September 27th 2019
These are turbulent political times. It will not have escaped parents’ attention that at the Labour party conference in Brighton earlier this week, delegates passed a motion entitled “Labour Against Private Schools”. Included in this motion was the wording “endowments, investments and properties held by private schools to be redistributed democratically and fairly across the country’s educational institutions”. Also endorsed by the Labour Party was a fundamental shift in the tax structure for independent schools which would severely affect the ability of many such schools to operate in the future. To see the full text of the motion passed, please click here.
I am not an overtly political animal, but when an agenda is laid out so clearly that seeks to nationalise the institutions of our sector, it is incumbent on all of us to ensure our voices are heard. Labour seeks to severely restrict your ability as parents to choose the education you desire for your children. As a point of principle, this freedom needs to be resolutely defended.
To help improve educational opportunities for all children, in my view the private sector should be viewed as part of the solution rather than the problem. Simon Henderson, the Headmaster of Eton College (which is under particular fire from Labour) sums this up well in an article published on the Daily Mail online (click here to read the article). Partnerships between the private and state sector should be the way forward so that both sectors can learn and develop off each other. Moulsford has a committee dedicated to fostering links with state primaries. The Chair and several other members of this group have taught at length in the state sector so understand how the two can work for the mutual benefit of each other. At Moulsford we know that we can learn a great deal from the state sector and vice versa.
Only last week Moulsford worked in tandem with one of our charities for this year, The Rivertime Boat Trust, to enable groups of children from four state funded or free schools to experience the river. This is an excellent example of how the two sectors can work closely with each other to give opportunities to children in state education which many would normally find very difficult to access. Our research would suggest that the existence of such regular opportunities through the Moulsford extra-curricular programme is one of the key factors in parents choosing the school (and independent education) for their boys.
Labour’s capacity to enact its agenda remains unclear. However, in the current political climate we should not leave anything to chance. Both I and the chairman of the Governors will be writing to our MP to express our very deep concern at Labour’s plans, and I would urge you as parents to do the same. Please click the following links for two template letters from The Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) which you may wish to use as an initial draft:
Template 1 is to a sitting Labour MP
Template 2 is to an MP from another party
I am currently at the IAPS Heads’ conference, ironically in Westminster and within view of Parliament. This morning we listened to David Davis MP talk about Life beyond Brexit. He took questions and conceded that many of our MPs should be placed in detention for their recent language and behaviour in the Commons.
Some of you may have noticed that the Moulsford website, which showcases all that is excellent about our school, has had an update. Please click here to view the site. As with all website updates, there are occasionally bugs or errors that have been missed. Please let us know if you spot any!
I look forward to seeing many of you at Moulsfest tomorrow.
#MPSHeadsBlog
