Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, is set to unveil Labour's plan for a package of measures to reduce the rising number of pupils missing classes through non-attendance or home schooling. This includes a national register of children not in school, designed to improve safeguarding and ensure an adequate education is being provided. By Oliver Wright, The Times.

As part of the plans, Labour will give Ofsted the authority to check the rates of pupil absenteeism in schools every year. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.

Tes reports Labour intends to use artificial intelligence (AI) to spot trends in school absence. The party hopes the technology will help to join up existing records for children to improve coordination between education, social care and wider community services. By Matilda Martin.

Other measures include free breakfast clubs for primary schools, better mental health support for students, and funding for early speech and language interventions. By Marthe de Ferrer and Branwen Jeffreys, BBC News.

A record number of schoolchildren are behind their peers in talking and understanding words, according to findings from a YouGov survey of teachers in England and Wales. Data analysed by The Times revealed 4,113 children had been on NHS community waiting lists for speech and language therapy for more than a year by the end of October 2023. Experts point to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children’s social development and communication skills. The rising use of screens to entertain children is also thought to have played a role. By Kat Lay and George Willoughby.  

In an article for Independent School Management Plus, Vicky Bingham, head of North London Collegiate School, explains how a visit to a state academy encouraged her to rethink her approach to teacher recruitment. She adds: "At North London Collegiate School we are setting up an educational Innovation Hub so that talented teachers can have opportunities to deepen and develop the art and craft of the very best job in the world."

Ian Emerson, deputy head at Latymer Upper School, has a letter published in today's Times in which he welcomes the German ambassador's efforts to promote the learning of German among young people in the UK. He writes: "At Latymer Upper School we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of our exchange programme with the Johanneum Gymnasium in Hamburg — we think it is the longest-running exchange programme in the country." The letter can be found three quarters of the way down the page.

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