Written question asked by Nadine Dorries (Conservative) on Friday, 7 October 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 10 October 2005. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Monday, 10 October 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Education (Bedfordshire)

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assistance her Department is (a) giving and (b) plans to give during the next 12 months to schools in Bedfordshire local education authority to combat disruptive behaviour in the classroom; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: Our Secondary Strategy gives all secondary schools in Bedfordshire access to high-quality behaviour management training materials and support from three DfES-funded behaviour management consultants. Our Primary Strategy is giving all primary schools access to high-quality training and curriculum materials to improve children's social, emotional and behavioural skills. In addition:"our Excellence in Cities programme provides Bedfordshire with extra funding (just under £940,000 this year), about half of which can be used to fund Learning Mentors and Learning Support Units in schools in the Bedford Excellence Cluster; and""our Behaviour Improvement Programme provides Bedford with further additional funding (£780,000 this year) to support selected schools facing the greatest behaviour challenges."The funding related to both these programmes will continue in 2006–07.

Secondary information