HC Deb 11 March 2004 vol 418 cc1728-9W
Mr. Stephen O'Brien

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what departmental initiatives there are in relation to emotional intelligence; what difficulties have been reported in implementing such initiatives; and how the success of these initiatives is evaluated; [155290]

(2)what funding his Department provides to (a) schools and (b) local education authorities to develop (i) emotional intelligence and (ii) literacy initiatives; [155292]

(3)which (a) schools, (b) academics and (c) university education departments his Department has assessed as the best practitioners in the field of emotional intelligence; and what his Department regards as best practice in this field. [155293]

Mr. Ivan Lewis

The Department is concerned to promote children's social and emotional development and their social, emotional and behavioural skills (SEBS), which themselves contribute to children's emotional intelligence and emotional literacy.

Promoting positive emotional and social development is a crucial part of educating children. The Department is therefore committed to providing guidance and materials for every stage. Curriculum guidance for the Foundation Stage covers the emotional and social development of very young children and we are developing associated training materials. The Personal, Social and Health Education framework supports the emotional and social development of children at Key Stages 1 to 4. To supplement that, the Department is piloting specific Social, Emotional and Behavioural Skills (SEBS) materials for primary schools in 25 local education authorities (LEAs) and developing similar materials for second. try schools.

The Department is investing £600,000 in SEBS materials for primary schools over two years. The pilot is in the early stages of implementation but initial feedback from schools is very positive. It will be evaluated by the University of London's Institute of Education. The Foundation and secondary materials are still at the initial development stage.

The development of SEBS materials is informed by existing good practice in a number of LEAs including Southampton, Bristol, Portsmouth. Cumbria, Merton, East Riding of Yorkshire, Brighton and Hove and Nottingham City. The Department is also advised by an expert SEBS practitioners group including academics from the universities of Southampton, Oxford and Middlesex, a range of voluntary bodies including the National Children's Bureau, the NSPCC and Antidote, senior school staff and LEA officer.