Daily summary of the latest news and opinions from the world of independent education brought to you by Education Advisers...  

Private schools should admit up to five vulnerable children in care to avoid losing their tax breaks, a children’s minister has said.

Nadhim Zahawi, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Education, wants to expand the Boarding Schools Partnership – which offers places to children who are in the care of local authorities – to 1,000 private schools.

Mr Zahawi said he wanted the country’s “very strong independent school sector to feel they are with us on this journey to help the most vulnerable kids in our society”.

He said: “My message [to public schools] is you can do something really great by helping me with these kids who are clearly vulnerable, who have been traumatised.

“Come and help me do this – because imagine a world where you are knitted into the fabric of society – doing some really great work for the schools themselves.

And he said that if private schools failed to act, they risked losing their tax breaks if Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party took power.

Most public schools are currently exempt from paying taxes, such as VAT and business rates.

Labour has said that it would provide free school meals for primary school children by introducing VAT on private school fees if the party wins the next election.

Read more at: https://www.tes.com/news/private-schools-take-pupils-care-or-risk-tax

GB athlete and Woldingham School pupil strides to top marks

GB athlete Charlotte Alexander, a pupil at Woldingham School for girls in Surrey, has achieved an outstanding nine GCSEs at the very highest grades of 9/A*.

She juggles her academic studies with a rigorous training programme and represented Great Britain at the European Athletics Under 18 Championships in Hungary, shortly after finishing her GCSE exams.

Among Charlotte’s other sporting achievements this year were winning silver in the English Schools 3,000m and becoming the U17 National 3,000m Champion.

In 2017 Charlotte won the U15 girls’ Mini London Marathon, breaking the course record by five seconds with a time of 16 minutes, 23 seconds. Previous winners of the Mini Marathon have included double London 2012 Olympic gold medallist, Mo Farah.

Read more at: https://ie-today.co.uk/Article/gb-athlete-and-woldingham-school-pupil-strides-to-top-marks