ISC Daily News Summary

Plans by the Labour Party to impose VAT on school fees could hit girls “hardest”, chief executive of the Girls’ Schools Association (GSA) Donna Stevens told delegates at the organisation's annual conference yesterday. She added: “My concern is that this policy would hit a disproportionate number of girls’ schools and that’s going to be damaging for the progress we’ve made in the last 150 years in terms of equality.” Marina Gardiner Legge, head of Oxford High School GDST and president of the GSA, is also quoted on the effect of the tax plans on single-sex schools. Commenting on the negative impact the policy would have on both the independent and state sectors, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council (ISC) Julie Robinson warned: “If those [smaller] schools close, or if a proportion of their pupils move to the state system, that becomes a cost to the state sector.” By Eleanor Busby, The Independent. 

The Community Security Trust says it has received reports of “abhorrent” incidents of abuse in British schools since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, with some taking place in primary school playgrounds. The charity, which protects Jewish people from abuse, revealed that in Greater Manchester - which has the largest Jewish population in England outside London - reports of antisemitism have risen by 880 per cent. By Ewan Somerville, The Telegraph. 

Wealthier families are almost six times as likely to benefit from the government’s childcare expansion as low-income families, according to research by the New Economics Foundation think tank. Experts have warned that children from disadvantaged backgrounds will be “denied access” to early years education because their parents do not meet the specified eligibility criteria, which states that both parents must work at least 16 hours a week. By Carmen Aguilar García and Alexandra Topping, The Guardian.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has updated its national guidance on measles for the first time in decades ahead of a potential outbreak this winter. Recent data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) shows there has been a sharp rise in cases of the illness across the country. By Paul Gallagher, iNews.