|
In a hurry? Click on a link below.
|
SEND: Addressing inclusion ahead of the government's planned reforms
|
|
|
SEND
|
|
The Guardian visits TCES Nurture Primary, a London alternative provision school, which looks much like any other primary school. The difference is that in its 25 years, the school has not excluded a single pupil. It operates around three core principles: never exclude; ensure every child has a trusted adult by design; and work with families as partners. Demand has been so high that TCES is now building a second primary school in north London. "We take children that society has given up on," explains Thomas Keaney, the founder and chief executive of TCES Group. By Aamna Mohdin.
Writing in Tes as the government prepares to announce its reforms to the SEND system, executive headteacher at The Mercian Trust Keziah Featherstone says support should be available in all schools, and not something children should have to wait for. She concludes: "Addressing the inequalities and deficiencies in the system is perhaps a smaller challenge than convincing every parent that whatever comes next will be better."
|
|
|
Students launch legal action over Covid-hit studies
|
|
|
Higher education
|
|
Dozens of universities are facing legal action from more than 170,000 students seeking compensation after their studies were moved online during the pandemic. Pre-action claim letters have been sent to 36 universities in England and Wales, including Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Imperial College London, Leeds, Liverpool and Warwick, on behalf of aggrieved students. The move follows a recent settlement between University College London and the Student Group Claim, which has paved the way for large-scale legal action across the sector. By Sally Weale, The Guardian.
|
|
|
PM pledges crackdown on children’s 'doomscrolling'
|
|
|
Social media
|
|
Sir Keir Starmer plans to stop children "doomscrolling" as part of a curb on their use of social media. Announcing his package of measures, the prime minister gave his strongest signal yet that he intends to crack down on social media’s "addictive" features and "stop this obsessive behaviour" among children. Sir Keir pledged to act in "months, not years" to protect young people online, although he admitted he had an "open mind" on whether to introduce a ban on under-16s’ access to social media. The Telegraph is running a poll asking readers to vote on whether under-16s should be banned from social media. By Charles Hymas.
|
|
|
'If someone else can do it, why can’t I?'
|
|
|
And finally
|
|
The Times meets staff and students from the London Academy of Excellence (LAE) in Newham, dubbed the "Eton of the East End", to find out how a sixth-form college with many students from disadvantaged backgrounds sent 62 pupils to Oxford or Cambridge this year. In the detailed feature, the school's head, Alex Crossman, explains that he feels LAE is still treated like a curiosity; an interesting exception rather than a model of what could become the rule. "What’s really striking is that the experience of this school, and schools like it, has played almost no role in the national conversation about education," he says. Student Anya Kramer, 18, tells the paper she has had an offer to read Asian and Middle Eastern studies at Cambridge. "There’s genuinely nothing stopping me," she adds. By Ben Machell. A number of schools in membership of the ISC's constituent associations are mentioned.
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|