Donna Stevens has announced that the Girls' Schools Association (GSA) will only invest in companies with senior female leaders as it 'takes a stand' against male dominance in the City. Ms Stevens, the association's chief executive, said: "GSA leads the charge and urges other companies and organisations to join with us in re-imagining a better future for our young people through the way they fund themselves.” Several schools in membership of the Independent Schools Council's (ISC) constituent associations are referenced. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.

MPs have committed to providing equal access to all sports in PE for boys and girls, with a minimum requirement of two hours of PE a week. Over £600 million is set to be provided over the next two academic years to improve PE and sports in primary schools and up to £57 million to open more school sport facilities outside school hours. BBC News.

In an opinion piece for iNews, marking International Women's Day taking place today, Sarah Brown argues that more needs to be done to support women and their families faced with the high cost or lack of availability of adequate childcare across the world. She says: "Providing for children in their early years must be treated as a public good, not a private test of a families’ financial strength."

Almost 50 Conservative ministers have written to Rishi Sunak calling for an independent inquiry to be launched after it emerged that contentious gender ideology and graphic sexual content was being taught in schools without parents’ knowledge or agreement. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.

An editorial piece in The Telegraph looks at what schools are teaching about gender and 'how the national curriculum needs to address this'.

A survey by YouGov of more than 500 secondary school teachers has found that a third of boys regard being asked to read books as a punishment and “reading reluctance” is a growing problem in schools, with almost nine in 10 teachers blaming social media for driving children away from books. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

Writing in Independent School Management Plus, Irena Barker explains that her teenage son no longer loves reading as he did at primary school and asks: "Are boys are failing to be gripped by books because of the distraction of social media, YouTube and video games alone or is it something else?"

Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner, has said absence data provided by multi-academy trusts from before and after the pandemic indicates some pupils are playing truant on Fridays because their parents are working from home. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.

Vivienne Stern, chief executive of Universities UK (UUK), has told iNews that it would be “good for both of us” if Britain encouraged more students to learn at Chinese universities. Ms Stern said: “We should be encouraging more UK students to spend time in China, to learn Chinese, and to spend time in Chinese institutions." By Poppy Wood.

Snowfall has caused the closure of over 100 schools in Wales today, with Met Office yellow warnings in place for snow and ice across much of the south, middle and west of the country. BBC News.

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