Daily roundup 6 March: Apprenticeships, teacher attacks, and child abuse

Just one in five MPs think the apprentice minimum wage of £3.50 an hour is enough to live on, a survey has found. The Young Women's Trust said 22 per cent of MPs think the apprentice minimum wage is enough to live on, with the majority (63 per cent) disagreeing that the apprentice minimum wage is enough to live on.


Secondary school staff are three times more likely to be physically attacked at work than the average UK employee. The BBC reports that statistics from the Labour Force Survey show that over the six year period analysed - 2009/10 to 2015/16 - there was an average of 8,000 attacks every 12 months in schools (primary and secondary) that left staff with physical injuries. The government said violence towards teachers was unacceptable and schools had been given more powers to deal with poor discipline.


Senior figures in the Church of England may have conspired to enable the sexual abuse of children, an inquiry has heard. The BBC reports that a lawyer representing victims suggested the church ignored abuse convictions and allowed records to be burnt. The solicitor, David Greenwood, said victims were "silenced" by the church.


A group of religious leaders, parliamentarians, education experts, and prominent public figures have signed a joint letter calling on the new Education Secretary Damian Hinds to reconsider a proposal to allow fully segregated intakes in new and existing religious free schools. The letter, organised by Humanists UK, states that removing the so-called 50 per cent cap on religious selection betrays the duty of schools to be "open, inclusive, diverse, and integrated".


Academics from the University of Bedfordshire have created online resources and webinars to help schools assess how they deal with incidents of harmful sexual behaviour among students. The resources, designed for senior leadership and designated safeguarding leads, allow secondary schools and further education providers to assess how they are responding to harmful sexual behaviour. This includes a traffic light tool for self-assessment and a series of webinars that explain how to use the tool.