NO ONE WANTS THE NUCLEAR OPTION
I If the PM g gets it wrong pupils will be worse off
THE next few weeks are crunch time for everyone who cares about giving children a good education. After months of negotiation, the Prime Minister is expected to detail how she plans to improve England’s schools. If she gets it right, more children from all walks of life will reach their potential and teachers from all sorts of schools will work together more effectively.
However, if she gets it wrong, pupils could end up worse off.
That’s why we – as nearly 29,000 leaders of state and independent schools – appeal to Mrs May to tread carefully. We ask her to listen to those who run some of the UK’s most successful schools, and make decisions based on evidence, not instinct.
Why are we worried? Because some proposals in last year’s Green Paper, called Schools That Work For Everyone, will work for no one. For example, the Government expects the (ill-defined) ‘biggest and most successful’ independent schools to set up and run new state schools. The independent school would be responsible for the success of the state school, and what’s more, the Department for Education would impose ‘exacting requirements’, including insisting the school is good or outstanding within a set timeframe. This is misguided and patronising.
Running state schools is not the job of the independent sector. They don’t pretend to know better than state school colleagues how to run schools in disadvantaged areas, and certainly don’t feel they can tell state school leaders how to do their job. Our state schools don’t want takeovers – but they can certainly see how joint working can help their pupils.
If the independent schools refuse to play ball, the Government suggests it will punish them financially. Most independent schools are charities, runs the logic, so we can take away their tax breaks.
This might sound attractive but it ignores the facts. Independent schools gain about £150million from charitable status but they give much more back, including £350million in scholarships and fee assistance. Some independent schools are already co-running state schools, most famously Eton College (Holyport) and Westminster School (Harris Academy). Those projects have been successful for specific reasons and cannot be held up as a blueprint for the future.
As school leaders, we know what works for pupils. And forcing independent schools to run, rather than help, state schools in deprived areas just won’t work. Let’s not forget, independent schools are supposed to be independent of government. If the Prime Minister tells them to do as they are told or lose financial benefits, many will walk away.
This isn’t petulance – it goes much deeper. Being free from Government interference, they argue, is why they fund themselves through fees and why they have been able to excel. It is this independence, under the regulation of the Charity Commission, which creates the ethos that the Government wants state schools to copy. No one wants the nuclear option.
Independent schools would no longer be able to afford the additional work they already do with state schools. State school pupils will lose much of the free specialist teaching, sports coaching and university entrance advice they currently receive.
There is still good reason to be optimistic. There is genuine willingness among independent schools to do more to assist pupils in state schools through partnerships. Mrs May is knocking at an open door in her request for help with better school places. Let’s hope she doesn’t accidentally shut that door in the faces of those who need help most.
Mike Buchanan is chairman of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, and Russell Hobby is General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers.