Schools join forces on visit to Parliament

Bath schoolchildren travelled to Westminster to celebrate the power of partnerships between private and state schools.

Independents were the source of controversy at the time of the visit, with Jeremy Hunt refusing to raise VAT on fees in the autumn statement. Labour had proposed to raise £1.7bn by ending tax breaks on independent schools and to recruit more than 6,500 new teachers to state schools.

At the time, Bridget Phillipson, the Labour shadow education secretary, said: “Ending tax breaks for private schools should have been an easy choice for the Chancellor. Yet, once again, he chose to protect the wealthiest, whilst reaching for the pockets of working people.”

Helen Barnard, of poverty charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “Private schools overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy, giving access to powerful jobs and higher wages and widening inequality, so I don’t think giving them tax breaks is an appropriate use of public money.”

However, staff from King Edward’s and Bathwick St Mary Church schools joined ministers, MPS and peers in the Commons to toast partnership projects taking place between state and independent schools across the UK.

The Celebrating Partnerships event, hosted by the All-party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Independent Education, publicised ways in which schools from different sectors work together to create educational opportunities for all pupils and staff involved.

Speakers included Conservative peer and investment banker Baroness Diana Barran of Bathwick, who is serving as parliamentary under secretary of state for the school and college system, Andrew Lewer MP, the Conservative chairman of the APPG, and Barnaby Lenon, chair of the Independent Schools Council lobby group.