COBIS has published proposals to help tackle the problem of teacher recruitment, including allowing British international schools to award qualified teacher status (QTS). By Charlotte Santry, Tes. COBIS has also revealed the results of a survey of more than 1,600 school leaders and teachers at British international schools.

Teachers at North London Collegiate are writing positive comments in pupils' maths books in a bid to boost girls’ confidence in the subject. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

Dr Bernard Trafford, interim headteacher of the Purcell School in Hertfordshire, writes for Tes about the benefit to students of out-of-classroom experiences.

Ofqual has signalled it intends to move forward with a plan to have exam boards sample lesson plans of teacher-examiners. By Jess Staufenberg, Schools Week.

Richard Russell, headmaster at Colfe’s School, has written to The Times to reinforce the sector's commitment to social mobility through independent-state school partnerships and through bursaries.

The Guardian takes a close look at the issue of teacher recruitment and retention. By James Tapper.

NSPCC has published figures which show the increasing number of referrals for specialist help made by schools in England, with more than half coming from primary schools. By Hannah Richardson, BBC News. Also reported by The Times, The Guardian and The Independent.

The National Deaf Children’s Society has blamed funding cuts for a fall in the number of specialist teachers of the deaf. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times. This news story has attracted widespread coverage in the media.

The Independent Schools Council (ISC) monitors the national and educational press in order to keep independent schools up-to-date with relevant education news. The DNS is a service primarily for schools in membership of ISC associations, although other interested parties can choose to sign-up. We endeavour to include relevant news and commentary and, wherever possible, notable public letters. Where capacity allows, we may include links to ISC blogs, press statements and information about school or association events. News stories are selected based on their relevance to the independent sector as a whole. Editorial control of the DNS remains solely with the ISC.

Sign-up to the email service is available on our website.

Members can contact the ISC if they know in advance of news, letters or opinions that are likely to feature in the media, or are aware of existing coverage which they would like to see featured in the DNS.

Headlines and first-line summaries are written by the ISC with the link directing to the source material. You should read and comply with the terms and conditions of the websites to which we link.