iNews reports senior Conservative MPs have condemned the Government's decision to reverse its guidance on face masks for schools. By Richard Vaughan.

An article in The Guardian reports thousands of secondary pupils in lockdown areas could be told within days of returning to school that face masks are no longer mandatory. By Josh Halliday and Helen Pidd.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, has called on the Government to provide medical-grade face masks to older and vulnerable school staff. By Claudia Civinini, Tes.

According to a report from the Children's Task and Finish Group, face masks in schools could impair children's speech and language development. By Sarah Knapton, The Telegraph.

Calvin Robinson, a school governor and former assistant principal, writes in The Telegraph arguing mandatory mask wearing in schools will create a "behavioural nightmare".

Katherine Birbalsingh, headmistress and founder of Michaela Community School, writes in The Telegraph arguing "it is far from obvious that mask wearing in schools will make children safer".

The Guardian features the reaction among some teachers to the Government's U-turn on face masks in schools. By Molly Blackall.

The Times reports on a survey which found 99 per cent of teachers believe children will need extra support to catch up on their education when they return to school. By Nicola Woolcock.

An article in The Times reports on research findings from YMCA England & Wales, which highlight some of the fears pupils have about the impact of coronavirus on their futures. By Nicola Woolcock.

Schools Week reports schools and colleges are expected to receive just 10 coronavirus home testing kits each, which are only to be used in "exceptional circumstances". By Samantha Booth.

An article in The Telegraph explores some of the technologies schools are utilising to keep staff and students safe. By Hasan Chowdhury. The article mentions Uppingham School.

Jonathan Slater, the Department for Education's (DfE) permanent secretary, has resigned from his position following this year's exams controversy. By Amy Jones and Charles Hymas, The Telegraph.

Prime minister Boris Johnson has blamed a "mutant algorithm" for the issues with this year's exam results. By Sean Coughlan, BBC News.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has said the Government is preparing "fallback measures" to calculate results in the event pupils are unable to sit exams in the usual way next year. By Andrew Woodcock, The Independent.

Schools Week reports Ofqual has confirmed schools that marked down their teacher assessed grades will not be allowed to appeal. By Samantha Booth.

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.