A number of education experts have signed a letter published in The Times on schools minister Nick Gibb's commitment to boosting the provision of modern foreign languages. Steffan Griffiths, headmaster of Norwich School, is one of the contributors to the letter which says: "A place to start turning the language tide could be in creating a primary language programme."

BBC News explores the reasons why teachers may strike and what they are currently paid. This year, most teachers in England, Scotland and Wales have had a five per cent pay increase but unions have argued that inflation over 11 per cent means that, in real terms, these are 'pay cuts'. By Alice Evans.

Schools have been advised to look out for a “hidden” energy cost that is not covered by the Government’s support scheme. According to statistics seen by Tes, the costs, which come from the “non-commodity” part of electricity bills, increased markedly in the two months from August. By Callum Mason.

Research by FFT Education Datalab has suggested that school behaviour policies have 'little impact' on teacher stress levels. The survey of over 300 teachers across seven volunteer schools also found that having a supportive school leadership team helps alleviate stress among staff. By Rhodri Morgan, Tes.

Writing in Tes, Loic Menzies, former chief executive of The Centre for Education and Youth and a visiting fellow at Sheffield Institute of Education, considers the impact of high teacher turnover on learning and behaviour.

A study by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has found that a fifth of all children have been “missing” from school since the COVID pandemic. There has also been a “dramatic increase” in the number of young people being home educated, with the figure rising 34 per cent since before the pandemic. By Camilla Turner, The Telegraph.

Bookmark, a children’s literacy charity, is appealing for more people to help children read, revealing it has hundreds of primary school pupils waiting to be matched with reading volunteers. The charity is warning that cost pressures are likely to increase the literacy gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

Scientists from the Medical University of South Carolina have said that an 'entire generation' of young people risk losing their hearing as a result of loud music listened to through headphones and at concerts. A study of data on almost 20,000 people found that one in four youngsters using headphones has “unsafe listening” habits. By Joe Pinkstone, The Telegraph.

Parents' groups have launched a legal challenge to the Welsh Government’s introduction of mandatory relationship and sex education classes for primary school pupils, claiming the curriculum is "extreme and unbalanced". In England, parents can withdraw their children from sex education classes in primary school. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.

For the first time, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) has recommended that universities “decolonise” courses including maths, computing and classics so that students can learn how the legacy of colonialism has shaped the subjects. The QAA has said its guidance is “a tool for reflection when designing new courses”. By George Sandeman, The Times.

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