The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill passed its second reading after being debated in Parliament yesterday, with the government strongly denying claims that it is committing educational "vandalism". The bill would bring in a wide range of measures altering the freedoms of academies, including a register for children not in school, an end to forced academisation of schools, and a requirement for trusts to follow the national curriculum as well as statutory teacher pay and conditions. By Cerys Turner, Tes. 

Former Conservative education secretary Michael Gove has accused the government of attempting to dismantle the academies programme "brick by brick", criticising the schools bill as an attack on reforms that have "demonstrably transformed children’s lives". During the debate in the House of Commons, education secretary Bridget Phillipson defended the bill, saying the government planned to restore academies to their core purpose of "driving up standards for the most disadvantaged children in our country". She added: "They have delivered brilliant results, particularly for the most disadvantaged children, and they will continue their record of excellence under this Labour government." By Nicola Woolcock and Oliver Wright, The Times. 

During a debate in the House of Commons yesterday, ministers considered the provision of playgrounds by local authorities. On the facilities provided by schools in the independent sector, Conservative MP for Hamble Valley Paul Holmes said: "The decision in the last Budget to scrap the charitable status of private schools means that facilities provided for local children in local areas by private schools may be taken out of service. That will affect all kinds of children who are entitled to use the many playgrounds that private schools provide." Hansard.

In an article for Tes, Sam Freedman warns that 2025 will bring continued uncertainty in education because of "a distinct lack of clarity around the government’s approach to schools". Mr Freedman, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government and a former senior policy adviser at the Department for Education (DfE), notes a number of challenges facing ministers, including teacher recruitment and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support. He warns: "Education, health and care plans are taking longer and longer to be awarded and are worth ever less when they are. This creates an incentive to apply for more plans in the hope of getting some of the necessary funding to cover the costs of SEND support. It’s a horrible vicious cycle."

In October 2022, the Department for Education provided defibrillators to over 17,000 state schools in England. Headteacher Sarah Craig writes in Tes about the importance of registering defibrillators on national database The Circuit, which can mean the difference between life and death. She explains: "All of these defibrillators need to be registered so that the emergency services know where they are." Sarah Craig is headteacher at Oakwood Park Grammar School in Kent.

Pupils at Gordonstoun can now enjoy homemade meals delivered to their rooms after staff decided to introduce healthier alternatives to the takeaways that were being ordered in from outside. The school's “take-in” food service has become popular with senior students and comes after a revamped breakfast menu was launched to cater for international students last year. Jamie Campbell, the school's catering manager, told The Times: “We started the new service on a Sunday night, but it has proved so popular that we are now seeing if we can extend it.” By Lizzie Roberts.

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