Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Lost Learning: Covid-19

Monday 26 April 2021 · 6 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Government invested 1.7 billion to help pupils catch up on learning lost due to covid-19.
  • National tutoring programme is progressing to support children across the country.
  • Minister agreed to review Tutor The Nation's potential involvement in the national tutoring programme.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Paul Holmes Con Hamble Valley
Education
Context

The MP is concerned about the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on children's education and asks what support his Department is providing to help them catch up.

Question

What support his Department is providing to help children catch up on learning lost during the covid-19 outbreak?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

Helping pupils to make up learning is vital. That is why this Government have invested £1.7 billion to provide support to help pupils get back on track as they return to school.

Answered
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Q2 Mark Logan
Education
Context

The MP inquired about the national tutoring programme and its impact on schools, particularly mentioning Tutor The Nation's role in connecting schools to volunteers.

Question

From its birth in Bolton to its national roll-out, Tutor The Nation has connected schools in more challenging areas to carefully vetted volunteers, supported by professional tutors working for free. Unfortunately, Tutor The Nation is unqualified to participate in the national tutoring programme. What support can the Secretary of State's kind Department provide to Tutor The Nation, to give children across the UK the same opportunities that we are enjoying in Bolton?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

The national tutoring programme is making great progress in supporting so many children right around the country. I am certainly happy to look into Tutor The Nation in greater detail, to see whether there is more we can do to work closely with it, to ensure that we are able to continue with the great expansion of the national tutoring programme across all constituencies.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Secretary of State did not commit to specific actions but expressed willingness to look into Tutor The Nation in detail.

How: Looking Into Tutor The Nation

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Q3 Paul Holmes Con Hamble Valley
Education Children & Families
Context

The MP is concerned about the importance of routines, structures, and behaviour in schools for disadvantaged children returning to classrooms.

Question

As we support vulnerable and disadvantaged children in returning to the classroom, ensuring that they have routines and structures in place to help them reach their potential will be essential. Does my right hon. Friend agree that we cannot overestimate the importance of promoting behaviour and discipline in schools in our ambition to give every child a quality education?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

We all know how important it is that we create calm, positive and good environments for children to flourish in, and strong behaviour and discipline policies have been the hallmark of being able to do that. It is particularly important for children from some of the most disadvantaged backgrounds to ensure that we create the type of environment in schools that we want and expect to see right across the country.

Answered
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Q4 Kate Green Lab
Education
Context

The MP is concerned about the impact of changes to the school census date on pupil premium funding, which may result in schools losing out on thousands of pounds.

Question

The national tutoring programme is reaching only one in six pupils on free school meals, and changes to the school census date mean that schools are also losing out on thousands of pounds of pupil premium funding for those students. Will the Secretary of State now come clean and publish his Department's full financial analysis of the funding lost to schools from this pupil premium stealth cut?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

The hon. Lady forever moans and complains about the resources—the extra resources—that we have been putting into schools. Just a short time ago, we unveiled a £14.4 billion expansion of funding into secondary schools.[Official Report, 16 June 2021, Vol. 697, c. 2MC.] On top of that, we have outlined a further £1.7 billion that is going to support schools in helping to ensure that children are able to catch up having been away.

Not addressed: The Secretary of State did not address the specific request for financial analysis and instead highlighted other funding initiatives.

How: Highlighting Other Funding Initiatives

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Q5 Kate Green Lab
Education
Context

The MP is concerned about the impact of changes to pupil premium funding, which may affect schools' ability to provide essential services for students.

Question

So are headteachers moaning when they say that the pupil premium stealth cut means that they will not be able to pay for speech and language therapy, or a teaching assistant, or additional small group sessions? One head told me that they lose out more on pupil premium cuts than they receive in catch-up funding. This is not a Government that are serious about catch-up. Will the Secretary of State guarantee that no school will be worse off as a result of his changes to the pupil premium?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

This Government are delivering real increases for schools right across the board. We are delivering an extra £1.7 billion in support to schools to ensure that they are able to help children to catch up. That is what we are doing. That is the difference we are making through schemes such as the national tutoring programme. This is making a real impact on children's lives.

Not addressed: The Secretary of State did not guarantee that no school will be worse off and instead highlighted other funding initiatives.

How: Highlighting Other Funding Initiatives

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Q6 Robert Halfon Con
Education
Context

The MP supports the Government's summer holiday activities programme but is concerned that disadvantaged pupils may not attend. He asks if the Secretary of State will support extending the school day to better engage these students.

Question

While I strongly support the Government's summer holiday activities programme, there is a risk that disadvantaged pupils may be less likely to attend. Extending the school day with proper buy-in from parents and pupils makes it easier to engage disadvantaged pupils who are already through the school's gate. All the evidence suggests that extending the school day has beneficial effects, including increasing educational attainment by an additional two months, and Sheffield Hallam University has said that it generates £4.5 million from improved educational attainment. Will my right hon. Friend support extending the school day, and can he confirm whether the Government have conducted any modelling to calculate the potential cost of an extended school day in England?

Answer from Gavin Williamson

My right hon. Friend is right to highlight the fact that we want to ensure that children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds will be among the key beneficiaries of any changes and further interventions we make to ensure that children are able to catch up. One of those areas, which it is right to look at, is an extended school day and how we ensure that children from all backgrounds can benefit from being in school longer.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Secretary of State did not confirm whether the Government have modelled costs but expressed willingness to consider extending the school day for disadvantaged students.

How: Looking At An Extended School Day

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