ISC Daily News Summary

Higher education minister Michelle Donelan has said places at Oxford and Cambridge should be awarded on merit, adding that many independent school pupils receive fee assistance. By Camilla Turner, The Telegraph.

A number of schools in the Girls' Day School Trust (GDST) have adopted the Halo Code, an initiative which promotes children wearing their hair as they like in school, as part of efforts "to place mental health and wellbeing at the centre of everything we do". By India McTaggart, The Telegraph.

The King's School, Canterbury, has announced that Jude Lowson will become the school's first female head when she takes up the role in September 2023. By Dan Worth, Tes.

Following comments from Sir Peter Lampl suggesting A-levels should be scrapped and students given more time to specialise, Jonny Timms, head at Walhampton School, writes to The Times recalling research which found that students from English and Welsh universities - who narrow their subject choices at A-level and again when they choose a degree course - were more likely than their Scottish counterparts to change careers. The letter can be found towards the end of the page.

The Times reports on comments made by Suella Braverman, who has said that schools are under no legal obligation to address children by a new pronoun or allow them to wear the school uniform of a different gender - reiterating that girls’ lavatories and changing rooms have special legal protections as safe spaces. By Steven Swinford.

According to The Sunday Telegraph, senior government figures are considering lifting the ban on new grammar schools, despite opposition from civil servants. By Camilla Turner.

Dr David Butterfield, a senior lecturer in classics, has warned of the ‘political danger’ and ‘threats’ to his academic discipline amid disputes on campuses over the way subjects should be taught. By Alice Wright, Daily Mail.

Former headteacher Rachel Macfarlane writes for Tes, detailing what she believes schools should do differently when it comes to supporting disadvantaged pupils.