Launched in 2024, Lancing College Preparatory School Worthing's Aspire Programme has quickly become a key part of the school's partnership and outreach work, creating opportunities for pupils, staff and the wider community through meaningful collaboration with local schools. Working closely with state-maintained primary schools, Aspire is designed around the needs identified by local headteachers. The programme offers educational enrichment for Year 5 pupils, with Saturday morning sessions in subjects including English, mathematics, science and languages, alongside sport and team-building activities.

While the sessions are predominantly free, a small charge per child attending has been introduced for future Aspire events. This helps to sustain and expand the programme, ensuring more children can benefit from these valuable learning experiences. By balancing accessibility with sustainability, the initiative aims to widen access to high-quality education and inspire a love of learning beyond the classroom.

One recent highlight saw author Josh Lacey work with the school's Year 5 pupils and peers from Broadwater CE Primary School as part of the National Year of Reading, helping to inspire a shared enthusiasm for literature and creative writing.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have contributed to the Friday Feature series. If you have a good news story you would like to share with us, please email [email protected] to be considered for inclusion next term.

St Joseph's College in Reading will close today, with governors citing financial pressures that have "significantly impacted" the school's costs, including the introduction of Labour's VAT on fees policy and the removal of business rates relief. Chair of governors Hilary Buckle told BBC News: "We want to express our sincere thanks to everyone who came forward with suggestions to keep the school open, but unfortunately none of these were able to provide a sustainable future for St Joseph's College." Expressing his sadness at the closure, Oliver De Maringey said he will send his sons, one in Year R and the other in Year 5, to state schools. He said: "People had to scrimp and save and run 20-year-old cars to pay for this education, but it was not out of reach. It was an affordable, diverse school which catered for all in society." By Charlotte Coles and James Aldridge. 

In a written question in the House of Lords, Conservative peer Lord Black of Brentwood asked ministers what assessment they have made of the evidence from the Get Information About Schools dataset about the closures of independent schools. Labour peer Baroness Smith of Malvern said the Get Information website provides information about independent schools' registration and closures as reported. "The share of pupils in independent schools has stayed broadly consistent at 6.3 per cent, and more private schools opened than closed in 2025", she added.

Labour peer Baroness Caine of Kentish Town submitted a question in which she asked ministers how many state-funded secondary schools in England offer GCSE Film Studies; A-level Film Studies; GCSE Media Studies, and A-level Media Studies. She then asked how many independent schools offer each of these qualifications; and whether this information will be published annually by region as part of the national dataset on subject provision in schools. Responding, Baroness Smith provided a table detailing the number of schools with entries in the two subjects requested. She added that the department does not hold figures on the subjects that institutions offer. The figures state: GCSE film studies: 276 (state-funded) and 37 (independent); GCSE media/film/TV studies: 803 and 40; A-level film studies: 391 and 40; and A-level media/film/TV studies: 746 and 29. Baroness Smith added that media studies is referred to in the department's attainment data as 'media/film/TV studies' and is a separate qualification to 'film studies'. Hansard. 

Writing in School Management Plus, Richard Harman, chief executive of the Association of Governing Bodies of Independent Schools (AGBIS), explains the rationale behind the planned merger between AGBIS and the Independent Schools Bursars' Association (ISBA). "For me, the most important point is that the proposed merger creates an exciting opportunity not simply to bring two associations together, but to rethink how sector bodies can work more effectively alongside one another in support of schools", he says. 

School suspensions and permanent exclusions in England fell for the first time since the pandemic in 2024/25, according to government figures released yesterday. There were 913,000 suspensions across state schools in 2024/25, a 4 per cent decrease on the previous year. Permanent exclusions were also down nine per cent, at 9,900. Persistent disruptive behaviour remains the main reason for disciplinary action, while pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), those eligible for free school meals, and boys, continue to be disproportionately affected. Education leaders have welcomed the decline but are calling for greater investment in mental health, social care, and early intervention in order to address the underlying causes of poor behaviour and reduce exclusions further. By Kate McGough, BBC News.

More than a third (37 per cent) of schools inspected under Ofsted's new report card framework this year will face a monitoring inspection, more than double the proportion under the previous inspection system, raising concerns about increased pressure on school leaders and inspectors. The rise is largely due to the new framework, where a single "needs attention" judgement in any evaluation area can trigger a follow-up visit. A number of unions have warned that the approach could worsen workload and wellbeing, while Ofsted argues that targeted monitoring inspections help schools address issues more quickly and avoid them being left with low grades for years. By Cerys Turner and John Roberts, Tes.

The Daily News Summary will take a break over summer, returning in August to report on this year's exam results. Normal service will resume at the start of term in September.

From everyone at the Independent Schools Council, we hope you all have a restful and enjoyable summer break, and send our best wishes to all pupils awaiting their results.

Today's bulletin has been compiled with the help of Aiden, a work experience student from Harris Academy Falconwood.

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.