ISC Daily News Summary

Parents are losing as much as £10,000 to "sophisticated" scammers targeting independent schools, according to research carried out by IRIS Education. In a poll of 100 bursars at independent schools, the software company found scammers were routinely impersonating the establishments and sending fake fee payment requests to parents. Every bursar said their school had faced at least one scam in the last five years, with the average bursar noting five distinct incidents over the period. Parents lost an average of £3,200 per successful scam, while one in five (19 per cent) said they had seen parents lose between £5,000 and £10,000 in a single case. Speaking to The Telegraph, Simon Freeman, Managing Director of Education at IRIS, said: "Many schools are doing everything right with traditional processes, but those very processes have become the vulnerabilities that criminals are trained to exploit." By Mattie Brignal.

British universities, colleges and schools will be encouraged to expand abroad to drive economic growth under the government's new international education strategy. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the strategy, which will back "transnational education" such as overseas campuses, partnerships and distance learning, would "fuel UK growth". Commenting on the plans, Jacqui Smith, the minister for skills, told The Times: "Private schools already work internationally… If they can grow the amount that they’re earning overseas and pay their taxes back in the UK, that seems to be a benefit to everybody." By Georgia Lambert.

Ofsted will check every school’s policy on mobile phones during inspections and the government will issue "tougher guidance for schools" on restricting the devices, ministers have announced. There will also be a consultation on restrictions around "addictive features" in apps, a potential ban on access to social media for children, and better age checks. The government said yesterday that schools will be "expected to be phone-free by default thanks to today’s announcement". The guidance will be non-statutory, meaning schools will not have a legal duty to follow it. By Freddie Whittaker, Schools Week.

Ministers have updated their artificial intelligence (AI) safety expectations, telling schools to use the technology to identify signs of "distress" in pupils and alert concerning behaviour to safeguarding leads "to get ahead of emerging harms". Speaking at the Global AI Safety Summit in London yesterday, Bridget Phillipson said the updated standards "safeguard mental health". There are also strict new guidelines around emotional and social development, which Ms Phillipson said were particularly key for younger pupils and those with special educational needs and disabilities. "We’ve got to make sure AI products don’t replace vital human interactions and relationships," she warned. By Lydia Chantler-Hicks, Schools Week.

Parents are to be given a new government-backed guide on how to formally complain to their child’s school, in a move to curb a significant rise in escalated disputes. The aim of the detailed five-step process, developed by the Department for Education (DfE), charity Parentkind, and schools watchdog Ofsted, is to nurture a more "positive, respectful way" for parents to address concerns with educational institutions. It follows widespread reports from schools detailing a surge in parental complaints, notably those aired on social media platforms. By Jasmine Norden, The Independent. 

Listening to audiobooks counts as reading, the Queen has said. During a visit to the National Library of Scotland to launch the National Year of Reading with a special edition of The Beano comic, Her Majesty said audiobooks had a part to play in the "battle" to keep everyone interested in reading. By Hannah Furness, The Telegraph.