwork, but these days more car mechanics and building trades subjects? This would allow those students more academically minded to pursue their goals in a less disruptive environment and would encourage those who would normally cut or disrupt lessons to be more attentive because the subjects would be of a more practical and immediate interest, allowing them to start earning money sooner. Such a split would of course require a basic competence level in the "three R’s".
Jacqui replies: I completely agree that we need to offer much more choice for young people at the age of 14. This doesn’t mean separating them into different schools, but it does mean offering opportunities for those who learn better in a more practical and work related way to have that opportunity.
That’s why we’re developing new specialised diplomas in areas like Engineering and Health and Care. These are being designed by employers, they’ll often involve learning out of school - perhaps in local colleges or work based training, they’ll put a focus on basic and practical English and Maths and they’ll be an entitlement for all young people. We’re legislating for this in the Education Bill.
I think this could revolutionise opportunities for 14-19yr olds.
David Burton: Would you agree that as well as the disciplinary powers provided by the Bill there should be more investment in specialist Lifeskills education starting in primary schools so that self-respect and respect for others becomes ingrained in the culture of school communities?
Jacqui replies: Yes. That’s why we’ve developed the Social, Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) course for all primary schools. Teachers have welcomed it and it gives children the chance to learn about skills like respect for others, ‘taking turns’, not shouting out. Trials have shown that it significantly reduce levels of poor behaviour, truancy and exclusions.
Ian Cuddy: Under the ‘Kelly Hours’ scheme announced in June, the Government unveiled plans for schools to provide communities with access to ICT facilities, as part of the ‘core offer’ of after-hours extended hours service. What is the role of these new community ICT facilities in relation to the Government’s existing network of UK Online Centres?
Jacqui replies: You’re referring to our plans for every school to offer extended services by 2010. These could include after school activities like sport and drama, catch up and home work clubs, childcare and community learning like ICT. They will build on the investment that the government has already put into ICT facilities in schools and the community such as through UK Online Centres and will, I think, be particularly valuable for those parents and children without good IT facilities at home and where parents want to gain confidence - don’t we all when it comes to ICT!
Debbie Shaw: Hi Jacqui - I am writing to ask wether or not reforms will ever mean looking at the subject matter that is taught to children? I ask this this the programme ‘That’ll teach em’ in mind - as that showed that many ‘old fashioned lessons’ proved to be very beneficial to certain children.
Jacqui replies: As a government, we’ve really put an emphasis on basics like reading, writing and maths. The literacy and numeracy strategies in primary schools has meant many more 11 year olds going into secondary schools with the basic skills to make the most of their secondary education.
We are also focussing on ensuring that in the early years of secondary schools there are more chances for pupils to catch up if they fall behind in maths and english. But we also need to make sure that the curriculum equips young people with the whole range of skills, knowledge and attitudes they need to succeed in the modern world.
Mark from Manchester: Does it not strike you that there is a conflict between "parental choice" and inclusion?
These two threads of policy are at loggerheads surely and will most especially cause schools in deprived areas (the very one’s Tony wants to help) with many special needs and other special problems to not be able to attract those students with the greatest potential.
This will put their results in a downward spiral, whatever the standard of teaching and management. As a reult, countless well run schools will close while the cosey suburban schools (where the potential of their intake means that bad practice doesn’t reflect in performance) will continue to survive by attracting aspiring parents with able, well supported kids.
Jacqui replies: One of the things I’m most proud of about this government’s education policy is the way in which schools in the most deprived areas have improved the fastest. This is because we’ve focussed extra funding and support there, but also because, as OFSTED confirm, we have the best generation of teachers and school leaders ever. The challenge now is to build on that for all schools. In particular, the opportunity that the Trust model could bring for schools to work with partners like universities, other schools, community organisations and employers could bring extra capacity into schools that need it most. We’ll direct the Schools commissioner to find this support for the schools in the toughest circumstances first.
One of the first schools to express an interest in trust status is Thorpe Bay in Southend which has just come out of special measures after six years. They are making a really interesting partnership with a high quality vocational training provider - Prospects College and are confident that will help them continue their improvement and transform the chances for their pupils.
Robert Noble: From experience I have found that some children have great difficulty in understanding some subjects (such as maths) because the textbooks used are structured in such a way that they can not comprehend it. The methods that are used work very well for a large percentage of children but don’t work for all and some children feel as if they ‘just don’t get it’. I found this when helping my stepson (currently in year 7) with subjects like maths. He stared to understand the work when I translated his homework into a format, which he could work with. He does receive extra support at school but there are many others like him that could benefit from slightly different teaching methods. I refer mainly to children that do not need require a SENCO but would achieve more by using a different learning structure. Will the new proposals give greater flexibility and allow schools to provide different teaching methods in class?
Jacqui replies: You’re absolutely right that the real challenge for teachers and schools now is how to develop learning that is genuinely tailored to the needs of individual children. This personalised learning is at the heart of what we’re proposing in the Schools White Paper and we’ve already allocated over £500m for the next two years for local authorities and schools to develop these opportunities. We’ll also be training expert teachers in every school and ensuring that schools have got the know-how and the materials to crack this. I think it’s absolutely key to our objective of ensuring that every child fulfils their potential.
Anne Aitchison: What guarantees are there that pupils from deprived neighbourhoods will not be disadvantaged further by the introduction of the Education Bill, as it stands
Jacqui replies: The biggest disadvantage for any child is not getting access to a good school with high expectations, good teaching and support for pupils. It’s unacceptable, in my view, that children from poorer backgrounds are much less likely to get the 5 higher level GCSEs that are the springboard to future learning and employment. Our Bill is all about how we use personalised learning, better discipline, more vocational learning at 14 and more external support from partners like universities, employers and voluntary organisations to drive higher standards for all children, but with a particular focus on those in more deprived neighbourhoods.
Alan Kenneth Hook: Why quote that the schools will be able to govern their own admissions policy and then turn around in the next breath and state but they wont be able to interview prospective pupils. Can you tell everyone please exactly what they will be able to do and what they wont. So that there is no doubt at all.
Jacqui replies: Schools that are their own admission authorities - and about a quarter of schools already are - set their admissions criteria. In other words, they decide on what basis pupils will be admitted if more apply than there are places for. Examples include catchment area, siblings of current pupils or for faith schools, family religious belief.
But it is right that they do this within a strong framework of fair admissions - that are open and transparent for parents and where children aren’t selected on the basis of high ability only. That’s why we will strengthen the current Code of Admissions in the Education Bill and why we will end interviewing as a method of selection. It isn’t transparent and is clearly open to concerns about being more about the confidence and articulacy of parents than the child’s needs. The Churches themselves have asked us to end the process of interviewing for admission and we’ll be doing it in the Education Bill.
Geoff Almond: Is it true that SOCs will be abolished by the proposed new legislation?If so why?
Jacqui replies: Yes they will. We think that local authorities should be the decision maker about school organisation matters. This is in line with their new strategic role as the champion of parents and pupils in an area.
Thomas Muirhead: HI Jacqui,
I was wondering whether the Government’s decision to expand faith schools is a short term measure based on better results, that are in fact due to selection rather than religion. Faith schools are a time-bomb that will push different faiths further apart. Do the precedents of South Africa and Northern Ireland not make it clear that it is extremely difficult to make adults integrate, but children do it instinctively. Children don’t notice faith differences unless they are pointed out to them by adults. Our children must all play together unless the generations to come are to find faiths more separated than ever. Faith schools are segregation.
Is this not an example of a lack of foresight?
Jacqui replies: Faith schools have played an important part in our education system for a very long time. Today a third of schools have a faith ethos and many parents are keen to choose them for their children. However, they are still predominantly Christian and I think that it is reasonable for other faith communities to also aspire for state funded faith education. That is why I am proud that we have been able to support Muslim, Jewish, Sikh and other faith schools over the last few years.
But I do share your aspiration that all children should learn about other’s religious and non religious beliefs which is why I welcome last week’s statement by the leaders of all the main faith groups that their schools will teach pupils about all the major faiths.
British Youth Council: The British Youth Council welcomes the bill wih regard to making sure young people have a range of exciting and positive things to do in their spare time as promised by Youth Matters. BYC were pleased to see that the bill requires local authorities to take into account ‘the views of qualifying young persons in the authority’s area (507 B).’
However, we like to know what measures the government will utilise to ensure that young people are also involved in the broader aspects of their education; for example, in decisions regarding the curriculum, school discipline, and school food.
Jacqui replies: I’m glad you welcome the new duties on local authorities with respect to youth activities and consultation in the Bill.
Increasingly we are seeing schools develop all sorts of ways to ensure that ’student voice’ is heard in their activities from school councils through to individual involvement in reviewing and setting future targets for their own learning.
In the Bill, I’m particuarly pleased that we are extending the consultation on a school’s behaviour policy to include consultation with pupils as well.
Paul Wood: The Overall standard of education would rise if teachers could spend more time teaching their University accomplishments 9-4, rather than bureaucracy 10-2, which has become the norm.
Paul
Jacqui replies: I agree which is why we are working with unions and employers to implement workforce remodelling which, for example has already freed teacher’s time for what they do best - teaching, put a strict limit on the amount of ‘cover’ that teachers have to do and from this year, ensures that all teachers have 10% of their time for planning, preparation and assessment. In addition, there are over 100,000 more support staff in our schools.
colin osborne: The new specialised diplomas are intended to reflect the occupational sectors in the economy but there is no diploma in science, which is a massive occupational sector. Why??
Jacqui replies: A Pure science diploma would not be very vocational - GCSE and A level science will remain for those that want pure science whilst the broad science themes will be picked up other diplomas i.e. engineering, health and social care, land based and environment for example.
Jacqui says: Thanks for all your questions. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to answer them all today, but perhaps we could do this again! There are a lot more details about all the issues we’ve covered today on the DFES website - www.dfes.gov.uk.
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