isc logo  

Daily News Summary
26 October 2021

Coronavirus: Schools would "welcome any action" to deter anti-vaccination protestors, union says
'Memory based exams seem redundant in a world where factual data is always at our fingertips'
£2.6 billion in funding expected to be announced for SEND pupils in this week's Budget
Call to end Ofsted inspections during COVID
Two-thirds of Scottish schools do not teach about the British Empire, analysis reveals
Programme to introduce facial recognition technology in schools paused

Coronavirus: Schools would "welcome any action" to deter anti-vaccination protestors, union says

 

In response to Keir Starmer's call for councils to be able to issue exclusion orders to deter anti-vaccination protesters from school sites, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders union, said schools would "welcome any action" that would restrict campaigners. By Ruchira Sharma, iNews.

A warning issued by the Center for Countering Digital Hate about the growing number of anti-vaccination campaigners has said that exclusion zones in themselves would not be enough to counter what it described as "novel extremism threat". By Sally Weale and Sarah Marsh, The Guardian.

According to The Guardian, headteachers are becoming increasingly more worried about "sinister" intimidation tactics being used by anti-vaccination protestors. By Sally Weale.

Ex-education recovery commissioner, Sir Kevan Collins, has warned that the case for extra funding for school catch-up has grown stronger not weaker ahead of tomorrow's Budget. By Will Hazell, iNews.

An analysis of recent data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed that art and design subjects have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Between April 2020 and June 2021, just 60 per cent of the learning materials received by in-school students was delivered to remote learners studying "arts including design and technology". By James O'Malley, Tes.

 

'Memory based exams seem redundant in a world where factual data is always at our fingertips'

 

Claire Cowie, deputy headteacher at Robert Gordon's College, writes for Tes about the possible future of digital technologies in both teaching and assessments.

 
Tes

£2.6 billion in funding expected to be announced for SEND pupils in this week's Budget

 

According to Tes, the chancellor is expected to announce £2.6 billion in funding for 30,000 "high-quality" school places for children with special needs and disabilities. By Amy Gibbons.

 
Tes

Call to end Ofsted inspections during COVID

 

Headrest, a confidential wellbeing support service for headteachers, has written to education secretary and the Ofsted chief inspector urging them to bring a halt to Ofsted school inspections during the COVID pandemic, calling them “toxic” to the wellbeing of heads. By John Roberts, Tes.

 
Tes

Two-thirds of Scottish schools do not teach about the British Empire, analysis reveals

 

An analysis of Scottish data from the Historical Association’s UK-wide survey of history teachers by the University of Stirling’s Dr Joseph Smith, has found that almost two-thirds of schools do not teach students about the British Empire in history lessons and over a third do not feature the transatlantic slave trade. Tes.

 
Tes

Programme to introduce facial recognition technology in schools paused

 

A programme pioneered by North Ayrshire council to introduce facial recognition technology in school canteens has been paused following concerns over student privacy. By Marc Horne, The Times.

 
The Times

 

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.