Shami sent son to £18,000 prep school
SHAMI CHAKRABARTI was embroiled in a new education row last night after it emerged that her son attended an £18,000-a-year prep school before moving to a top private secondary.
The boy, now aged 13, was a pupil at Newton Preparatory School in Battersea, South London, before making the switch to Dulwich College, one of Britain’s most prestigious public schools, where he is currently a student. Newton Prep is selective and targets bright pupils. Children are given short interviews with a teacher, who look for ‘early indications of ability and potential’.
The school has its own ‘pupil parliament’, offers rugby, tennis and cricket lessons, and students enjoy lunch with ingredients such as gnocchi, pesto and parmesan, followed by orange sorbet. Although it is just 100 yards from a state primary, St Mary’s – where half the children receive free school meals – the two schools are a world apart.
The disclosure that her son went to a prep school – usually the preserve of the wealthy elite – is likely to lead to further pressure on Labour frontbencher Ms Chakrabarti, the party’s Shadow Attorney General. She has been accused of hypocrisy for opposing Tory plans to build more grammar schools, while paying for her son to attend selective schools from an early age.
Asked why Ms Chakrabarti had sent her son to a fee-paying prep school, Labour sources suggested the decision had been taken by her former husband, lawyer Martin Hopper. The couple separated two years ago.