Anne Longfield, England's children commissioner, has called for a recovery package to address a "rising tide of childhood vulnerability" made worse by the pandemic. BBC News. Ms Longfield has also suggested children under the age of 12 should be exempt from the Government's "rule of six" for social gatherings, arguing children should have the right to play together after months of isolation. By Sally Weale, The Guardian.

The Government has announced that adults in England without an A-level or equivalent qualification will be offered a fully funded college course, as part of efforts to help people find new employment amid the pandemic. BBC News. Writing in The Telegraph, education secretary Gavin Williamson has said he is "confident that by supporting adults to re-skill and retrain we are laying the foundation for our recovery".

First minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she believes it is "really important that schools are open full time", despite concerns raised by the Educational Institute of Scotland about the increasing number of coronavirus cases. By Henry Hepburn, Tes.

The Telegraph features an article on Kilgraston School, where pupils have decided to bring back traditional playground games after their usual weekend trips were cancelled due to coronavirus disruption. By Daniel Sanderson. The article quotes Dorothy MacGinty, head of Kilgraston, and Sonja Mueller, head of boarding at the school.

The Telegraph summarises new guidelines for schools on the teaching of gender identity. By Kim Thomas.

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.