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Daily News Summary
8 September 2021

Coronavirus: Schools could face significant disruption this year, schools minister warns
Exams 2022: Grading plan for next year to be announced in October
Record numbers of UK students heading to university this year
'It's more important than ever to engage boys in gender equality lessons'
'This country has been snobbish about what education is for'
Support for SEND pupils is beyond crisis, warn headteachers
Secondary school pupils to learn about blood and organ donation for the first time

Coronavirus: Schools could face significant disruption this year, schools minister warns

 

Schools minister Nick Gibb has said schools could still face significant disruption this academic year as a result of COVID-19. By Zoe Tidman, The Independent.

Schools Week reports vaccines for 12 to 15-year-olds will be administered in schools if they are approved by the chief medical officer. By Freddie Whittaker.

Mr Gibb has warned that headteachers who try to reintroduce COVID restrictions in schools unnecessarily will face intervention from commissioners. By Ewan Somerville, The Telegraph.

According to poll findings from Teacher Tapp, 40 per cent of headteachers are highly confident that they understand the current COVID rules compared with 57 per cent last year. By Amy Gibbons, Tes.

 

Exams 2022: Grading plan for next year to be announced in October

 

Addressing MPs on the Education Select Committee yesterday, Ian Bauckham, chair of Ofqual, said grading arrangements for 2022 will be announced next month. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week. Other key findings from the Education Select Committee are summarised in Schools Week. By Samantha Booth.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, has said a return to the grade distribution of 2019 would represent "the fairest approach for past, present and future students". By Samantha Booth, Schools Week.

According to Tes, education lawyers have received few requests for legal advice on GCSE and A-level appeals this year. By Catherine Lough.

 

Record numbers of UK students heading to university this year

 

According to updated figures from UCAS, 272,500 students in the UK have accepted university places this year, up by seven per cent on last year. By Sean Coughlan, BBC News.

 
BBC

'It's more important than ever to engage boys in gender equality lessons'

 

Katharine Roddy, a secondary teacher at Bolton School Boys' Division, writes in Tes outlining ways schools can empower boys to engage in lessons about gender equality.

 
Tes

'This country has been snobbish about what education is for'

 

Dame Mary Beard, a classics professor at Cambridge University, has suggested that there is 'snobbery' surrounding the merits of academic subjects, and has urged people to stop being "fixated" with Oxbridge. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

 
The Times

Support for SEND pupils is beyond crisis, warn headteachers

 

According to a report from the National Association of Head Teachers, 97 per cent of schools say they have received insufficient funding to support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). By Hannah Richardson and Eleanor Lawrie, BBC News.

 
BBC

Secondary school pupils to learn about blood and organ donation for the first time

 

Secondary school students in England are set to learn about blood and organ donation for the first time as part of changes to the curriculum. By Zoe Tidman and Nadine White, The Independent.

 
The Independent

 

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