Attending the HMC and IDPE Bursaries and Partnerships Conference recently, I was heartened to join like-minded professionals to discuss the independent sector’s commitment to improving educational opportunities across the UK.
It is imperative that we don’t lose momentum on the progress we have made as a sector in this work during the past decade, a fact that Dr Joseph Spence, Master of Dulwich College, stated so eloquently in the event’s opening plenary.
“We must not lose momentum on the progress we have made.”
As Dr Spence so rightly said, regardless of the political and economic challenge ahead, now is not the time for retrenchment in partnership and bursary work. And while that work may need to plateau, it must not be allowed to retreat, because its impact – at a local level and upon wider society – is essential.
Increasing levels of child poverty and deprivation, the impact of the pandemic, significant state school budget deficits – all have contributed to the educational attainment gap that continues to widen across the country. It must be comprehensively addressed by the next government if that gap is to be reduced.
When coupled with the glaring lack of continuity of governmental leadership for the sector (nine secretaries of state during the past decade, five alone in the past 18 months), it is clear that there is much for the incoming government to address.
“Bursary and partnership programmes are a fundamental remedy for those ills.”
Yet whatever revenues the imposition of VAT may raise – and all realistic assumptions reveal that total to be far less than Labour’s claims would suggest – it is foolhardy to believe that that money alone will be sufficient to repair, or even mitigate, that gap.
Bursary and partnership programmes are – and can continue to be – a fundamental remedy for those ills.
As Pete Kirkbride so rightly stated in that same opening plenary: “no school can be outstanding if the school down the road is failing”. Social mobility benefits us all, and throughout the day there was a clear focus on how schools of all stripes must be embedded in their communities if we are all to succeed.
The impact of the likely imposition of VAT onto independent school fees was, of course, a topic to which discussions returned throughout the conference. The breakout session, led by Crowe, that addressed how to approach planning for that likely legislative change was standing room only. The practical advice and considerations it provided were both timely and useful for all who had gathered.
“The session that addressed how to approach planning for VAT on fees was standing room only.”
Other sessions focused upon the detail of how to initiate bursary and partnership work, and how to do more and do better with less funding than previously available.
I had the extraordinary privilege of chairing the final session of the conference, where we heard from Iman, Jeevan and Holly, three fantastic young alumni of the types of bursary and partnership projects we had spent the day discussing.
I know that Iman, Jeevan and Holly’s honesty, wisdom and confidence will have been an inspiration to everyone gathered at the conference – they certainly inspired me. Their articulate and thoughtful reflections on their experiences, were humbling.
As I noted in my closing remarks at that final session, “talent is everywhere, opportunity is not”. Despite the challenges ahead for us as a sector, we must continue to focus our efforts in order to enable bright, talented young people – like the wonderful trio I spoke with on stage – to achieve their ambitions and realise their potential.
“Independent schools are not the cause of the problems afflicting the education sector.”
We must continue to have faith in the fundamental role our sector can play in improving the educational landscape nationally, and we must not be deterred by the ongoing, disheartening public debate in which our schools’ intentions and the motivations of our communities are so mischaracterised.
Independent schools are not the cause of the problems afflicting the education sector, but they can play a key role in their resolution. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with colleagues across the country to achieve that goal.