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Online Safety Bill amended to better protect children

There have been several amendments to the Online Safety Bill, with planned rules to prevent children from viewing pornography, content that promotes suicide, self-harm, or eating disorders bolstered.

The changes also mean that the laws protecting children from encountering harmful content and activity online – as well as the codes and guidance issued by the regulator – will come into force as quickly as possible after the Online Safety Bill has passed.

Updates to the Bill will hold services that publish or allow pornography on their sites to a new higher standard on the age verification or age estimation tools they use, meaning they will have to ensure that these are highly effective in establishing whether a user is a child or not. New measures will also hold top tech executives personally responsible for keeping children safe on their platforms.

Other reforms include Ofcom researching the role of app stores in allowing children to access harmful content, requiring firms to take action to reduce risk where necessary.

Minister for Technology and the Digital Economy Paul Scully said: “This Government will not allow the lives of our children to be put at stake whenever they go online; whether that is through facing abuse or viewing harmful content that could go on to have a devastating impact on their lives.

“To prevent any further tragedy and build a better future for our children, we are acting robustly and with urgency to make the Online Safety Bill the global standard for protecting our children.”

7,000 children in schools needing major building work

Around 700,000 children in England are studying in schools requiring major rebuilding or refurbishment, a new National Audit Office report on the Condition of school buildings says. The public spending watchdog’s report found that more than a third (24,000) of English school buildings are past their estimated initial design life. These buildings can normally continue to be used, but are generally more expensive to maintain and, on average, have poorer energy efficiency leading to higher running costs.

The report says DfE has assessed the possibility of a building collapse or failure causing death or injury as a ‘critical and very likely’ risk since summer 2021. The report highlighted ongoing concerns with the use of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) – a lightweight form of concrete prone to failure, used between the 1950s and mid-1990s. DfE has been considering the potential risk posed by RAAC since late 2018, following a school roof collapse.

When looking at the Condition of school buildings, the NAO recommends that DfE determines by when, and through what means, it plans to have fully dealt with RAAC as a safety issue across the school estate so that it is no longer a critical risk.

More positively, the report found that DfE had collected better evidence on the condition of the whole estate. This included identifying 13,800 system-built blocks –almost all containing asbestos. However, of these around 3,600 may be more susceptible to deterioration. In September 2022, DfE approved plans for a structural assessment of 200 system-built blocks to help better understand the risks – but none had been conducted as this report went to publication.

Cost of uniforms still too high despite guidance change

The cost of school uniforms is still too high despite rules meant to lower the costs, the Children’s Society has reported.

The charity claims that parents spend on average £422 a year on secondary and £287 on primary uniforms.

The Children’s Society polled 2,000 parents across the UK in May about their annual uniform costs.

Parents of secondary school children face the highest costs, with coats and bags costing around £75 per child annually, spending on blazers being around £46, and sports shoes and boots for PE amounting to £63 per child per year.

Changes to the Education Act last year means that schools in England should be helping cut costs for parents. That could be by promoting cheaper second-hand uniform options or removing unnecessary branded items from their uniform lists.

The survey from the Children’s Society, however, found pupils were still expected to have an average of three branded items of uniform.

In addition, 45 per cent of parents reported that their school uniform policies had still not been updated.

Mark Russell, chief executive of The Children’s Society, said: “With inflation and the cost of living eating into family budgets, we are disappointed that the affordability of school uniforms remains a significant financial burden for many families.

“While some schools have made commendable changes to reduce costs, this positive trend is still not widespread enough. We urge parents who struggle with the affordability of school uniforms to contact the school and the school governors.”

Survey reveals concerns about children’s mental health : READ MORE

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Free sight tests for special schools announced: READ MORE

Sustainability

Plans for Scottish schools to be sustainable by 2030

The Scottish Government has launched an education action plan, placing sustainability at its core, with the commitment to ensure that every school and early learning setting will be sustainable by 2030.

The plan, Learning for Sustainability (LfS), features 25 actions, and follows nine months of collaboration with children, young people and their educators.

Actions in the report include developing new LfS related qualifications with programme owners so that achievements and learning on LfS are fully recognised.

It also includes creating a new portal which will act as a one stop shop for learners and educators to share examples of LfS in action and to signpost to relevant resources and professional learning opportunities.

Another action is to establish a LfS Mentor Network for educators to encourage collaborative leadership, provide peer support and share approaches on embedding LfS in the curriculum. There’s also a plan to set up a children and young people LfS Leadership Group to ensure meaningful collaboration with learners throughout the implementation of this refreshed action plan.

Launching the strategy, Scottish Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “Perhaps more ...