ISC Daily News Summary

In an article for Independent Schools Magazine, Devin Cassidy, head of Belmont School Lancashire, reflects on his experience of leading the closure of an independent school last year. Urging colleagues never to treat closures as purely commercial decisions, he says pupils, families and staff must always remain central to everything. "Independent schools are more than businesses; they are communities built around children. If closures become unavoidable, they must be managed with compassion, transparency and proper notice," he writes. 

The Department for Education (DfE) has outlined examples of what could be seen as reasonable and unreasonable adjustments that schools could make for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Seen by Tes, the documents, which are marked as not being government policy, set out case study "user journeys" and also provide an indication of how schools might use the national inclusion standards currently being developed by a panel chaired by academy trust chief executive Tom Rees. By John Roberts.

Walking to school could boost the mental health of young adolescents, according to research led by King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, in association with the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The study of more than 5,000 young people found that those who took more steps each day had fewer symptoms of anxiety, low mood and behavioural problems a year later. The benefits were found to increase with every additional 1,000 to 2,000 steps, with no evidence of a plateau among the most active teenagers. By Laura Donnelly.

Restricting how vapes are displayed in shops, standardising device designs, and making plain packaging mandatory could deter thousands of young people from starting to vape, according to government impact assessments. Ministers set out a series of proposals in July aimed at addressing the issue of youth vaping, which include standardised packaging and devices, limits on flavour descriptions, and hiding products from view in retail outlets. The collection of impact assessments has been released as the public consultation on these policies draws to a close today. By Ella Pickover, The Independent. 

Channing School's Young Enterprise teams have completed an extraordinary year of business success, taking their student-led ventures all the way from local school trade stalls to the UK National Finals in Cardiff.

The ventures were launched at the junior school's winter fair, where students formed two thriving companies: Interlinked, which involved creating community-focused accessories, and Seeds&Greetings, a joint team with the newly converted academy St Aloysius' College. The latter produced plantable wildflower greeting cards with custom audio recordings, offering an innovative way to reduce card waste.

Both teams excelled in the regional trade fairs at Spitalfields and Brent Cross before dominating the Central and North London awards. Seeds&Greetings continued its winning streak, claiming the London and Essex Regional Best Company title at Amazon HQ to secure its place at the national finals.

Reflecting on the teams' remarkable growth and resilience, Channing teacher and Young Enterprise lead Michelle Feeney said: "From their first brainstorming sessions to representing London and Essex on the national stage, our Young Enterprise students have demonstrated extraordinary creativity, teamwork, and business acumen."

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