Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), has warned that “we are going to have to move mountains” to avoid a strike over pay after six hours of talks with government officials. Dr Bousted and Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), have also spoken of “gloomy prospects” for next year’s teacher pay award. By Matilda Martin, Tes.

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has told thousands of school leaders not to bring in volunteers to help keep schools open during strikes, warning they “can have profoundly serious implications for the safety and wellbeing of pupils”. The union has issued the guidance despite the Government saying it is safe to bring in volunteers providing they have adequate checks and supervision. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.

The general secretary of ASCL has told The Observer that the union is working with the parent-teacher association umbrella group Parentkind in calling on parents to help teachers 'fight for a pay rise'. Geoff Barton added: “We are determined that after underfunding education for 12 years, the Government won’t be allowed to get away with trying to blame the teachers.” By Anna Fazackerley.

The Telegraph reports Daniel Kebede, a teacher and 'hard-Left activist', is campaigning to become general secretary of the NEU, raising the prospect of rolling school strikes later this year. By Louisa Clarence-Smith.

In a feature for The Guardian, eight public sector workers offer their reasons for striking. Gawain Little, a teacher from Norwich, says "if we do nothing, we will watch generation after generation be failed by the system". By Elle Hunt.

Teachers in Scotland have announced plans for further industrial action after the NASUWT revealed its members will strike on 28 February and 1 March unless a “substantially improved” offer is made to bring an end to the walkouts. By Katrine Bussey, The Times.

Jeremy Miles, Wales' education minister, has said that some schools in the country will have to close as a result of teacher strikes, after the NEU announced that its members are expected to strike on 1 February for four days of industrial action. BBC News.

In an essay for the latest edition of The State of Independence, Katharine Birbalsingh, former chairwoman of the Social Mobility Commission, has said that Britain’s independent schools are being threatened by '“incessant” attacks on the privileged, and suggested that they have lost their "sense of duty towards those less fortunate". The article quotes ISC chairman Barnaby Lenon, who says independent schools "have made huge efforts to increase bursary money and diversity and gone out of their way to raise money. I don’t regard that as ‘woke’, a school should be serving the whole community in which it is located.” By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

Fionnuala Kennedy, head of Wimbledon High School, has warned pupils at the all-girls' school "not to allow a lone policeman to approach you at any time", in light of the David Carrick case. In a blog post made after Carrick's crimes became public last week, Ms Kennedy wrote that the case made her concerned about how to empower her students while also keeping them safe. By Chelsea Coates and Wendy Hurrell, BBC News.

Scotland's first minister has insisted that she has not 'given up' on the SNP's transgender reforms despite a second former Supreme Court judge warning that a legal bid to overturn a veto 'would be doomed'. Nicola Sturgeon has said she would do 'everything possible' to enact legislation passed at Holyrood in December, which would allow Scots aged 16 and over to change their legal sex by signing a declaration. By Daniel Sanderson, The Telegraph.

In a feature-length article in The Telegraph, Harry de Quetteville argues that there is a "policy vacuum" around guidance for schools on transgender ideology. Urging clarity on the issue, he says that "the Government has long promised – then delayed – official transgender guidance for schools".

Following the announcement that the prime minister will invest £2 billion in the Government's levelling-up programme, Lord Winston, the pioneer of IVF treatment and emeritus professor of fertility studies at Imperial College London, has suggested that putting the money into primary education would do "so much more" for children. By Ross Kaniuk, The Times.

Education Support, the charity that runs a Government-funded wellbeing support service for headteachers, has said that heads are not using it because they 'feel guilty for looking after themselves', and lack either the time or capacity to take it up. By Samantha Booth, Schools Week.

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