The Government is committed to ensuring that all children learn in a safe environment, protected from extremist or hateful views wherever they are receiving education. We are taking firm action where concerns arise, and have taken a number of steps to strengthen regulation in schools. Ofsted now inspects schools on the requirement to actively promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs, as well as on the breadth of the curriculum, which should prepare pupils for life in modern Britain. In addition, we have provided further resources to Ofsted to allow them to increase their investigative work into unregistered independent schools. Wherever such schools are found to be teaching hate or intolerance, we are taking action to close them and prosecute those operating them.

Ofsted have not found any evidence of the text books referred to in the programme being used in schools that they have inspected.

We have also taken steps to increase oversight of out-of-school settings, such as clubs and weekend schools. Prevent duty statutory guidance sets out the expectations on local authorities to take steps to understand the range of out-of-school settings in their areas and to ensure that children attending such settings are safeguarded, including from the risk of being drawn into extremism and terrorism. We set out plans to introduce a new system of regulation for out-of-school settings in our call for evidence which closed earlier this year. The proposed system would allow Ofsted to close such settings where there was evidence that they were engaging in extremist teaching or failing to adequately safeguard the children in their care. We received a large number of responses and will set out next steps in due course.

Good teaching and high academic standards are strongly associated with adequate provision and widespread use of high-quality textbooks.

Cambridge Assessment’s report, ‘Why textbooks count’, analysed the use of high-quality textbooks around the world. The report found that use of textbooks is common in high performing education jurisdictions. In Finland, 95% of maths teachers use a textbook as a basis for instruction. In Singapore, 70% of maths teachers use a textbook. In England, only 10% of maths teachers use a textbook for their core teaching.

A well-designed textbook provides a coherent, structured programme which supports a teacher’s own expertise and knowledge as well as a pupil’s.

On 26 March 2016, the Department for Education published a report from a review group looking at teacher workload in relation to planning and resources. The group concluded there is a case for schools to place greater emphasis on quality- assured resources, including textbooks, to reduce the time teachers spend on searching for resources.

Good textbooks also have workbooks which support homework in a positive way by providing well-structured practice exercises linked to clear explanations, which parents can understand and use to help their children.

We have been working with textbook publishers with the aim of improving the quality of textbooks available to schools, to better support excellent teaching and teacher professional development. Last year, the publishers produced a set of common guidelines for the production of textbooks.

The Department for Education has made it clear that a return to textbooks would support the new national curriculum. High-quality textbooks can prevent teachers from spending unnecessary time creating plans from scratch, and they provide well-planned stretching activities for pupils. England has very low textbook use compared with many other countries, including high-performing countries like Singapore, where mathematics textbooks play an important part in the success of their pupils. The efficacy studies of the Marshall Cavendish mathematics textbooks are compelling, and the Department is delighted that these textbooks are being adapted for the English market.