ISC Daily News Summary

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), has told BBC Radio 4 that schools are being instructed to revert to remote lessons based on public health advice, and are not making the decision to close "at the whim of a head teacher". By Gareth Davies, The Telegraph.

The Government has confirmed that the rollout of second dose COVID jabs for 12 to 15-year-olds will begin in schools from 10 January. By Tom Belger, Schools Week.

According to Government figures, an estimated 236,000 pupils were off school in England last week due to COVID-related reasons. The Independent.

School leaders have warned that schools in some high infection areas in England are struggling to stay fully open due to rising COVID rates. Geoff Barton, general secretary of ASCL, said: "One (school) has emailed me this morning saying 25% of staff have been off for three weeks." By Hannah Richardson, BBC News.

New data on the impact of lockdown on education - from the Scottish Government's 'Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels' report - has revealed that 44 per cent of pupils from the poorest areas in Scotland now do not have acceptable literacy skills by the time they leave primary school. By Daniel Sanderson, The Telegraph.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's first minister, has confirmed that a small Omicron outbreak in schools will not result in the closure of entire classes, but children will have to stay at home if a family member catches COVID. By Mark McLaughlin, The Times.

Ed Dorrell, director at Public First, writes for The Independent on the danger of vulnerable children being out of school.

James Frayne, founding partner at Public First, writes in The Telegraph commenting on the importance of keeping schools open during the pandemic. Mr Frayne said: "Home schooling children was stressful enough a year ago; this time, many parents are going to be wondering how they will make ends meet while logging on to Zoom lessons."

Writing for The Guardian, Sally Weale takes a closer look at how the pandemic has impacted five-year-olds in Britain.

Haberdashers’ Boys’ School and Haberdashers’ Girls’ School have pledged £3.2m over the course of 2021-22 for 84 full bursaries, helping 161 families who would otherwise be unable to afford to send their children to the schools. By Julian Owen, Independent Education Today.

IE Today speaks to heads at Cheltenham College, Radnor House, St. Helen’s School, Merchiston Castle School and Mill Hill School about independent education over the last 12 months. By Miles Latham.

Amanda Scott, executive director of the Latymer Foundation, explains how the school community has been widening access to educational opportunities for children during the pandemic.

According to Ofsted's monthly breakdown of inspection deferral requests, around a quarter of submissions from schools to defer their inspections have been turned down since September. By James Carr, Schools Week.