ISC Daily News Summary

Sir Keir Starmer has been condemned for pursuing plans to add VAT to school fees and remove independent schools' charitable status after having praised independent schools for adding "a huge amount to our country". Julie Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), described the party's tax plan as "an ideological policy that would punish hard-working parents who strive to make this choice for their children". By Connor Stringer and Harriet Line, Daily Mail. 

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today show, the Labour leader acknowledged the positive contributions of independent schools, adding: "I think that there are very good private schools, and there's no case for abolishing them." By Henry Zeffman, The Times. The article references a quote from Shaun Fenton, head of Reigate Grammar School, and the ISC. 

In a letter to The Times, Patrick Derham, a former independent school headmaster, highlights the work of the Royal National Children's SpringBoard Foundation, "a groundbreaking charity that provides access to the right school, both independent and state boarding schools, for young people in or on the edge of care, or growing up in homes or areas where their potential is not being fulfilled". He warns that the work of organisations like this "cannot be allowed to suffer as an unforeseen consequence of Labour's plans regarding VAT and the charitable status of independent schools". The letter can be found a quarter of the way down the page.

According to The Telegraph, antibiotics could be given to entire year groups as a preventative measure to help curb the spread of Strep A in schools. The article also reports that nine children have now died after contracting a form of the bacterial infection. By India McTaggart.

The prime minister's official spokesman has said that while it is uncommon, it is important for parents to be "on the lookout for symptoms" of serious Strep A infection. These include a high fever, severe muscle aches and localised muscle tenderness. By Kat Lay and Debbie White, The Times.

Schools Week summarises guidance from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on the management of scarlet fever outbreaks in schools, nurseries and other childcare settings. By Amy Walker.

Dame Louise Richardson, the outgoing vice-chancellor of Oxford University, has said that she sent her children to independent school to give them the "best education". This follows controversy over a decline in the number of independently educated children gaining places at Oxford and Cambridge. The Telegraph.

According to a report by the Institute for Public Policy and Save the Children, access to affordable childcare for children up to the age of 11 would inject more than £13 billion into the British economy every year and help reduce the gender pay gap. By Poppy Wood, iNews.

Sam Freedman, a former adviser to the Department for Education (DfE), writes in The Times arguing "any party serious about winning the next election should expand childcare support".

When asked by Lord Lexden, president of the Independent Schools Association, why the Government has not met its teacher training recruitment targets, Baroness Barran, minister for the schools' system, said "there is a very competitive labour market and historically teaching has not offered the same flexibility that is now offered post-pandemic for many graduate jobs". By Matilda Martin, Tes.

The cross-party Children and Families Act 2014 Committee has warned that the Government "has not grasped the importance and severity" of issues facing child mental health provision, after finding that landmark legislation "languished" as a result of poor implementation, inadequate scrutiny and "incessant churn" among ministers. By Samantha Booth, Schools Week.