ISC Daily News Summary

Heads have raised concerns over a Tiktok video trend involving teachers and staff being impersonated using pictures taken from school websites. By Charlotte Santry, Tes.

A letter from officials to parents in Conwy and Denbighshire has warned that their children could be excluded or reported to police for filming TikTok videos at school. By Nick Duffy, iNews.

Findings from a report by the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on Political Literacy, the University of Sheffield, and Shout Out UK suggest that pupils in independent schools are more likely to be given a grounding in political literacy than their state school peers. By Julian Owen, Independent Education Today.

Independent Education Today speaks to Samantha Price, head at Benenden School and Girls’ Schools Association president, about adopting a wider approach to guiding pupils beyond school. Ms Price said: “I think we have reached the point where we need to acknowledge that a traditional university degree is not the only route for our brightest and best, whatever their background." By Miles Latham.

Data from a report by the National Autistic Society (NAS) has found that one in four autistic children wait more than three years to receive the support they need at school. Caroline Stevens, the NAS chief executive, said: “The education system simply isn’t working for autistic children and their families, and things have been made even harder by coronavirus." By Sally Weale, The Guardian.

Adrian Packer, CEO of CORE Education Trust, writes for Tes about how schools can bring diversity into their history curriculum.

Flash Ley Community Primary School has introduced meditation and mindfulness classes to give children "the tools to help them to be calm, to be confident and to be creative". BBC News.

According to iNews, rising energy bills have created a “big black hole” in school budgets. Dave Woods, the head of Beaconsfield Primary School and a branch secretary for the National Association of Head Teachers, said he was aware of some schools being “quoted for new contracts with rises of 50 to 80 per cent for either gas, electricity or both”. By Will Hazell.

According to Chris Russell, Ofsted's national director of education, some previously 'outstanding' schools may have improved since their last inspection despite being downgraded under the the latest Ofsted inspection framework. By James Carr, Schools Week.