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Most parents would like under-16s smartphone ban, poll finds
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Online safety
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Most parents want the government to ban smartphones for under-16s, a poll by Parentkind has revealed. Of the parents surveyed, 83 per cent said they believe smartphones are harmful to children, prompting the charity to call for all political parties to put age restrictions on smartphones. By Louisa Clarence-Smith, The Telegraph.
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Protect children from criminal gangs, leading child-protection expert urges
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Safeguarding
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Alexis Jay, the former chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), has warned that tens of thousands of children are at risk of being groomed and coerced into crime by organised gangs. Speaking to BBC News, Professor Jay warned there is an "urgent and preventable crisis" and that children with mental-health problems or a diagnosis such as ADHD are at particular risk of exploitation. By Tom Symonds and Chris Bell.
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Teacher vacancies remain high post-pandemic
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Recruitment and retention
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Secondary school teacher vacancies continue to be more than a third higher than pre-Covid levels in some areas despite an overall improvement nationally, SchoolDash data seen by Tes has revealed. Founding manager of SchoolDash Timo Hannay said: "It may be that school recruitment in England will never quite return to its pre-pandemic state." The article is accompanied by a map, which shows teacher vacancies by region in 2018-19, 2022-23 and 2023-24. By Matlida Martin.
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RAAC crisis sees schools lose out on rebuilding funds
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RAAC
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Headteachers whose schools are struggling with structural challenges that include leaking roofs and ageing classrooms have told BBC News they fear that the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) crisis will leave them with no chance of securing government funding for school buildings. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) said: "The fact that schools are having to compete with each other in terms of which is the most dilapidated or dangerous is simply unacceptable". By Hazel Shearing, Daniel Wainwright and Nathan Standley.
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Pupils in Wales perform only as well as disadvantaged children in England, IFS study shows
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Welsh education
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Pupils in Wales have performed only as well as disadvantaged children in England, a study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found. Wales’ lower attainment cannot be explained by higher levels of poverty, according to the IFS, since children in areas of England with higher or similar levels of deprivation achieved “significantly higher” GCSE results than their peers in Wales. By Richard Adams, The Guardian.
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'Why we use a TEACHER model for staff appraisals'
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Teaching and learning
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Writing in Tes, Kirsty Stokes explains why she created 'TEACHER', an education-specific model to track the progress of teachers. Describing how the model has proven to be so impactful, Ms Stokes says: "Its emphasis on celebrating achievements and empowering teachers to follow their own plans for success can lead to greater improvements in pupils’ education and more fulfilled teachers." Kirsty Stokes is director of studies, pre-senior baccalaureate lead and head of geography at St Andrew’s School.
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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.
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