Baroness Morris of Yardley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of individuals employed by private providers to teach physical education in primary schools in each of the last five years; and how many of these individuals hold a qualification in physical education.
Baroness Morris of Yardley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of secondary school physical education classes taught by a person without a physical education qualification in each of the last five academic years.
Baroness Morris of Yardley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the minimum qualification or requirement for a person to teach physical education to (1) primary students, (2) secondary students, and (3) post-16 students.
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, this is a particularly important group of amendments and the debate on it has been very good. I support all the amendments in this group. They have been very well spoken to by the people who put them down. I really want to add support and try not to go over the same points again. They fall, basically, into two groups: the first on mental health and well-being and the second on how...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I support these amendments. This Bill is full of good intentions and starts with a lot of good will—people want it to succeed and the nation needs it to succeed—but it is becoming increasingly clear that the backbone, the foundations on which we can build other things, is just not there. It is missing. I understand it is difficult to know what to put in legislation and what to...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: May I say to whoever’s job it is, it would be useful to have list of people who have withdrawn from speaking; it is really difficult to know when we are about to be called, but that is a different matter. I rise to support the amendments, particularly Amendment 24, and to agree with my noble friends Lord Watson and Lord Liddle. I understand completely why the Minister and the Government...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: I rise to support this amendment. This is such an important issue, but I can see that is difficult as well. When I started teaching, which was many years ago, in Coventry, it was very clear which provider offered which course. The advantage was that it was very straightforward for children and schools to know where to go for catering, engineering, electronics or whatever. The disadvantage was...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I very much support the comments just made by the noble Lords, Lord Storey and Lord Patel, and the thrust of the argument. It is right that we get as much knowledge and experience and skills before making any of these decisions. I suggest to the Minister that this is going to be a recurring theme throughout our consideration of the Bill: what is the nature of the partnership which...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I support these amendments and the thrust of the debate so far, particularly with what the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, said in moving the amendment, every word of which I agreed with, as I have with most of the other speakers so far, so I will try not to repeat myself. There is something of a dilemma. It is very difficult to be against a local skills plan, and I am not. It is a really...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, the Minister has talked about plans for when schools return for the September term, but in many areas there are two to three weeks of this term left and over 300,000 children a day not attending. What action is being taken to increase the number of children attending school this term?
Baroness Morris of Yardley: On a personal level, I thank everyone for their birthday wishes. I am sure I can speak on behalf of my noble friend Lord Coaker in saying that neither of us could think of a better way of spending our birthdays than with the 42 people who have been part of this debate. On a more serious note, I thank the speakers for their contributions to this really good debate. I have learned a great deal....
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I am delighted to introduce this debate on a very important topic. It is a widely drawn debate, and having seen the speakers’ list, I look forward to good contributions from knowledgeable people on a whole range of issues that affect children and young people. I suppose we will disagree with each other as the debate goes on—we should do, because these are contentious issues in...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I first join others in congratulating the noble Baroness, Lady Black, on her maiden speech. Not only was it an excellent speech but she gave us a glimpse of her background, which is so fascinating that, had I been in charge, I could have let her go on for ages and listened to more of it. I know it will be a very good background for the contributions she will make to our debates in...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lady Blake and the noble Lord, Lord Lebedev, on their maiden speeches. They bring very different experiences and skills to this Chamber but, combined, they will enrich us by contributing to our debates. I thank them and wish them well. I have some comments about education and the skills agenda, and a few questions about schools. I declare my registered...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, my comments are going to follow those that have been made by the majority of Members before me. I am not sure that I have anything particularly new to add, but this is an important issue. I very much hope that the weight of numbers will have some sort of influence on the Minister and the Government. I welcome the Bill and share the comments that others have made. It is late and, to...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, we all agree that these are difficult issues, but I am not sure that Ministers realise that the Government are a weak link in solving the problems and that many teachers now see them as an added problem, not a guiding light. I realise that it is difficult to set a date for when schools will reopen, but it is entirely possible to set out the conditions for assessment and the order in...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I welcome the proposals, which will give young people greater certainty about their chances of progressing into whatever they want to do after school. However, I want to ask a question from the point of view of universities and colleges, because exams are also a clue and an indication to them of what students know and can do. Over the years, they become familiar with the curriculum,...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, while I do not for a minute doubt the Minister’s personal understanding of this difficulty, I think she is wrong to say that it is not a postcode lottery. Today is half-term, and whether children will get a free school meal will depend on where they live. There are only two ways of making sure that that does not happen at Christmas: either to make it a statutory duty, which is...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, the Minister talked about the provision of computers for students, but there seems to be a lot of variability in the quality and quantity of the online provision that is available. What discussions have the Government had with the regulator to make sure that there is a consistently high standard of online tuition, and that we can learn from best practice?
