ISC Daily News Summary

ISC Daily News Summary 16 February 2024

'Labour's plan to put VAT on school fees is a tax on aspiration'

Independent sector

Inaya Folarin Iman writes in the Daily Mail about her personal experience attending both state and independent schools, with her mother having worked three jobs to pay for her education. She describes the idea of independent schools being the preserve of the rich as "a colossal misconception", adding: "It is abundantly clear to me that, if Labour levied 20 per cent VAT on private schools, it would only strip many aspirational, hard-working families of their hopes and dreams for their children."


State school pupils support monarchy more than those at independent schools, findings suggest

General education

According to a study by King's College London, 66 per cent of children in state schools, aged six to 12, had a positive view of the royals, compared with 56 per cent in independent schools. Overall, the researchers found there were higher levels of support for the monarchy from children than from teenagers and young adults. The results were based on questions for 2,000 pupils across 200 schools. By Sean Coughlan, BBC. 


Ofsted and Ofqual asked for strategy to deal with AI risk

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Ministers have called upon Ofsted and Ofqual to produce an updated plan for how they will approach artificial intelligence (AI) by 30 April, amid concerns about the potential for the technology to be misused in education. The government has said the strategy should include the work the organisations are doing to assess, understand, and manage the current and emerging risks posed by AI to the education sector. By John Roberts, Tes.


Family routines boost children's development, experts say

Child welfare and parenting

Strict bedtimes, family meals and other consistent routines could help to enhance brain development in young children by improving their sleep, according to research findings published in the Brain and Behaviour journal. Emily Merz, of Colorado State University, who led the study said: “Our findings suggest that sleep insufficiency may be associated with the brain’s size and structure and the function of emotion processing brain circuits in children... Childhood is a sensitive period in development when environmental experiences can have powerful and lasting influences on the brain.” By Tom Bawden, iNews. 


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