ISC Daily News Summary

Schools could face an increase in complaints, legal challenges and tensions with parents as a result of ministers' planned special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) reforms, experts have warned. In response to the government's consultation, which closed this week, headteachers’ leaders, lawyers and charities have expressed concern that schools and parents could increasingly be in dispute. The fears relate to mainstream schools being given more responsibilities under the reforms but parents having limited legal routes of redress if they are unhappy with the provision. By John Roberts. 

TikTok and YouTube have been criticised by Ofcom, which says their content feeds are "not safe enough" for children. The regulator has said it would share the concerns that sites were not effectively enforcing minimum age rules with the government, whose consultation on whether to ban social media for under-16s is due to end next Tuesday, 26 May. YouTube said it worked with child safety experts to provide "industry-leading, age-appropriate" experiences for children, while TikTok said it was "very disappointing" Ofcom had failed to acknowledge its safety features. Ofcom's criticism is part of a new report into how five large social media and video platforms responded to its calls for stronger protections for children. By Laura Cress, BBC News.

Teach First is to be awarded ministers' flagship teacher training scheme, Tes exclusively reports. The charity has been funded by the government to deliver the High Potential Initial Teacher Training (HPITT) programme since 2003, meaning it will have led the programme for more than two decades. The decision comes after the Department for Education significantly altered the contract, including offering £74 million less than estimated and reducing the recruitment target by 750 trainees a year. By Cerys Turner. 

In an article for Tes, Andreas Schleicher, director for education and skills at the OECD, and Matthew Shanks, CEO of multi-academy trust Education South West and UK link for the OECD partnerships programme, explain how a collaboration between schools in Devon and Ukraine has had a significant impact. "These international partnerships work because learning flows in all directions", they say.

Pupils from Surbiton High School have reached the final of the English Schools' Football Association (ESFA) Futures Girls Cup. The competition attracted 463 teams from independent and state schools all around England. Surbiton will face Northampton School's under-14s team in the final, which takes place at the Bet365 Stadium in Stoke tomorrow. By Ollie Conopo, BBC News.