Contributions
1,309 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTeaching and Support Staff: Recruitment and RetentionOur recent integrated teacher recruitment and retention strategy prioritises reducing unnecessary workloads. We will ensure teaching continues to offer one of the best pensions…11 Mar 2019HANSARDDisadvantaged Children: Attainment GapThere are currently 154,960 disadvantaged two-year-olds benefiting from the 15 hours’ free entitlement programme—a programme that was never available under any Labour Government.…11 Mar 2019HANSARDDisadvantaged Children: Attainment GapThe simple truth is that that gap has been narrowing in England. I will take no lessons from SNP Members, whose Government in Scotland are failing to narrow the gap.11 Mar 2019HANSARDDisadvantaged Children: Attainment GapIt may come as no surprise to anyone at all that I am not about to commend the Scottish Government for their approach. Actually, in the last few years England has seen record…11 Mar 2019HANSARDDisadvantaged Children: Attainment GapWow. I believe my commitment to social mobility and closing the disadvantage gap is strong. I used to chair the all-party group on social mobility before I came into this job, and…11 Mar 2019HANSARDDisadvantaged Children: Attainment GapI thank the hon. Lady for her kind words about the schools Minister. [Interruption.] I mean the children’s Minister. Did I say schools Minister? He is also very good. I do…11 Mar 2019HANSARDDisadvantaged Children: Attainment GapOf course, I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss how we can make sure that apprenticeships do work for the Rothbury First School and others in her constituency.…11 Mar 2019HANSARDFree SchoolsThere are 443 open free schools, and we will establish another 263. Today, I announced the approval of a further 37 special free schools and two alternative provision schools. In…11 Mar 2019HANSARDDisadvantaged Children: Attainment GapMy hon. Friend is correct about this; at the early years foundation stage, providers have to make sure that there are sufficient opportunities for children whose home language is…11 Mar 2019HANSARDDisadvantaged Children: Attainment GapOf course, my right hon. Friend is correct on this, which follows on from the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton Deane (Rebecca Pow). We are investing more…11 Mar 2019HANSARDSchool StandardsOf course I recognise the value of rural schools, not least as a constituency MP—I have many brilliant rural schools in my constituency. As we come to look again at the formula,…11 Mar 2019HANSARDSchool StandardsAs it happens, on Thursday—in three days’ time—we have a session with Opportunity North East to look specifically at working directly with secondary schools in the north-east. The…11 Mar 2019HANSARDSchool StandardsI agree with my hon. Friend, and we will be investing over £20 million by 2020 through our teaching and leadership innovation fund. On Saturday I had the opportunity to talk about…11 Mar 2019HANSARDSchool StandardsWe have reformed the curriculum and ensured we have rigorous qualifications so that employers and young people themselves can take full confidence in them.11 Mar 2019HANSARDFree SchoolsThat is at the heart of what we do. That is why we have Ofsted and a school improvement programme, and it is why we encourage schools to learn from one another. One of the main…11 Mar 2019HANSARDFree SchoolsAs I said to the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Ruth Smeeth), there are areas where we need to continue creating new school places. That is why we have already created over…11 Mar 2019HANSARDFree SchoolsAs the hon. Lady knows, there is more money going into high needs provision—£6 billion. However, it is also true—this is implicit in what she says—that there are greater demands…11 Mar 2019HANSARDFree SchoolsThis decade we are on course to create 1 million new places in schools across the country. It will be the largest expansion in school capacity in at least two generations,…11 Mar 2019HANSARDFree SchoolsI commend my right hon. Friend for his ongoing work with the Cobham Free School and the upcoming project at Heathside Walton-on-Thames. He has met my noble friend Lord Agnew to…11 Mar 2019HANSARDSchool StandardsMy hon. Friend is, of course, exactly right on that. The very earliest development of speech and language is crucial; someone who arrives at school unable to communicate fully…11 Mar 2019