ISC Daily News Summary

Jon Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, has said that children should be able to use community pharmacy and vaccination centres to speed up the vaccination rollout among 12 to 15-year-olds. By Samuel Lovett, The Independent.

The Times reports about 36 per cent of 12 to 15-year-olds have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Scotland, while in England the figure is only 11.6 per cent. By Rhys Blakely.

School leaders from the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) have called for Sats exams in 2022 to be cancelled, claiming that it would be “unfair” to hold them amid the COVID-19 pandemic. By Aasma Day, iNews.

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi has vowed to tackle persistent pupil absences "head on", in a speech to headteachers on Saturday. By Becky Morton, BBC News.

The NAHT Cymru teaching union has said that the current system for dealing with COVID-19 in Welsh classrooms is "failing schools". By James Williams, BBC News.

Katharine Birbalsingh, the headteacher of Michaela Community School, has been appointed as the Government’s new social mobility commissioner. By Haroon Siddique, The Guardian.

A new analysis of Department for Education A-level data from before the pandemic shows that schools with lower proportions of students eligible for free school meals had a larger gender gap in entries for STEM subjects. By Catherine Lough, Tes.

In a speech addressing school leaders, education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said there are not enough black headteachers in England and workplace diversity at the top of education is “not good enough”. By Jon Stone, The Independent.

Professor James Tooley, an educational entrepreneur and vice-chancellor of Buckingham University, writes in The Telegraph that offering a diversity of choice in education, at all price points, "is better than consigning most children to the state sector".

Loughborough Amherst School, in Leicestershire, has banned teachers from using the words “good” and “bad” to describe pupil behaviour, in order to “take the emotional heat” out of managing discipline. The article quotes Dr Julian Murphy, head of the school. By Will Hazell, iNews.

According to data from the Youth Sport Trust, periods, low confidence and being watched by other people are factors preventing some girls from enjoying sport. The report findings suggest that, over the last three years, periods have become the biggest concern for girls when doing PE in school. By Jeanette Long, BBC News.

Writing for iNews, Gwyneth Rees interviews several people who believe dyslexia has many benefits that teachers should be made more aware of, including problem solving and communication.