ISC Daily News Summary

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, around one in 10 students from school years 7 to 11 had COVID-19 in the week to 9 October. The number of positive cases in England, mostly amongst schoolchildren, is getting close to the peak recorded during the second wave of the pandemic. By Thomas Kingsley, The Independent.

Dr Camilla Kingdon, the president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, has called for an end to COVID testing in schools and claimed that the current regime is causing "unnecessary chaos". By Camilla Turner, The Telegraph.

A survey by the Association of School and College Leaders has revealed that 79 per cent of schools in England said they had been targeted by anti-vaccination campaigners. By Will Hazell, iNews.

Walk-in vaccine clinics for children under 16 will be launched as early as this week to speed up England's vaccine rollout. By Chris Smyth, The Times.

The National Association of Head Teachers has warned that most schools will not be able to offer catch-up tutoring to disadvantaged pupils until after Christmas as a result of late training, funding issues and over-stretched budgets. By Catherine Lough, Tes.

Over 100 MPs and peers have signed a letter to Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, urging him to rethink plans to stop funding most BTEC qualifications. By Zoe Tidman, The Independent.

An article in The Times questions tax-exempt charitable donations made by independent schools’ satellite campuses under gift aid rules. By Jacob Dirnhuber. The article quotes Julie Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council. Read the full ISC statement in response here.

A separate article published by The Times looks at connections between independent school franchises in China and the Chinese Communist Party. By Jacob Dirnhuber and Ben Ellery.

St Dunstan's College in London has started teaching pupils about "white privilege" as part of a "new bespoke curriculum". Headteacher Nicholas Hewlett said: "We do not teach white privilege in order to engender a sense of guilt among our white community [but] to help all our young people, of whatever racial origin, to unpick and better understand the complexities and sensitivities of a real and live issue that matters to them and to so much of the society they occupy." By Sian Griffiths, The Sunday Times.

Schools minister Robin Walker has said that the teaching of foreign languages in schools should reflect "modern Britain" and more pupils should be learning languages such as Arabic and Polish. By Will Hazell, iNews.

The Glasgow Academy is hosting a virtual summit on climate change for school pupils that coincides with the United Nations COP26 conference. Matthew Pearce, rector of The Glasgow Academy, said: "Education is the most powerful tool we have in the fight against climate change, and it is our duty as teachers to support the next generation to understand the complexities and empower them to take positive action." By James Higgins, IE Today.

Central Bedfordshire Council has urged parents to stop their children from watching the Netflix show Squid Game following reports of schoolchildren copying violent challenges from the show. By Peter Stubley, The Independent.

Maplewell Hall School, in Loughborough, has built a golf course to support its students with learning disabilities and to help them develop social skills. By Charlie Slater and Alex Thorp, BBC News.