ISC Daily News Summary

According to The Telegraph, Boris Johnson is to announce that secondary school pupils will no longer be required to wear face masks in classrooms from 17 May. By Ben Riley-Smith and Camilla Turner.

The Telegraph reports some teachers are quitting the National Education Union after it wrote to the education secretary urging him to extend face mask rules in schools until 21 June. By Camilla Turner.

According to research from the Education Endowment Foundation, primary school pupils eligible for free school meals have fallen a month behind their classmates in maths as a result of coronavirus disruption. BBC News. Other key findings from the report have been summarised by Schools Week.

Ian Bauckham, chair of Ofqual, has said that the deadline for grade submissions was pushed back to late June to allow for more teaching time, not "tests and tests and more tests". By Catherine Lough, Tes. The article quotes Vicky Bingham, headmistress of South Hampstead High School, and Shaun Fenton, head of Reigate Grammar School.

Speaking to Tes, Mr Bauckham acknowledged that teachers "need to know" of any "significant" changes to 2022 exams before the start of the next academic year. By Catherine Lough.

Rachael Booth, principal at Leeds Sixth Form College, writes in Tes arguing a switch to digital exams cannot happen "without significant investment from the Government for training, connectivity, digital resources and pilot schemes".

A mental health and wellbeing support service for school leaders is to be extended to another 160 schools, with an extra £62,000 in funding from the Department for Education (DfE). By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week.

Headteachers and children's groups have written a letter to the prime minister urging him to bring forward the implementation of age verification for porn websites, claiming the measure could help prevent attacks on women and girls. By Daniel Martin, The Mail. The signatories are led by Baroness Benjamin, the former Play School presenter, and include Dr Joseph Spence, master of Dulwich College.

Tes features an interview with Vanessa Ward, who was appointed chief inspector of the Independent Schools' Inspectorate (ISI) in February this year. By Catherine Lough.

Artists and musicians have accused the Government of neglecting the country's "cultural national health" by proposing a 50 per cent funding cut to arts subjects at universities in England. By Lanre Bakare and Richard Adams, The Guardian. An editorial piece in The Guardian argues the proposal sends "the wrong message to all the artists, cultural organisations and businesses that contribute such a huge amount to the social and economic life of this country".