Talks between teaching unions and the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, ended yesterday with “no concrete progress”, according to The Guardian. Ballots for strike action are due to close this week, but leaders of all four of the unions who attended yesterday’s meeting have offered to clear their diaries for further talks in the hope of averting strike action. By Sally Weale.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, has not ruled out the possibility of industrial action taking place during exams, adding: "You can have a strike on an exam day and not disrupt the exams." By Ellen O'Dwyer, iNews.

Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the NEU, has warned that a one-off payment to teachers would be ‘unlikely to avert strike action’. Speaking to Radio 4 yesterday, Ms Bousted called for the Government to “put more money on the table now”. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.

BBC News reports that primary schools across Scotland are closed today after talks between unions and Scottish government officials held yesterday failed to prevent strike action.

Schools Week features an article entitled ‘everything you need to know about potential school strikes’. By Freddie Whittaker.

Schools with the highest energy bills will receive a discount after the £18 billion energy bill relief scheme, which includes schools, ends in March. The ‘Energy Bills Discount Scheme’, which will run until 31 March 2024, will provide schools that have a contract with a licensed energy supplier with a capped discount on bills over set thresholds. By John Dickens and Tom Belger, Schools Week.

The latest Annual Research Survey from the Council of Overseas British International Schools (COBIS) has revealed that British international schools maintained strong pupil growth over the past year, with data showing that almost two-thirds saw pupil numbers rise for the current academic year. The survey, which drew on responses from 130 COBIS member schools across five continents, showed a rise on the 51 per cent figure from the previous year. By Dan Worth, Tes. Colin Bell, chief executive of COBIS, is quoted.

Doctors and pharmacists have called for pupils to be taught about conditions such as lower back pain and the common cold in order to ‘know what not to bother the NHS with’. A paper from the Self-Care Strategy Group, a coalition of pharmacy bodies and GP and patient groups, outlines calls for a “wholesale cultural shift” towards more self-care, with experts insisting this could ‘both empower patients and reduce demand’. By Kat Lay, The Times.

Sky News explores whether ChatGPT could really provide a homework shortcut, in light of the decision by New York City’s education board to ban the online chatbot from schools and education settings. One teacher who was interviewed said that although staff need to consider teaching students about the pitfalls of using artificial intelligence, they should also be open to its potential. By Tom Acres. The article also quotes Jane Basnett, director of digital learning at Downe House School.

Vivienne Stern, the chief executive of Universities UK, has said that climate change 'risks being forgotten because of the focus on the economy and the aftermath of the COVID pandemic'. Speaking to The Times, she said: “The climate crisis is the biggest of them all. I’ve literally seen it. I can tell you it’s not a future problem, it’s a now problem." By Nicola Woolcock.

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.