ISC Daily News Summary

Addressing delegates at the Girls' Schools Association's (GSA) annual conference, headmistress of Wimbledon High School GDST Fionnuala Kennedy said girls’ schools will mix with boys’ schools in academic as well as social settings to address misogyny and sexual harassment. The school has instigated a charter with King’s College School (KCS), after pupils' experiences of sexual harassment were anonymously posted on the Everyone's Invited website. Alex Hutchinson, headmistress of James Allen’s Girls’ School, told The Telegraph that “collaboration days” are now held with the local boys' school for pupils aged 11 upwards. Carl Howarth, principal of Jersey College for Girls, is also quoted, warning of the “deeply sinister spread” of the “manosphere” in society. By Catherine Lough.

Just a quarter of classroom teachers feel confident about tackling issues related to equality for women and girls, compared to over a third of middle leaders and half of senior leaders, a survey of 500 staff at schools belonging to the GSA has found. Teachers also said they would like further support in discussing issues related to gender and sexism with parents of different religious or cultural backgrounds. Ms Kennedy and GSA's CEO Donna Stevens are both quoted in Independent School Management Plus.

According to The Telegraph, ministers have decided against a ban on “social transitioning” at school – where pupils take on the name, pronoun or uniform of the opposite sex – after concluding it would not be legally possible to do so. However, the guidance for headteachers, which is expected in the coming weeks, is set to make it clear that sports teams, changing rooms and lavatories must be single-sex, meaning a boy who opts to identify as a girl will not be able to enter the girls’ bathrooms or play in a girls’ team (and vice versa). By Daniel Martin and Louisa Clarence-Smith. 

Analysis by unions and teaching experts suggests the gender pay gap between male and female secondary headteachers has grown to the widest point in 12 years. Published to mark Equal Pay Day UK, the findings show that, on average, women earned £3,908 less than men in 2022-23. By Matilda Martin, Tes.

NHS figures suggest eating disorders among young people have jumped more than 15-fold since before the Covid pandemic, with one in every eight 17- to 19-year-olds now having an eating disorder, up from less than one in 100 in 2017. Among girls aged 17 to 19, the rate has risen to 20.8 per cent, while among boys is 5.1 per cent, prompting experts to warn "the impact of the pandemic cannot be understated". By Michael Searles, The Telegraph. 

Labour MP for the City of Durham Mary Foy has called for ministers to introduce a "one-off dispensation for pupils in Years 11 and 13" at schools affected by the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) crisis. In total, 214 schools across England have been identified as containing the crumbling concrete so far, with the number expected to rise as more surveys are carried out. By Poppy Wood, iNews.

Robin Walker, chair of the Commons Education Select Committee, writes in Tes on the importance of teaching children financial literacy. Mr Walker warns: "Missing out on this information may well affect people’s decision making for years to come."

Writing in Tes, Luke Ramsden offers advice on how to adhere to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice to support pupils with SEND, while balancing behaviour management. Mr Ramsden explains: "It is clear that a pupil’s SEND diagnosis does not mean behaviour management is not going to apply." Luke Ramsden is deputy head of an independent school and chair of trustees for the Schools Consent Project.

In a Guardian analysis, education editor Richard Adams considers plans by the Welsh government to reduce school summer holidays by one week. Mr Adams speaks to various experts on the possible impact for both pupils and staff, and explores what lies behind the original school holiday structure.