ISC Daily News Summary

Tony Little, headmaster of Eton College, warned last night that schools are being “stifled” by a lack of autonomy over the curriculum and qualifications. Mr Little said teachers were often unable to innovate because of the demands of official inspections and the need to get pupils into leading universities. He also warned that schools in Britain were less independent than those in the United States which have more freedom to validate and run their own courses. Mr Little was addressing delegates at the first symposium of the independent sector’s Cross Association Leadership Group (CAL) which took place at Westminster School.
Schools held back by university demands, says Eton head - The Telegraph

Further coverage today of the news that Schools Minister Nick Gibb has said that ‘shadows of Charles Dickens’s world’ persisted in the country’s poorest areas despite major social advances. In a speech on the 200th anniversary of the author’s birth, Mr Gibb warned that, just as in Victorian times, literacy problems were ‘heavily orientated towards the poorest in our communities’. The Telegraph also reports that Britain has fewer people educated to A-level standard than countries such as Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovakia, according to figures unearthed by The University and College Union.
Literacy in our schools at 'Dickensian-era levels' warns Minister - Daily Mail
Children 'still blighted by Dickensian-style illiteracy' - The Telegraph

The disputed appointment of the next head of the university fair access watchdog will be resolved today, when MPs reveal whether they have accepted the nomination of Les Ebdon.
MPs to reveal university access chief decision - BBC News

A question mark is hovering over the future of Rotherham Central Free School just eight months before it was due to open to 100 pupils. Sponsors of the proposal, dubbed a "ghost" school because there was no evidence it had recruited staff or pupils, have been forced to ask the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, to postpone its opening for a year. The school was given an initial go-ahead by Mr Gove three months ago. Since then, though, Rotherham Council said it had not had any contact – or evidence that it had a premises or had recruited any staff or pupils.
'Ghost' free school has no pupils - The Independent

Speaking yesterday, David Cameron admitted it can be “worrying” to learn about the dangers young people face online but that protecting them was a “personal priority” of his. His comments coincided with Safer Internet Day and the publication of new advice on child internet safety from the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, a Government-chaired body made up of industry, law and charity figures.
David Cameron: Keeping up with children's internet skills is daunting for parents - The Telegraph

Girls as young as 13 are being given contraceptive implants at school without their parents’ knowledge. Nurses insert devices into their arms which temporarily prevent pregnancy by releasing hormones into the blood. Last year 1,700 girls aged 13 and 14 were fitted with implants, while 800 had injections which have the same effect.
Schoolgirls of 13 given contraceptive implants - Daily Mail

The Times reports that David Cameron has now endorsed an 80-page guide on how to feed toddlers, including “actual size” diagrams of the perfect plastic plate. Designed for nursery staff who have already received two years’ training, the guide contains useful, if rather basic, information on why it is good for children to eat fruit (for vitamins) and why they should not eat too much sugar (it rots their teeth).
Nanny state makes a meal of child food advice with 80-page guide - The Times (subscription required)

The uniform would be tracksuit bottoms and T-shirts and pupils would do a dance class every day. This would be no ordinary school. In fact it would be no ordinary ballet school. The Class Free School would be aimed at boys aged 11 to 16 who may have taken ballet classes while at primary school and want to keep dancing into their teens.
'Billy Elliott' free school to boost boys' ballet - BBC News