Charli D’Amelio hits 100 million followers on TikTok 

  • Charli D’Amelio is the first TikTok creator to hit 100 million followers
  • On TikTok, that makes her more than twice as big as Will Smith, three times as big as The Rock, four times as big as Selena Gomez, and five times as big as Kylie Jenner and Ariana Grande
  • On YouTube, it took 14 years before any channel hit 100 million, but D’Amelio only started posting to TikTok in May 2019, and the app has only been available (under its current branding, at least) since August 2018.
  • It’s a huge milestone for both her and the app, but it also comes at a time when Charli — and her family — are increasingly trying to move beyond TikTok through the launch of a podcast, further expansion into YouTube, the announcement of a book deal, and more

The former head of a school where pupils were sexually abused claims safeguarding came second to good grades

  • The former head of a Weston-super-Mare school, where a teacher abused pupils said his local council prioritised attainment over safeguarding
  • The teacher Nigel Leat, was jailed in 2011 after admitting 36 offences, including attempted rape of a child and sexual assault over five years
  • Ex-head teacher Christopher Hood called Leat a “devious paedophile”
  • The response of Hillside First School is being examined in the Independent Inquiry Child Sexual Abuse hearing (IICSA)
  • Mr Hood, who was head of the school from 2001 to 2011, told the inquiry he felt North Somerset Council focused on school attainment over safeguarding
  • “I don’t remember having conversations with the school adviser on their termly visits or anything other than how well we were doing with the Sats, are children making progress over the year in the class,” he said

Focus-Trust to close schools early for Christmas 

  • A Multi-Academy Trust is closing all of its primary schools a week early for Christmas because of Covid-19 and fears over self-isolation
  • Focus Trust’s 15 schools, based in the north west of England and West Yorkshire, will shut on 11 December
  • The trust said it was trying to “safeguard staff” and “protect precious family time”
  • The Department for Education said it had asked the Trust to review the arrangement
  • It was a challenging time for all schools but closing early was not the answer, it added
  • The Trust said since September 28% of children and 38% of staff had been instructed to self-isolate

Calls for public sexual harassment to be made illegal 

          • Half of young women and girls were harassed on Britain’s streets during the summer, new research has found
          • The survey, by girls’ rights organisations Plan International UK and Our Streets Now showed 51% experienced harassment over the summer, including being catcalled, followed, groped, flashed, and upskirted
          • It also found that a fifth (19%) experienced harassment during the first national lockdown in spring
          • The groups are calling for the public sexual harassment of girls to be made a specific criminal offence, with the launch of a #CrimeNotCompliment campaign
          • “This has become a normal part of being a girl and that is not OK, we have to draw a line in the sand and say we deserve to feel safe and we deserve to be safe in public,” said Maya Tutton, co-founder of Our Streets Now