ISC Daily News Summary

The Education Policy Institute has said that the progress made in recent years to narrow the “disadvantage gap” between rich and poor students aged 16 to 19 has been “completely reversed” during the pandemic, with teenagers from deprived families now three grades behind their more affluent peers by the time they reach sixth form. By Camilla Turner, The Telegraph.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has urged the Government to give schoolchildren an extra 10 minutes of play time each day to make up for the loss of socialising during the pandemic, adding that play has been “eroded” in recent years and must be prioritised to reverse the negative impact of lockdowns on children’s wellbeing. By Camilla Turner, The Telegraph.

According to iNews, school leaders have said they need “clarity” about when pupils and teachers should stay at home if they have COVID, after the prime minister announced plans to scrap all coronavirus rules in England by the end of this month. By Will Hazell.

The Telegraph reports that members of the National Education Union working at 22 independent schools within the Girls' Day School Trust have begun a six-day strike prompted by the group’s decision to withdraw from the Teachers' Pension Scheme. By Camilla Turner.

Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed that results achieved by pupils entered early for GCSEs in the last two years will not count towards school league tables this year. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week.

Forty charities have written to the Government calling for the genocide of Roma and Sinti Gypsies to be added to the curriculum as a mandatory part of Holocaust teaching in schools, after a controversial joke on the subject by comedian Jimmy Carr prompted outrage. By Sally Weale, The Guardian.

Professor EJ Renold, of Cardiff University, has warned that primary school pupils are targeting each other with homophobic and anti-trans abuse and that anti-gay comments have become “normalised” in primary schools. By Will Fyfe, BBC News.

Jared Brading, executive head of Sacred Heart and St Mary’s Roman Catholic primary schools, has warned that as a result of the rising cost of living some parents are struggling to afford to take their children to school and some pupils sit in class too embarrassed to say they are hungry. Mr Brading said: "We have a breakfast club so we’re always able to feed children who have come in hungry – but they don’t want to say that, they don’t want to admit to being hungry." By Serina Sandhu, iNews.

According to Schools Week, the DfE has reassured schools that soaring energy bills will have a “relatively small impact” on their budgets and advised them that they can shoulder “cost pressures” from recent rises in core school funding. By Samantha Booth.