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Holocaust Memorial Day takes place every year on 27 January. The day commemorates the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and millions more killed through the Nazi persecution of other groups and in the more recent genocides recognised by the UK government. These include the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. In a secondary assembly video, BBC Bitesize meets John Hajdu MBE to hear about his experiences of surviving the Holocaust.
Writing in Tes, Paula Cowan, a reader in education at the University of the West of Scotland and lead author of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Holocaust's (IHRA) education recommendations, outlines the IHRA's guidance for teaching and learning about the Holocaust, which has been updated in an attempt to address the risk of young people coming across misinformation online. The new recommendations include explicit teaching about antisemitism as well as a focus on digital literacy. "The historical facts remain the same – but the environment in which teachers must deliver them has changed dramatically," Ms Cowan writes.
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Why top UK schools are becoming more popular with American families
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Independent sector
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In an article for School Management Plus, Will Goldsmith, head of Bedales School, examines the growing demand for UK boarding schools among American students. Referencing the latest ISC Census, Mr Goldsmith notes that, for the nationalities of international students at UK independent schools, China and the USA were the only two countries showing growth last year. Highlighting quality of education as a "major draw, especially in subjects such as science", he also acknowledges the increasing pull of US universities for UK pupils, before concluding: "Many American families love the idea of UK boarding schools, and we love having them here."
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Schools risk missing 'expected standard' over phone use, Ofsted warns
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Mobile phones
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If a school fails to follow the government's new, non-statutory guidance on mobile phones, it could fall short of inspectors’ requirements for attendance and behaviour, Ofsted has warned. The watchdog will now inspect mobile phone policies at every school, not just when concerns arise, and schools may fall short on attendance and behaviour standards if they ignore the guidance. By Cerys Turner, Tes.
Tom Rogerson, head of Cottesmore School, writes in School Management Plus on the "fierce debate" around a ban on social media for under-16s. "Both sides are trying to protect children. That is the key point," he writes. On the reasons for banning phones in schools, he says: "A phone-free school day is not anti-technology. It is pro-attention. Pro-conversation. Pro-play. Pro-eye-contact. Pro-learning." Urging tech firms to do more, Mr Rogerson calls for robust age verification and tougher action on addictive design. "Australia’s model centres obligations on platforms, not on punishing young tech users," he adds.
Schools Week summarises everything schools need to know about the new mobile phone guidance after education secretary Bridget Phillipson wrote to headteachers yesterday urging all schools to become phone-free. By Ruth Lucas.
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GCSE reading list needs to be more diverse, says Booker prize-winning author
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Equality, diversity and inclusion
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Bernardine Evaristo, the Booker prize-winning author, has called for renewed efforts to diversify the school curriculum in England, warning that children are growing up in a society where "doors are closing" and the tide is turning against inclusion. Research by campaign group Lit in Colour has found that although there has been progress in the diversity of texts offered in the GCSE English literature curriculum, uptake in schools is still low, with just 1.9 per cent of GCSE pupils in England studying books by authors of colour, up from 0.7 per cent five years ago. Ms Evaristo said Lit in Colour’s campaign, which aims to increase diversity in the English school syllabus, is "even more essential to ensuring that books by authors of colour are on the curriculum". By Sally Weale, The Guardian.
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Disadvantaged white pupils fall furthest behind as poorest to be given AI tutors
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General education
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Talented white working-class children "lose ground" at secondary school, compared with their black and Asian peers, according to analysis led by the UCL Institute of Education and funded by the Nuffield Foundation. The study, which compared how boys and girls with strong promise at primary school performed as teenagers, found that disadvantaged white pupils fall furthest behind as they progress through secondary school, with worse performance at GCSE and A level, and when applying to selective universities. This was more marked than in young people from any other ethnic group, even when they came from similarly disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. By Georgia Lambert, The Times.
Artificial intelligence (AI) tutors will be offered to the poorest children in a move to "level the playing field" with those receiving private tuition, ministers have announced. The online tools will provide one-to-one tutoring for as many as 450,000 state school pupils studying for their GCSEs by the end of next year. Aimed at pupils eligible for free school meals, the initiative could see children encouraged to use chatbots to boost attainment in subjects such as maths and foreign languages. By Poppy Wood, The Telegraph.
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SEND: A closer look at the government's new four-tier support plan
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SEND
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iNews outlines a number of key questions parents should ask in light of the government's new four-tier SEND support plan, including how children will be selected for each tier and when the new system will begin. By Adam Forrest.
Leaders talk to Tes about how special and mainstream schools can collaborate to deliver on the government’s aim for more inclusive education. By John Roberts.
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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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