ISC Daily News Summary

Most national broadsheet newspapers
Widespread coverage today of the news that work on ContactPoint, the internet database of 11 million children and teenagers, has been stopped after serious security flaws were found. The problems could have led to the identification of 55,000 vulnerable young people, including victims of domestic violence and those in adoptions or witness protection programmes. ISC Chief Executive, David Lyscom, is quoted in the Guardian article. ISC has issued a press release in response to today's news: 
ISC welcomes halt to ContactPoint.
A selection of the coverage:
Concerns over government databases on children (Guardian)
The Big Question: Are there illegal government databases and what can we do about it? (Independent)
ContactPoint's failure is a symptom of a wider disease (Times)
Controversial ContactPoint database delayed again amid new security fears (Daily Telegraph)

Scotsman
Physics, chemistry and biology teachers from Glenalmond College in Perthshire are to visit nearby Murthly Primary to offer support and help boost interest in the sciences. In return, primary pupils will visit Glenalmond to use its facilities,while students at the private school who are considering a career in teaching will meet staff at Murthly. Gordon Woods, the warden at Glenalmond, said his staff could offer support to primary staff who were naturally "generalists" without necessarily having a detailed knowledge of science.
Private school 'lends' science teachers to state primary in pioneering tie-up (Scotsman)

Daily Mail
The number of sixth-formers gaining three As in their A-levels has doubled in a decade, according to figures published yesterday. Just days after Cambridge University announced that a hat-trick of As was no longer enough to win a place, it emerged that one in eight students are now achieving the feat. Last year, 12.1 per cent of students achieved a trio of As - more than 31,000 - against just 6.1 per cent when Labour took office in 1997, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. As the pass rate soared to 97.2 per cent last summer, exam chiefs heralded the era of 'unfailable' A-levels.
Number of students achieving three A-grade A-levels double in a decade (Daily Mail)

Education Guardian
The Guardian Education Supplement today includes reports on whether parents should be fined for taking children on holiday during term time and a look at the implications of six-month teacher training.
EducationGuardian

Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail
A grammar school has become the first to be subjected to "special measures" after an Ofsted report said that its management was inadequate. Stretford Grammar School, near Manchester, was beset with problems after its funding was cut because of falling pupil numbers and it was forced to make staff redundant.
Stretford Grammar School put into Ofsted special measures (Times)
Grammar school first in country to be branded 'failing' (Daily Telegraph)
Political row as top grammar school becomes the first to be placed into special measures despite 95% A-C GCSE result (Daily Mail)

Daily Telegraph
Schoolchildren will be taught about the "rise of atheism" in a new religious studies GCSE, it has been announced.
Atheism (Daily Telegraph)

Daily Telegraph
School admissions policies are fuelling social and religious divides, according to a leading academic. They should be subjected to a major overhaul amid fears pupils are being "segregated" at the age of 11.  Professor John Coldron, from Sheffield Hallam University, said the best comprehensives should be forced to admit quotas of struggling pupils to stop them being monopolised by wealthy families. The comments came just days after 560,000 children discovered which state secondary school they had got into for September.
School admissions 'fuelling class divide' (Daily Telegraph)

Times
Grades not scores Education is not about collecting points (Times)

Independent
Keep bankers out of the classroom (Independent)

Daily Telegraph
Happiness inspectors (Telegraph)

Guardian
Councils should consider supplying pupils with free bikes to cycle to school and reduce congestion caused by the daily school run, according to a major report by MPs. A national campaign is needed to convince families to walk or ride a bike instead of driving every morning with extra funding for safer routes to encourage them, the transport select committee report on school travel, published today, says. American-style yellow bus schemes should be introduced to tackle school congestion as well as more free public transport for children and teenagers as has happened in London.
Pupils should cycle or walk to cut school run congestion (Guardian)

Daily Mail
Grandparents across the country are saving their children £50billion a year by taking over child-rearing duties, a major study has found. It said one in four parents are turning to their own parents for help with looking after children and that on average grandparents are contributing nearly 16 hours of time a week to their grandchildren's care, according to the research. The findings - from a major study carried out by the HSBC bank - add to growing evidence that older people are bearing a growing burden on behalf of their children.
With free babysitting and cash handouts grandparents are saving their children £50billion a year in childcare (Daily Mail)

Daily Telegraph
Parents who park illegally outside schools are able to escape paying a £30 fine - by writing lines. The idea has been introduced to shame people into not leaving vehicles on yellow lines when dropping off or picking up children. Those caught by patrols at four schools in East Yorkshire are being offered the detention-style punishment of writing three times the words "I will not park in a position that causes danger to the children of the school."
School run drivers who park illegally get option of lines instead of fines (Daily Telegraph)