According to The Times, the prime minister, Liz Truss, is planning to abandon the Schools Bill tomorrow. Initiated by Boris Johnson, the Schools Bill included the provision of a new register for children absent from schools and proposed more authority for Ofsted. The Government is also reportedly planning to drop plans to curb the right to strike for public sector workers including teachers. By Steven Swinford and Emma Yeomans.

The National Education Union (NEU) has said potential strikes could go ahead from 30 January next year, after it announced last week that members would be balloted over strike action. By Matilda Martin, Tes. The NEU is the first union to have announced a possible date for strike action to commence, with the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and NASUWT having both also announced formal ballots of members. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week.

NAHT Cymru is going ahead with a formal strike ballot after an informal vote suggested that 64 per cent of those who responded would be prepared to strike over pay and funding. Tes.

The Government’s food tsar, Henry Dimbleby, has called for the “almost immediate” increase in free school meals to address the impact of rising living costs. Addressing members of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Mr Dimbleby, who also authored the National Food Strategy, said expanding provision was "one of the best measures we can do". By Josie Clarke, The Independent.

Research by the University of Bristol and FFT Education Datalab has found that, since the introduction of Progress 8, lower-attaining pupils have done better in English and maths compared with pupils “on the borderline”. Since 2015-16, Progress 8 has been one of the Department for Education’s (DfE) main performance measures for schools. By Matilda Martin, Tes.

Research by the International Congress on Obesity in Melbourne has suggested that children whose parents are 'firm but show plenty of affection' are much less likely to become overweight or obese than those whose parents were 'very strict'. 10,000 British children from the age of seven to 23 were tracked by the study which examined their family's parenting styles in detail. By Laura Donnelly, The Telegraph.

The perils and benefits of schools using digital devices in post-pandemic education are considered by Kenneth Primrose, character development lead for a school in the North East of England. Writing in Tes, he argues: “Technology can be helpful and liberating, but only if we learn to master both it and ourselves.”

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