Contributions
793 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDReligious Schools: Admission PoliciesMy noble friend is quite right: the largest voluntary-aided schools are Catholic schools. There are some 850,000 pupils in those schools, and 33% of those pupils are from other…29 Apr 2019HANSARDReligious Schools: Admission PoliciesMy Lords, many schools with faith-based admissions have diverse intakes. Faith schools do not have significantly different populations of ethnic groups compared to non-faith…29 Apr 2019HANSARDReligious Schools: Admission PoliciesThe noble Lord talks absolute sense.29 Apr 2019HANSARDReligious Schools: Admission PoliciesTo reassure the noble Baroness, the voluntary aided scheme is focused on providing the diverse range of places that parents want and is aimed at meeting demand for those places…29 Apr 2019HANSARDReligious Schools: Admission PoliciesThe noble Lord is quite right. With the help of all Members of this House, we got the relationships and sex education regulations through last week. They underpin the whole…29 Apr 2019HANSARDReligious Schools: Admission PoliciesMy Lords, academies are required to put their admissions policy on their websites so that they are quite clear to parents who apply. As I mentioned in response to an earlier…29 Apr 2019HANSARDReligious Schools: Admission PoliciesMy noble friend is completely correct. One of the most powerful things in our education system is diversity, and faith schools exist simply because there is huge demand for them.…29 Apr 2019HANSARDRelationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019That the draft Regulations laid before the House on 25 February be approved. Relevant documents : 22nd Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee (Sub-Committee B )24 Apr 2019HANSARDRelationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019My noble friend makes a good point. I will certainly encourage the department to do that. We are all aware that this is a big change. As the noble Lord, Lord Watson, said, it is…24 Apr 2019HANSARDRelationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019My Lords, I thank the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee for their in-depth consideration and report. These regulations represent a significant step that will equip children…24 Apr 2019HANSARDRelationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019I am certainly happy to write to the noble Lord to clarify that, but I reassure him that each academy school will have a governing body. There may be some instances where a…24 Apr 2019HANSARDRelationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (England) Regulations 2019My Lords, I am grateful for the many comments on these emotive issues, and will attempt to address them all. I have been asked to be as brief as possible, so I will have a…24 Apr 2019HANSARDSchools: Modern LanguagesMy Lords, the take-up of modern foreign languages at GCSE is too low. While the percentage of those studying an MFL GCSE has increased from 40% in 2010 to 46% last year, more…09 Apr 2019HANSARDSchools: Modern LanguagesMy Lords, I think the irony has to lie with the noble Lord opposite, because in 2004 the Labour Government removed the compulsory requirement for modern foreign languages at GCSE.…09 Apr 2019HANSARDSchools: Modern LanguagesMy noble friend is right; however, noble Lords will remember that we in this House passed the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. We have a market-driven higher education…09 Apr 2019HANSARDSchools: Modern LanguagesThe noble Baroness makes a very good point, and I will certainly take that recommendation back to my department and the Home Office. The noble Baroness mentioned the Mandarin…09 Apr 2019HANSARDSchools: Modern LanguagesI reassure the noble Baroness that multilingual children are not seen as a problem from my experience in the number of schools I took over—indeed, one of the last free schools I…09 Apr 2019HANSARDSchools: Modern LanguagesMy noble friend is right; I do not think he is being a fuddy-duddy at all. We have seen a degradation in grammar; I am a martinet in the department when I receive poorly written…09 Apr 2019HANSARDSchools: Modern LanguagesThe noble Lord makes a valid point. He is correct in saying that academies are not obliged to follow the national curriculum, but we insist on a broad and balanced curriculum. The…09 Apr 2019HANSARDSchools: StaffingMy Lords, last year we increased the main scale pay rate for teachers by the largest amount in nearly 10 years. Teachers are well paid, and deservedly so. This year, we are…04 Apr 2019