In a Westminster Hall debate on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision in Kent, Labour MP for Ashford Sojan Joseph called for ministers to invest in local state schools and expand specialist hubs so children can access education closer to home, rather than relying on new independent schools. Shadow education secretary Saqib Bhatti noted that, throughout the country, "the issue of SEND continues to cause deep stress and anxiety". He explained: "The demand for SEND provision in Kent has been rising, especially in the post-Covid world. Many families are already facing long delays, so parents are understandably anxious about proposed changes that might affect their children." Referencing official figures showing there are 54,497 pupils with SEND in Kent, which includes those with and without an education, health and care plan (EHCP), he highlighted that more than 6,600 pupils (or 10.8 per cent of the total) are in the independent sector. Emphasising his longstanding stance against the government's VAT on fees policy, Mr Bhatti asked: "Has the minister considered the consequences of that for pupils with SEND who are forced to leave the independent sector if independent schools are forced to close? I hope she has some data on that." Hansard.

Writing in The Telegraph, Baroness Amanda Spielman, the former head of Ofsted, has accused Bridget Phillipson of "favouring unions over voters" by abandoning the humanities in the government's curriculum review. Baroness Spielman, who stood down as chief inspector at the schools watchdog two years ago, says the education secretary's plans to scrap the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) risk undermining take-up in the humanities and languages. In her article, the former Ofsted head calls for subjects to be weighted on difficulty to enhance the attractiveness of studying humanities and languages. By Samuel Montgomery. Baroness Spielman's article appears directly after the news item.

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has launched a new curriculum designed to transform the study of Shakespeare in classrooms. Funded by the Foyle Foundation, the online platform for teachers and pupils utilises rehearsal-based teaching approaches. Providing access to more than 2,000 resources – including video extracts from RSC rehearsals and past productions, as well as activity-packed lesson plans – the RSC curriculum is free to all state schools in the UK. Welcoming its launch, Dame Judi Dench told The Guardian: "The Shakespeare curriculum will bring the spirit of collaboration, inquiry and discovery from the rehearsal room into classrooms up and down the country, inspiring and engaging young minds." By Sally Weale.

The Department for Education (DfE) has announced the newest group of lead schools for its attendance and behaviour hubs. The programme has added 24 secondary schools and 12 primary schools, which the DfE says "will offer direct one-to-one support reaching tens of thousands of pupils across hundreds of schools" through sharing best practice at events and open days. The latest cohort brings the total number of lead schools to 57, after the first 21 were announced in the summer. A full list of the lead schools is published in Tes. By Kyle Tormey.

The Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA) has launched a new programme to help veterans explore employment opportunities in boarding schools. The new Accredited Service Personnel into Residential Education (ASPIRE) scheme offers a training and induction pathway for serving or former service personnel looking to work in the sector. Speaking to Independent School Management Plus, Dale Wilkins, BSA’s executive director for accredited training, said: "Boarding schools can be a very attractive second career for service personnel, from working in boarding houses to helping with sport, the Duke of Edinburgh Award or cadets, or indeed other roles." 

Some schools in England are attempting to avoid accepting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), according to research by the National Foundation for Educational Research. It reveals that some schools have six times as many pupils requiring learning or behaviour support compared with others. In one local authority, some primary schools were found to have 50 per cent of pupils with identified additional needs while others had fewer than five per cent, with schools whose pupils came from deprived areas the most likely to have high numbers. One council leader said the more inclusive schools became "victims of their own success" by attracting larger numbers of pupils with SEND, overwhelming resources. By Richard Adams, The Guardian.

The way SEND registers are used to identify and support pupils with additional needs is a "mystery" that needs to be clarified before schools can be judged on inclusion, experts have warned. Tes also reveals Teacher Tapp research showing significant variations in how SEND registers are used in schools, with more than one in 10 primary teachers not checking them at all in the first month of term. By John Roberts.

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