ISC Daily News Summary

Official government figures have revealed that while the number of pupils off school has started to fall, the absence rate for teachers has increased to a record high this academic year. By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

The National Education Union has said that the pressure on schools caused by COVID is higher than ever due to staff and pupil absences. BBC News.

The education secretary has suggested to headteachers that tutoring, which is currently being used to help children catch up with learning loss caused by the pandemic, may become a permanent part of state schooling. By Emma Yeomans, The Times.

According to The Telegraph, SNP ministers have been accused of “an astonishing rewriting of history” after denying that they planned to spend £300,000 chopping the bottom off classroom doors in an attempt to stop the spread of COVID. By Simon Johnson.

Tom Arrand, head of Cardiff Sixth Form College in Wales, writes for Independent School Management Plus arguing that independent schools did not ‘game the system’ to award more students top grades, but rather the system itself was “designed to enable success and remove barriers to failure”.

Michael Gove, a former education secretary, has criticised the resurgence of “anti-rigour” in education, adding: "Some of the arguments being put forward, such as suggesting an inadequacy of GCSEs, reflect a misunderstanding of the value of independent assessment.” By Nicola Woolcock, The Times.

Figures from the Department for Education have revealed that initial teacher training (ITT) applications are down by 24 per cent compared with January last year, prompting warnings that the sector is facing "a clear deterioration" in recruitment. By Matilda Martin, Tes.

According to The Times, some teachers are being trained to notice signs of problems at home and to help children by “stepping in to support parents” who are considered to be arguing excessively. By Debbie White.

Emma Seith writes in Tes considering whether introducing longer break times could improve pupils' mental health. By Emma Seith.

The Independent reports that teachers in Scotland have asked for a 10 per cent pay rise in response to soaring inflation and the growing cost-of-living crisis. By Andy Gregory.

The NAHT, ASCL, NEU and Unison teaching unions have launched legal action against the Government for approving a diocese’s plans to academise schools before governors had voted on them, claiming that conversion rules were “ignored or abused”. By Tom Belger, Schools Week.