§ Lord Shutt of Greetlandasked Her Majesty's Government:
In the case of each "Learning from Success" conference held in September, what was the response to the Question asked at the conference about who gave schools most support to raise standards; and, for each conference, what was the percentage of attendees who responded that (a) local education authorities and (b) the Government supported schools in their work in raising standards. [HL4303]
§ The Minister of State, Department for Education and Employment (Baroness Blackstone)The"Learning from Success" conferences offered ministers and officials the chance to listen to the views of head 135WA teachers from just over 1,500 schools. It was the most extensive interactive consultation exercise ever carried out with head teachers.
One of the most innovative aspects of the conferences was the use of keypad technology to involve every delegate, thereby giving them the opportunity instantly to register their views on a range of issues. Responses to questions were immediately displayed to the audience and the range of opinion explored.
London Manchester Nottingham Birmingham Newcastle Overall Parents 54% 53% 49% 45% 51% 50% Your governing body Not asked 78% 75% 77% 73% 76% The media 1% 2% 4% 2% 2% 2% The LEA 60% 61% 58% 53% 51% 56% The Government 46% 50% 41% 45% 24% 41% Teacher Unions 28% 20% 21% 19% 24% 23% Further details of both the keypad analysis and the outcomes of the conferences can be found on the Learning from Success area of the Internet Standards Site. The site's web address is http://www.standards.dfee.gov.uk/learningfromsuccess.
§ Baroness Sharp of Guildfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
In the case of each "Learning from Success" conference held in September, what was the date on which it was held; what was the venue; the cost; and the number of persons attending; and what proportion of attendees were head teachers. [HL4302]
§ Baroness BlackstoneThe"Learning from Success" conferences offered Ministers and officials the chance to listen to the views of head teachers from just over 1,500 schools. It was the most extensive interactive consultation exercise ever carried out with head teachers.
The conferences were held at five venues across England from 18–22 September 2000. The locations for each conference were as follows:
136WA
- Monday 18 September—The Paragon Hotel, London;
- Tuesday 19 September—New Century House, Manchester;
- Wednesday 20 September—Jubilee Campus, The University of Nottingham;
- Thursday 21 September—The National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham;
- Friday 22 September—Eldon Leisure Centre, Newcastle.
At each day of the conferences delegates were asked the question, "Do you feel your efforts to raise standards are sufficiently supported by: (a) Parents? (b) Your governing body? (c) The media? (d) The LEA? (e) The Government? (f) Teacher Unions?" Answers to this question were recorded using keypad technology and the possible responses were "yes" or "no". For each of the five conference venues the percentage of delegates saying "yes" in answer to each of the six parts of the above question were as follows:
The overall cost of all five conferences was just under £700,000.
The attendance for each venue was as follows:
Venue Attendance London 350 Manchester 350 Nottingham 250 Birmingham 350 Newcastle 375 Total for the week 1,675 One of the most innovative aspects of the Learning from Success conferences was the use of keypad technology to involve every delegate, thereby giving them the opportunity to instantly register their views on a range of issues. Responses to questions were immediately displayed to the audience and the range of opinion explored.
Results from the answer to the first keypad question "What type of school do you work in?" show that 91 per cent of delegates who registered an answer were school representatives. The invitations sent out to the conferences were addressed to the head teachers of schools, so the vast majority of school representatives were heads. The invitation letter did state that if the head teacher was unable to attend then he or she had the opportunity to send a member of their senior teaching staff in their place; therefore it is possible that not all school representatives would have been head teachers.
Further details of both the keypad analysis and the outcomes of the conferences can be found on the Learning from Success area of the Internet Standards Site. The site's web address is http://www.standards.dfee.gov.uk/learningfromsuccess.