Guy Mainwaring-Burton from Jersey writes to The Telegraph expressing his dismay over the closure of his prep school, writing that "this government's policies have provided the straw that has broken the camel's back". He notes that some of the pupils "will be taking up places in already overcrowded state schools", before adding: "I now wonder how many more [schools], saved for the moment, will turn off the lights in the next three or four years as the current displaced cohort washes through the system. If this proves to be the case, it will be a tragedy that these unique institutions are no longer there to provide an alternative educational choice for the families of the future."  

Renfrewshire-based Alastair MacMillan describes the closure of Queen Margaret’s School as "such a waste", adding that the school – where his two daughters were happily educated – was "fatally wounded" by the imposition of VAT on fees, the loss of business rates relief and National Insurance increases. Mr MacMillan laments the "enormous loss" of the school not only to pupils, alumni and staff, but the wider community, too. The letters appear at the bottom of the page.

The government has no clear plan to deliver its teacher recruitment pledge funded by the VAT on fees policy, according to a report by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). The cross-party group of MPs and peers, more than half of whom belong to Labour, said the promise to recruit 6,500 new teachers "lacks a coherent plan" and meaningful targets. The report said it was "unclear how this pledge will be delivered, progress measured, or what achieving it will mean for existing and forecast teacher shortages". Raising further concerns, the PAC report also stated there was "no information on the baseline against which the pledge will be measured, how it will be split across schools and colleges, or the milestones that will need to be met" to fulfil it. By Poppy Wood, The Telegraph.

Schools Week summarises the key findings from the report, which has been published today and follows on from the National Audit Office’s research into teacher supply earlier this year. By Jack Dyson.

In the ISC's latest 'Spotlight On' blog, Fiona Price, computing teacher and partnerships coordinator at King Edward VI School, explains how a multi-disciplinary partnership day offered pupils access to high-quality enrichment experiences, fostering a spirit of shared learning and community.

The special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) crisis in Britain's schools is being fuelled by an unprecedented rise in autism diagnoses, figures suggest, with the number of autistic children given education, health and care plans (EHCPs) tripling in the past decade. In 2024, out of 639,000 children with EHCPs, 149,217 children held them for autistic spectrum disorder, while the number of children with social, emotional and mental health issues has more than doubled to 71,304. Government figures have also revealed that the proportion of children with EHCPs in independent special schools has gone up significantly, with 29,647 pupils in independent special schools last year, up from 13,744 in 2019. The Office for Budget Responsibility said yesterday that the rising cost is presenting councils with "growing risks to their financial sustainability". By Chris Smyth and Oliver Wright, The Times. 

Phasing out EHCPs will not solve England’s SEND crisis, a leading special schools’ chief executive has warned. Mike Sidebottom, who leads the Woodbridge Trust in Bolton, has criticised the government's reform plans, which are expected to be unveiled in a white paper this autumn. Speaking to iNews, Mr Sidebottom said that while he supports the idea of rethinking SEND, he questions ministers’ intentions to "tilt" provision back into mainstream schools. Instead, he is calling for a review of how mainstream and special schools could collaborate nationally, along with guidance on how this can be achieved. By Connie Dimsdale.

Writing in The Times, columnist Alice Thomson looks at the surge in demand for SEND provision and stresses the need to give children the support they deserve. She welcomes ministers' "plausible plan" for reform and concludes the article by saying: "Let’s hope that in contrast to their recent intervention on welfare reform, Labour backbenchers have the courage and intelligence to support necessary change."

Schools, businesses, and local communities should be equipped to defend against cyber attacks, espionage, and sabotage carried out by hostile states such as Russia, MPs have said. In a new report, the Commons Defence Committee said that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) should do "far more" engagement with wider society, including schools, "to help generate a dialogue around those threats to the UK and build consensus around a common response". The article also explores how other countries navigate these issues. In Finland, for example, pupils learn about detecting disinformation in primary schools. By Charlie Parker, The Times. 

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