§ Mr. SimmondsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to allow 12 to 13-year-old pupils to drop history and geography as part of the curriculum. [11545]
§ Mr. TimmsThe last national curriculum review reaffirmed the position of history and geography as statutory subjects for all key stage three pupils. History
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Number of pupils eligible for free school meals in specialist secondary schools and other maintained secondary schools, January 2001, by Government office region Specialist secondary schools Other maintained secondary schools Number of schools Number of day pupils Number of pupils eligible for FSM Percentage of pupils eligible for FSM Number of schools Number of day pupils Number of pupils eligible for FSM Percentage of pupils eligible for FSM England 676 769,973 112,865 14.7 2,805 2,457,000 396,811 16.2 North East Hartlepool 2 2,409 476 19.8 4 4,270 1,250 29.3 Middlesbrough 2 2,119 753 35.5 9 6,453 2,317 35.9 Redcar and Cleveland1 — — — — — — — — Stockton-on-Tees 4 5,070 674 13.3 9 7,723 1,883 24.4 Darlington 3 2,953 368 12.5 4 3,056 581 19.0 Durham 13 13,116 2,075 15.8 23 19,042 3,687 19.4 Northumberland 8 8,014 766 9.6 52 22,464 2,927 13.0 Gateshead 5 7,025 930 13.2 5 5,018 1,676 33.4 Newcastle upon Tyne 7 10,140 2,196 21.7 14 7,931 2,377 30.0 North Tyneside 4 3,521 831 23.6 16 10,653 1,667 15.6 South Tyneside 2 2,680 527 19.7 9 7,828 2,008 25.7 Sunderland 4 4,823 1,046 21.7 13 15,014 4,910 32.7 North West Halton 2 2,017 396 19.6 7 6,671 1,687 25.3 Warrington 3 4,192 316 7.5 9 9,641 1,084 11.2 Cheshire 6 5,654 671 11.9 39 40,585 3,934 9.7 Cumbria 9 8,533 1,133 13.3 33 25,134 3,034 12.1 Bolton 4 5,363 321 6.0 12 13,782 2,652 19.2 Bury 0 0 0 0.0 14 11,731 1,754 15.0 Manchester 7 8,229 3,110 37.8 16 15,248 7,176 47.1 Oldham 2 2,398 671 28.0 13 14,427 3,022 20.9 Rochdale 4 4,583 1,054 23.0 10 9,571 2,511 26.2 Salford 2 1,874 169 9.0 14 10,650 3,040 28.5 fires pupils' curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world. Geography provokes and answers questions about the natural and human worlds, developing pupils' knowledge of places and environments throughout the world.
A major focus of our drive to raise standards for pupils in the first years of secondary school is the key stage 3 strategy. This will eventually impact across all subjects in the curriculum, including history and geography, through the programme for teaching and learning in the foundation subjects, which we are currently piloting.