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Daily News Summary
11 March 2021

Coronavirus: Parents criticise school testing rules
Letters: 'Schools are working around the clock to devise a fair method of awarding grades'
'State school headteachers should be paid more'
State school receives 55 Oxbridge offers
Spotlight On: Putney High School’s collaboration with First Tech Challenge UK
'We should be working to develop home grown teaching talent in disadvantaged communities'
DfE publishes revised subject content for MFL GCSE qualifications

Coronavirus: Parents criticise school testing rules

 

Some parents have said false positive lateral flow test results are "ruining" the return to school by forcing pupils to self-isolate at home unnecessarily. By Nick Triggle, BBC News.

The Times reports some parents are withdrawing their consent for COVID-19 tests amid concerns over false positive results. By Nicola Woolcock.

A number of children's groups have written a joint letter to prime minister Boris Johnson urging him to allow children to play together outdoors. By Harriet Grant, The Guardian.

Sally Cavers, head of inclusion with Children in Scotland, writes in Tes arguing: "It is important, now more than ever, that we ensure the voices of those with additional support needs, and their families, are heard."

According to a survey by the Office for National Statistics, 53 per cent of female parents who home-schooled a child during the lockdown say school closures have had a negative effect on their mental health. By Maya Oppenheim, The Independent.

 

Letters: 'Schools are working around the clock to devise a fair method of awarding grades'

 

Richard Russell, headmaster at Colfe's School, writes to The Times warning schools' assessment plans could be "thrown into chaos" if pupils are permitted to challenge the basis on which grades are awarded. The letter can be found halfway down the page.

 
The Times

'State school headteachers should be paid more'

 

David James, deputy head of an independent school in London, writes in Tes in response to reports highlighting the salaries of senior staff at independent schools, arguing the focus should be on "why state school colleagues are not paid more".

 
Tes

State school receives 55 Oxbridge offers

 

The Telegraph reports 55 students at Brampton Manor Academy in Newham have been offered places to study at Oxford or Cambridge this autumn, amid a drive by the country's top universities to accept more pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. By Camilla Turner.

 
The Telegraph

Spotlight On: Putney High School’s collaboration with First Tech Challenge UK

 

In the ISC's latest 'Spotlight On' blog, James Mutton, deputy head (digital innovation and curriculum) at Putney High School, explains how an innovative robotics project is encouraging more girls to embrace STEM subjects.

 
ISC

'We should be working to develop home grown teaching talent in disadvantaged communities'

 

Wes Streeting, Labour's shadow schools minister, is expected to call on the Government to do more to attract the "very best" teachers, support staff and leaders into schools in disadvantaged areas. By John Roberts, Tes.

 
Tes

DfE publishes revised subject content for MFL GCSE qualifications

 

Schools Week reports pupils will be "expected to know" up to 1,700 different words as part of the Department for Education's (DfE) proposed changes to GCSE modern foreign language (MFL) qualifications. By Freddie Whittaker.

 
Schools Week

 

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