Official figures have revealed that the number of children absent from state schools in England because of COVID has almost halved in a week, falling from 320,000 on 3 February to 182,000 on 10 February. By Will Hazell, iNews.

School leaders have warned that the Government's new living with COVID plan "does run the risk of causing a new wave of transmission and disruption in our schools and colleges". By Matilda Martin, Tes

The Department for Education has confirmed that secondary school staff and pupils will be able to access free COVID tests in response to local outbreaks. By Matilda Martin, Tes.

According to The Guardian, when compared to adults, primary school-aged children produce about four times fewer aerosol particles when breathing, speaking or singing, which could help explain why they seem to be at lower risk of spreading COVID. By Linda Geddes.

The Times reports that pupils who fail GCSE English and maths could be prevented from taking out student loans under new government proposals to be announced this week. The Department for Education said new minimum entry requirements would help ensure pupils “aren’t being pushed into higher education before they are ready. Nicola Woolcock and Kieran Gair.

According to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, Oxford and Cambridge have increased their state school intake to around 70 per cent, while many other leading British universities have admitted fewer state-educated pupils. By Nicola Woolcock and Matilda Davies, The Times.

In the latest instalment of the ISC’s ‘Spotlight On’ blog series, Tim Dalton, director of Shaftesbury Enterprise at Harrow School, explains how a tutoring initiative is providing valuable catch-up support for looked after children as they recover from the pandemic.

If you would like to write a 'Spotlight On' blog about a state school partnership or outreach initiative taking place at your school, please email emily.roberts@isc.co.uk for further details.

Addressing MPs on the Commons Education Select Committee, school leaders and members of the Roma community have said that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller history should be included in the curriculum to help tackle racist bullying and prejudice in schools. By Will Hazell, iNews.

Footballer Troy Deeney has called for the history and experiences of Black, Asian and ethnic minorities to be made mandatory in the national curriculum after findings from a YouGov survey revealed that the majority of British teachers think the school system has a racial bias. By Nadine White, The Independent.

A new study from the Sutton Trust and the Bridge Group has found that the decline in the number of students studying design and technology (D&T) could be preventing children from poorer backgrounds from becoming engineers. Tes.

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.

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