education – Page 5 – The Church of England in Parliament

Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham asks about effects of COVID-19 pandemic on educational attainment

The Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham asked a question on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the educational needs of SEN children on 22nd May 2024, during a discussion on the effects of the pandemic on educational attainment for UK schoolchildren:

The Lord Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham: My Lords, head teachers in my diocese in Nottinghamshire are reporting that the adverse impacts of the pandemic include a dramatic increase in attendance concerns, parental anxiety and pupils’ mental health difficulties. At the same time, they are reporting severe pressures on schools funding, leading to staff reductions, which cannot be in the best interests of children, especially where SEN provision is reduced. What assessment have His Majesty’s Government made of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the educational needs of SEN children, and what more can be done to mitigate this?

Bishop of Manchester asks about impact of early release on prisoner qualifications

The Bishop of Manchester asked a question on the issue of advanced release dates preventing prisoners from completing qualifications begun whilst in prison, during a discussion on the End of Custody Supervised Licence Scheme on 13th May 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Manchester: My Lords, I declare that I am a trustee of the Clink Charity: we are involved with training people in prison for qualifications for restaurants, catering and the like. Those last few weeks in prison are often a crucial time for prisoners gaining the qualifications they need to get a decent job when they are released. I am sure every prisoner wants to go as soon as they can, but is the Minister aware, and will the Government take consideration, of the effect of prisoners not receiving their qualifications because they have not quite been completed by the time their advanced release date comes?

Bishop of St Albans asks about foreign language learning and international study

The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 9th May 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government whether they have made an assessment of the impact of emerging artificial intelligence capacities on the necessity for foreign language learning.

Baroness Barran (Con, DfE): Studying a language can be extremely rewarding and exciting for children and young people. It can provide insight into other cultures and open the door to travel and employment opportunities. Whilst Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be useful in enhancing the experience of learning a language, and this should be explored further, it should not be seen as a replacement.

Bishop of St Albans asks about funding for SEND school places

The Bishop of St Albans asked a question on the availability of additional funding for SEND places in schools during a discussion on the removal of the admissions cap on state-funded faith schools on 7th May 2024:

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: My Lords, Church of England schools will continue our long tradition of seeking to serve the common good and welcoming a huge diversity of people; we are glad to do that. The Minister has spoken about the huge problem of there not being enough special educational needs places. If I have understood this correctly, it means that this will be a new possibility. We in the Church of England would be keen to play our part to help with this, but one issue is the funding available for it, which makes it very difficult to offer. Alongside this announcement, what consideration have His Majesty’s Government given to providing additional funding for those SEND places, which we hope can release more energy into that deprived area?

Bishop of Oxford asks about use of data in education

The Bishop of Oxford received the following written answers on 23rd April 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Oxford asked His Majesty’s Government whether they give third parties access to national pupil data or learner records, and whether they charge a fee for any such access.

Baroness Barran (Con, DfE): The department will only share pupil, or learner, level data with others where it is lawful, secure and ethical to do so. Where these conditions are met and data is shared, the department do not charge any fee.

Bishop of Worcester asks about support for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities

The Bishop of Worcester asked a question on the need for more funding to be put into the system to support SEND pupils and their families on 19th March 2024, during a discussion on the level of support given to pupils with special educational needs:

The Lord Bishop of Worcester: My Lords, I declare my interest as a parent who had to fight hard for an EHCP for his child. It is not only in deprived areas that it is very hard to be awarded an EHCP; it is certainly true in Worcestershire, where a large proportion of applications are turned down. As I was fighting through mediation, I was told by a health professional, “Remember, John, only pushy parents get EHCPs”, and that seemed to be the case. Does the Minister agree that this is shameful? Does she also agree with the LSE that the basic problem is that more money needs to be put into the system?

Bishop of Worcester asks about benefits of inter-school partnerships

The Bishop of Worcester asked a question on the benefits of cooperation and partnerships between schools on 18th March 2024, during a discussion on the contribution of independent schools to the education sector:

The Lord Bishop of Worcester: My Lords, I draw attention to my interest as president of the Woodard Corporation, one of the largest Christian education charities in the country. The noble Lord, Lord Black, drew attention to the partnership between Brentwood School and other schools in the area.

Schools (Mental Health Professionals) Bill: Bishop of Winchester applauds measures to address mental health issues in young people

The Bishop of Winchester spoke in a debate on the second reading of the Schools (Mental Health Professionals) Bill on 1st March 2024, pointing out the need for a consistent, universally applied policy to improve student mental health, and the need to address the causes of mental health issues at a root level:

The Lord Bishop of Winchester: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for bringing this Bill to us for its Second Reading. We indeed face a crisis in this area and need to be aware of the long-term consequences of not addressing it.

The Bill would pave the way for just the kinds of interventions that are sorely needed. The NSPCC and our own Library briefing state that more than 20% of children and young people are living with poor mental health. CAMHS referrals are provided for only the most severe presenting issues, while early intervention, though widely recognised to be key to good long-term outcomes, is now a thing of distant memory. The sobering fact is that children are taking their own lives while they wait to be seen, and that is deeply shameful.

Last summer, the Church of England published the document Our Hope for a Flourishing Schools System, which makes specific mention of mental health, it being the issue school leaders most often raise with us. It states:

“Children’s mental health and wellbeing is prioritised and resourced generously by a society that invests in the long-term future of its nation by placing children first in funding and political direction. The fulfilling of a child’s potential should never be hindered, blocked or prevented by the system in which they find themselves”.

However, those words are, sadly, far from being the current reality.

Bishop of Lincoln asks about methods of improving school attendance

The Bishop of Lincoln asked a questions about application of data analysis to improve pupil attendance and experience in schools on 13th February 2024, during a discussion on the potential of Ofsted reviewing pupil absence rates as part of their inspections:

The Lord Bishop of Lincoln: My Lords, I express gratitude to the Minister for the way in which the data has been produced; I understand that more is to come, and that will be examined in great detail. As an unrepentant pedant, though, I am as interested in the adverbs as the nouns—in how the data is to be applied. How do we get more children across the line in terms of the culture of school? Some years ago, the Children’s Society’s Young Commissioners looked deeply into child poverty in school and how children are identified as those, for instance, receiving free school meals or who are not able to purchase the very expensive school uniforms from the agreed seller. How is school culture being encouraged by government further to change in order to get children across the line? How, indeed, do we expect Ofsted to become the “office of encouragement”?

Bishop of Lincoln asks about SEND diagnosis process for children and families

The Bishop of Lincoln asked a question on support for families in the process of receiving special educational needs diagnoses and provision for their children on 12th February 2024:

The Lord Bishop of Lincoln: My Lords, I welcome everything that the Minister has said, but we all know that, even with the initial screening online, a full diagnosis for many children with any of these needs can take years to confirm. I am interested in what the noble Baroness has to say about how families—and the children themselves—are accompanied through several years of negotiation with the NHS and with local authorities, especially when, as has already been said, certainly in Lincolnshire, staffing costs outstrip the need that is expressed within our schools.

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