ISC Daily News Summary

There has been further coverage of the news that the number of children at independent schools has dropped by 30,000 since the introduction of Labour's VAT on fees policy. The figures, which come from the latest Independent Schools Council (ISC) Census that was carried out in January and is set to be published this month, show independent school numbers are at their lowest since 2017. Julie Robinson, chief executive of the ISC, is quoted, saying: "While independent schools remain resilient, these trends demonstrate that policy decisions can have real consequences for families’ educational choices. Despite the challenging headwinds, our schools remain committed to widening access through bursaries, supporting pupils with complex needs and contributing positively to communities across the country." By Albert Tait, The Telegraph. Also covered by Eleanor Harding for the Daily Mail, and Maria Ward-Brennan for City AM. 

Writing to The Times, Leo Winkley, headmaster of Shrewsbury School, says "there can be no doubt that the decline in the number of children at private schools is a direct result of the hostile and short-sighted policy to impose VAT on fees", which he describes as a tax that "goes against good sense and important principles of choice". Mr Winkley observes that the fall can also be attributed to the closure of a number of smaller schools, resulting in communities losing "far more than a place of education". On the independent sector's vital role in providing bursary support, supporting cross-sector partnerships in addition to the sharing of expertise, he concludes: "Independent schools are a vital part of the remarkable diversity of the UK’s educational ecosystem and they must be preserved."
The letter appears halfway.

In a letter to The Telegraph, Jeff Hynam from West Sussex supports Sutton Trust leader Sir Peter Lampl's recent defence of boarding schools. Describing his own role in encouraging and assessing bursary applications during his time as bursar at Roedean School and Winchester College, Mr Hynam criticises the VAT on fees policy and says it is "already backfiring". Urging a different approach, he suggests independent schools are encouraged to engage with the state sector to drive standards and widen access to resources. "This engagement is already happening across the UK, and could be extended even further – but the Labour government seems determined not to acknowledge this", he warns. 
The letter appears just before last.

Writing in Tes, Thomas Keaney, founder of The Complete Education Solution, a provider of special schools, and a trustee at the National Association of Special Schools, warns that the government's proposed special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms risk weakening support for pupils with mental health needs by removing the explicit recognition of social, emotional and mental health needs and shifting responsibility towards health services. While he expresses support for ministers' wider ambition for greater inclusion, Mr Keaney asks: "If mental health is no longer central within SEND, we must ask a difficult question: who, exactly, picks up the pieces?"

In an article for Tes, an anonymous secondary school teacher explains why 10 years of working in alternative provision led him to question the effectiveness of labels and the benefits of having his autistic son diagnosed. "It was never the children who had special needs who were the problem; it was the education system itself", he says.