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Written question asked by John Bercow (Conservative) on Thursday, 3 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 7 November 2005. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Monday, 14 November 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Under-achievement

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what assessment she has made of the capacity of schools to provide one-to-one teaching to tackle under-achievement by pupils from low socio-economic backgrounds;
Answer

Good schools have been personalising their teaching and learning, with great success for many years to raise standards and meet the learning needs of their pupils. We know that personalising learning, which includes assessment for learning; high quality tailored whole class, small group and one-to-one teaching; a flexible curriculum, effective school organisation and strong partnerships beyond the school, can raise pupil achievement particularly for low achieving pupils who disproportionately tend to be from low socio-economic backgrounds. We now want this to be common practice across all schools, particularly for children at either end of the ability spectrum whose needs can be the most challenging to meet.We will therefore allocate £335 million by 2007–08, specifically earmarked within our Dedicated Schools Grant, to provide the resources secondary schools need to start delivering personalised learning for pupils in Key Stage 3, focusing funding on deprived areas, particularly for those who have fallen behind in literacy and numeracy and for those who are gifted or talented. For those schools with the highest numbers of children who have fallen behind we will provide a further targeted £60 million in each of 2006–07 and 2007–08, shared across the primary and secondary sectors, to provide more effective one-to-one and small group tuition. We will also provide all schools with best practice materials, guidance and access to training on the most effective teaching and learning strategies to personalise learning to the needs of each pupil.Through School Improvement Partners and the new OFSTED inspection regime we will challenge every school to demonstrate they are planning and delivering effective tailored teaching and learning for every child, particularly for underachieving groups of pupils, including those from low socio-economic backgrounds, as well as overall school performance.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
439 c956-7W;439 c956-7W; 26063
Session
2005-06
Subjects
Children Disadvantaged Education Standards Teachers Teaching methods Ratios
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk