The country鈥檚 leading independent schools should not be 鈥減laced on the naughty step鈥 by the Government and should instead have 鈥減laudits鈥 for their contribution to education, the chair of the HMC group of leading independent school heads has said.
In a heartfelt speech to the HMC’s autumn conference this week, Philip Britton said that independent schools were 鈥減art of the solution, not the problem鈥 and were not the reason that Britain is 鈥apparently elitist鈥.
Mr Britton, who is head of foundation at , criticised Labour鈥檚 approach to private schools and the new policy of charging VAT on fees, saying that ministers’ reasoning for the move was 鈥渘ot a rational argument鈥.
He told the gathering of school leaders: 鈥淥bviously, we are part of the solution, not the problem, and we will continue to use that language because it is an unequivocal truth. We really are not the reason that Britain is apparently elitist. And to imagine that we are, to use us a proxy for privilege is potentially to ignore the reasons why that is so, and that is not good for the UK.鈥
He added later: 鈥淚t is time for us to have the plaudits for doing what we do, rather than to be placed on the naughty step for somehow being characterized as the root cause of difficulties in society.鈥
Mr Britton made the comments against a backdrop of a number of statements from Labour politicians, last October where education secretary Bridget Phillipson said that “state schools need teachers more than private schools need embossed stationery”.
Mr Britton told heads that schools must now hold the Government to account on the policy, and make the case against in an 鈥渁political way鈥.
鈥淲e can make all of this discussion personal and always bring it back to people and children, because that is vital,鈥 he said.
鈥淪o whenever you have the opportunity to speak, to write, to put a point of view, make it personal…It is about children. Schools are for children, and where have they been in the narrative of the last 12 months?鈥
As well as calling on heads to act, he also called on the Government to understand the independent sector better.
He said: 鈥淚f I have a request from this conference speech to our political leaders, it is simply this. Please just get to know us because you really don’t know us. And you really must. Because it is unacceptable not to understand the schools where 7 per cent of the people you are responsible for are educated. It is really not good enough to turn away. Let us do all we can to make that happen.鈥
Mr Britton also expressed his doubts that the VAT policy would have any positive impact in the state sector: 鈥淲e know with a degree of disquiet and disappointment for our state school colleagues that there will never be 6,500 more teachers recruited,鈥 he said, 鈥淭here is a great deal of pain for some pupils and there is very little gain.鈥
He also stressed that schools had to decide what story they wanted to tell about the sector.
鈥淲hat is our story? What is the narrative?鈥 he said. 鈥淲hat do we wish to say that is new and compelling and might have cut through about why our schools are an important part of the educational landscape of this country, for the good of this country, the financial health of this country, and for the moral bedrock of this country?鈥
The conference at the Celtic Manor resort in South Wales featured , including a video address from the actor Sir Ian McKellen, a former student at Bolton School.
