§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will update the data prepared for each English constituency by the Basic Skills Agency in 2000; and what the updated information is for each constituency in the North East Region. [185169]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisIn May 2004 the DfES commissioned work to produce local level estimates of literacy and numeracy in England based on the results of the Skills for Life survey (published in October 2003). The survey mapped skill levels to the National Standards for Adult Literacy and Numeracy. These estimates will update those provided by the Basic Skills Agency and will be available via the DfES's website in autumn 2004.
At the current time, based on the Skills for Life survey findings, we can provide estimates of literacy and numeracy levels for the North East and its constituent Learning and Skills Council areas:
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeWe welcome collaboration between schools and independent countryside interpretation centres and would encourage schools to develop relationships with them.
More specifically, our Growing Schools programme has worked with 12,000 schools and 40 partner 271W organisations which specialise in the field of outdoor education to assist teaching about food, farming and the countryside both within and beyond the school grounds. The programme is now further developing an accreditation scheme for countryside centres such as estates, farms, woodlands, parks, gardens and outdoor museums.
Our London Challenge programme has commissioned the Field Studies Council to provide outdoor learning experiences for London pupils over a three year period.