The independent school world is changing at pace. Hardly a week passes without news of another closure or merger. The narrative is unrelentingly negative: we blame a hostile government, take defensive action and hope it will all work out, without really believing it will. Managed decline.
There is another way. We should look to ourselves and tell a better story. Practically, we must seize the opportunities that come with challenge and be confident about what we can achieve. Fundamentally, we must remind ourselves what charitable independent education has been — and should be — about.
We are assailed by taxation and regulation. Both left and right impose utilitarian frameworks: the right sees education as a driver of economic growth; the left as a tool to mitigate social injustice. Laudable aims — but education is about so much more.
Perhaps we have lost our bearings. Katharine Birbalsingh, pioneer of much that is good at Michaela, is scathing: once innovative leaders, she says, independent schools have become timid followers, chasing trends rather than setting them. She may have a point. If we are to thrive, we must recover our sense of purpose.
That purpose includes social engagement and funded places. Widening access and genuine local involvement matter. But so too does the pursuit of what is best in education: modelling it, standing for principles that endure, and remembering — unashamedly — that education concerns truth, beauty and goodness.
In an age that is defensive or narrowly utilitarian, we must be positive, distinctive and bold
Parents want their children prepared for the digital age. Yet the debate too often focuses on what to ban and what to discard from the curriculum to make space for ‘skills’, in a world we mistakenly claim no longer needs knowledge. Safeguarding and career preparation matter; but they do not inspire.
I recently showed Caravaggio’s ‘The Supper at Emmaus’ to a scholarship candidate and asked what he saw. After a pause, he replied: ‘Two men about to fight, and a woman trying to calm them down.’ Visually, perhaps. But contextually, no. It was not his fault; he simply lacked the relevant knowledge. Knowledge matters. Without it, the world is so much greyer.
Education is also about the formation of character. It requires authentic role models and a culture that cherishes a childhood rich in exploration, friendship and joy. In a world of policies, lanyards, risk aversion and targets, have we forgotten that?
In an age that is defensive or narrowly utilitarian, we must be positive, distinctive and bold. Radley Schools Group has been formed in that spirit — an attempt, we hope, to offer an antidote to the gloom. By sharing expertise and working to a common purpose, our schools can, and should, have wider impact.
Independent schools must find their voice again. Politicians may not listen; but parents will. And the social good — indeed the charitable benefit — will follow. It is time to rediscover our soul.
John Moule
Warden, Radley College
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