Children risk growing up with a confused view of sexual issues because of pornography, and the government’s failure to provide relationships and sex education (RSE) guidance, an independent school head has said. Speaking to The Times after his speech at a conference for headteachers, Nick Hewlett, head of St Dunstan's College, said: "We have to have guidance on these politically sensitive, charged issues. We need absolute clarity for everybody. Because at the moment, in the absence of this, teachers just trying to find the right way are often getting hugely criticised.” By Nicola Woolcock.

The crisis in teacher recruitment could lead to a decline in school standards that impacts pupils, education leaders have told the Commons Education Select Committee. General secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) Dr Mary Bousted said there has been a “massive rise” in cover teachers being used as a population bulge moves into secondary schools. By Eleanor Busby, The Independent.

Writing in Schools Week, ETeach managing director Rhys Howells outlines four possible solutions to the problem of teacher recruitment and retention. While he maintains there is no "single quick fix", Mr Howells suggests that "government must instead look to marginal gains that will slowly but surely support the growth of a sustainable, healthy education workforce".

The number of pupils in England issued with a special needs support plan has more than doubled in the past eight years to 180 a day, new analysis shows. A report by the County Councils Network (CCN), which represents 20 county councils and 17 unitary councils, suggests a record half a million pupils have an education, health and care plan (EHCP), a legal document setting out a child or young person’s special educational needs, the support they require, and their desired outcomes. By Sally Weale, The Guardian.

School leaders have “significant concerns” over sourcing suitable tutors, amid concerns the government’s flagship tutoring programme has failed to create a “sustainable” tutoring market, research by the National Foundation for Education (NFER) has found. By Samantha Booth, Schools Week.

In a feature for Tes, journalist and author Holly Korbey considers whether children born in the summer months should start school later, amid a rise in parents applying for deferral. Ms Korbey speaks to parents facing the dilemma, with some saying they would like early childhood decisions to look more like those in the US, where between 5 and 12 per cent of pupils delay the start of kindergarten.

In a blog marking the Youth Sport Trust's National School Sports Week 2023, Dimity Williams, Lower Sixth pupil at Wells Cathedral School, explains how her own personal experience and love of hockey has led to the creation of ‘Hockey Happy’, an event established for primary schools in the local area.

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