§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what advance notice is required by her Department for associated applications for specialist school status for the(a) March 2002 and (b) October 2002 bidding rounds; and if she will make a statement. [29195]
§ Mr. TimmsThere is no specific notice requirement for associated applications for specialist school designation. However, as stated in the guidance documents setting out the assessment criteria for applicant schools, DfES is willing to consider outline proposals from schools interested in submitting associated applications in advance of the closing date of a specialist school competition. Associated application arrangements will typically involve a group of secondary schools as part of a strategic approach to specialist school provision in an area. In due course each application will be judged on its individual merits. To give schools interested in making associated applications an advance indication of the likely view to be taken on the proposals as a whole we would encourage them to show their outline proposals to DfES at least six months before the closing date in which the first associated application will be submitted.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of the value of sponsorship by the private sector for specialist schools to date which has been available(a) in cash and (b) in kind; and if she will make a statement. [29196]
§ Mr. TimmsThe aggregate contribution of private sector sponsorship to specialist schools to date is at least £58 million. Most applications will have elements of cash sponsorship and sponsorship in kind though the split varies greatly from school to school. The breakdown of cash and in kind sponsorship for each specialist school is on each school's file and not collated centrally. It is therefore not possible to give estimates of the cash and kind amounts except at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many applications for specialist school status have been rejected on the basis that the school in question has performance indicators which show a declining trend of performance; and if she will make a statement. [29202]
§ Mr. TimmsWe do not maintain figures on the number of schools where a declining trend in performance has been a factor in a school's application being unsuccessful. GCSE performance is one of a range of factors taken into account as part of an applicant's specialist school902W development plan but has never been the sole factor in deciding not to approve an application for specialist school designation.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her estimate is of the level of investment in specialist schools for each year from May 1997 to 2005, broken down by(a) extra capital funding and (b) extra current expenditure; and if she will make a statement. [29204]
§ Mr. TimmsThe level of investment in specialist schools broken down by(a) capital and (b) extra recurrent expenditure from 1996–97 to 2003–04 is provided in the table. Any future and additional funding will be considered as part of the 2002 Spending Review.
£ million Financial year Capital Recurrent Total 1996–97 7.0 16.0 23.0 1997–98 7.7 25.4 33.1 1998–99 8.0 32.8 40.8 1999–2000 4.5 42.9 47.4 2000–01 13.2 58.7 71.9 2001–02 15.4 78.6 94.0 2002–03 16.6 91.4 108.0 2003–04 16.8 110.2 127.0
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many specialist schools have increased the curriculum hours devoted to their chosen specialism, following award of specialist status; and if she will make a statement. [29209]
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the specialist schools in(a) Somerset and (b) Dorset, giving the specialism in each case.
§ Mr. TimmsA list of specialist schools by specialism in(a) Somerset and (b) Dorset is given below:
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- Specialist schools in Somerset
- Bucklers Mead Community School—Technology
- Court Fields Community School—Technology
- Crispin School—Technology
- Heathfield Community School—Arts
- Kings of Wessex Community School (The)—Technology
- Kingsmead Community School—Language
- Ladymead Community School—Technology
- Whitstone Community School—Technology
- Specialist schools in Dorset
- Lytchett Minister School—Arts
- Highcliffe Comprehensive School—Language
- Sir John Colfox School—Language
- Shaftesbury School—Sports
- Beaminster School—Technology
- Budmouth Technology College—Technology
- Twynham School—Technology
- Westfield School—Technology.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures of deprivation are considered when considering applications for specialist school status; and if she will make a statement. [29211]
§ Mr. TimmsIn accordance with the guidance documents which set out the criteria for the consideration of specialist school applications, some preference may be given to applications from areas of social deprivation as measured by pupils' known eligibility for free school meals.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will publish the latest research showing the effects of specialist school status on school performance; and if she will make a statement. [29212]
§ Mr. TimmsThe latest research commissioned by the Department was published in 2000. An analysis of the performance in 2001 of specialist schools operational from September 2000 or before will shortly be prepared by Professor David Jesson on behalf of the Technology Colleges Trust and I expect this analysis to be published in the spring.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the nature of the links which she requires between primary feeder schools and secondary schools which are successful in becoming specialist schools. [29214]
§ Mr. TimmsThe requirements for specialist school community development plans are set out in the published guidance documents on each specialism. Applications for specialist school designation must include proposals to work with at least five named schools, which will typically include one or more of the applicant's feeder primary schools. Although there are no specific requirements covering the nature of work which specialist schools undertake with their primary partners we would normally expect such links to range from, for example, the provision of access to specialist resources and facilities to joint teaching and learning activities, including specialist subject INSET, or project work to help progression between Key Stages 2 and 3.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the criteria considered by her Department when assessing bids for specialist school status. [29215]
§ Mr. TimmsThe criteria against which applications for specialist school designation are assessed are published in eight guidance documents each dealing with one of the eight categories of specialism. These set out the considerations taken into account when deciding to designate specialist schools and are based around the eligibility of sponsorship and the quality of the school and community development plans. Copies of guidance documents have been place in the Library.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the local education authorities which have 30 per cent, or more of their pupils in specialist schools; if she will make a statement on the reasons for which further schools in such LEAs will not be considered for specialist school bids; and if she will indicate for how long the ban on further bids in such areas will last. [29216]
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§ Mr. TimmsThe local authorities which have 30 per cent, of their secondary age pupils in specialist maintained secondary schools are listed in the table.
As at January 2001 LEA Pupils aged 11+ in specialist maintained secondary schools Pupils aged 11+ in all maintained secondary schools Percentage of pupils aged 11+ in specialist maintained secondary schools Wandsworth 6,395 9,944 64.3 Newcastle upon Tyne 10,138 16,318 62.1 West Berkshire 7,033 11,740 59.9 Gateshead 7,025 12,043 58.3 Hackney 4,411 7,921 55.7 York 4,929 9,972 49.4 Darlington 2,953 6,009 49.1 North Somerset 5,891 12,268 48.0 Cornwall 13,685 32,000 42.8 Bath and North East Somerset 5,218 12,270 42.5 Camden 4,544 10,868 41.8 Greenwich 5,767 13,834 41.7 Ealing 6,163 15,088 40.8 Durham 13,116 32,158 40.8 Stockton-on-Tees 5,070 12,792 39.6 Bournemouth 3,800 9,768 38.9 Newham 6,667 17,469 38.2 Milton Keynes 4,465 12,058 37.0 Wigan 7,716 20,854 37.0 Birmingham 25,401 69,037 36.8 Bradford 12,539 34,214 36.6 Hartlepool 2,409 6,679 36.1 Plymouth 6,786 18,823 36.1 Gloucestershire 13,718 38,146 36.0 Northumberland 8,075 22,855 35.3 Manchester 8,227 23,472 35.1 Rutland 789 2,254 35.0 Wiltshire 9,570 27,383 34.9 Cambridgeshire 10,625 30,916 34.4 St. Helens 4,167 12,159 34.3 Northamptonshire 14,932 44,161 33.8 Barking and Dagenham 3,709 11,079 33.5 Redbridge 6,301 18,868 33.4 Lambeth 2,398 7.208 33.3 East Riding of Yorkshire 7,333 22,627 32.4 Rochdale 4,583 14,153 32.4 Lincolnshire 14,210 44,166 32.2 Sheffield 9,596 29,861 32.1 Wakefield 6,758 21,279 31.8 Trafford 5,000 15,844 31.6 East Sussex 8,686 27,805 31.2 Knowlsey 3,160 10,240 30.9 Norfolk 13,712 44,896 30.5 Warrington 4,192 13,833 30.3 Leicester 5,436 18,031 30.1 Leicestershire 13,014 43,184 30.1 Source:
Annual Schools' Census
The restriction which applied to the application process for October 2000 and March 2001 specialist school competitions on allowing further applications from schools in local education authorities where there was already 30 per cent, of secondary aged pupils in mainstream specialist schools was lifted in July 2001.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what targets she has set for the number of successful bidders for specialist school status in the(a) March 2002 and (b) October 2002 bidding rounds in terms of (i) overall numbers, (ii) breakdown by specialisms, (iii) geographical spread, (iv) deprivation characteristics of the catchment areas and (v) joint bids; and if she will make a statement. [29217]
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§ Mr. TimmsWe have not set targets for the number of specialist schools beyond those already published—at least 830 by September 2002, at least 1,000 by September 2003 and at least 1,500 by September 2005. Apart from a target of 200 sports colleges by September 2004 in connection with the school sport co-ordinator programme, we have not set targets for the number of successful applications in relation to specialisms, geographic spread, deprivation characteristics of catchment areas or joint applications.
§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research her Department has carried out into the difficulties faced by schools in deprived areas in raising the private sector funds needed to apply for specialist status; what plans she has to reduce the £50,000 threshold; and if she will make a statement. [29220]
§ Mr. TimmsThe Department has not carried out research on the ability of schools to raise sponsorship but we do keep specialist school sponsorship requirements under regular review. We have no plans to abolish the requirement for schools to raise sponsorship to support a specialist school application or to reduce the level of sponsorship required.