Having been a Guardian reading lefty from the age of 15, it had never once crossed my mind to work in an independent school. Walking the South Downs way in 2014, my wife& I walked some of the stretch with teachers from a well-known prep school at the foot of the downs, and I remember clearly rebutting their brags about the holidays and good lunches with the killer line: “Yes, but our students really need good teachers…” There is something of an irony in this: my pride in working in an inclusive, all are welcome, inner-London comprehensive was making me exclude other children. It wasn’t until a few years later, when relocating to the south coast, that a job came up at a local independent school, and I slung in my application to see what would happen. And reader, I got the job!
To be honest, I was initially just glad that I had an income with which to pay the mortgage on my new West Sussex home. Little did I know that this twist of fate would shape my views on education to the extent that, I can say I will never work in state education again. There are so many reasons to love working in the independent sector, and although they are great, the dinners and the holidays don’t even feature at the top of the list.
The biggest change for me as a classroom teacher and Head of Department was the freedom to go ‘off piste’ from the national curriculum. This well-meaning list is of course a great safety net; a superb check list from which to ensure that all students get a broad range of skills and knowledge. However, the constraints of‘ticking the list off’ when working in state became all consuming, and suffocating. Removing these shackles has allowed me to offer engaging and exciting lessons; I can focus on getting the students to love their English lessons, something which really helps if I want to engage them in reading comprehension skills or decoding Chaucer. It allows my lessons to be student-led and encourages their curiosity. It’s no coincidence that, during my three years as Head of Department at that first independent school, my department (and I personally) got some of the best GCSE results in the country. 24% got a grade 9! Although my results had always been strong, I believe that the freedom to put enjoyment at the heart of learning was a key component in this.
There is much research into the cognitive overload and anxieties that can come from constant formative testing,such as KS2 & KS3 SATS, never mind the ‘drilling’ and narrowed curriculum approach to GCSEs. State schools are measured by the results of their students’ best 8 GCSEs (including English and maths), with subjects being ‘named’ as ‘E-bac’ subjects; it’s therefore no wonder that students are taught by rote in order to achieve in these subjects. Nationally, the average number of GCSEs taken in an independent school is 8 – not because this narrows the curriculum, but because students are afforded more choice in how and what they study. The flexibility they offer means that students can choose the subjects they enjoy, and can achieve in, which helps so much with self-esteem.
Whilst on the subject of self-esteem, the holistic approach in the independent sector is by no means rocket science: at Great Ballard we provide a broad range of opportunities for students to lead, to learn the value of achievement through activities such as gardening, running their own businesses or volunteering. We have a mental health lead, vertical‘champions’ groups, academic mentoring, personal fitness and nutrition plans,we spend time looking at future plans and careers. I happen to think we do it better than anyone else, but this is my third independent school, and what has struck me is that,the quality of support for students is so much more personalised than in the state sector. Every child is known, valued and supported. It means our students have a quiet confidence, a sense of belonging and most importantly: our students are overwhelmingly happy to be part of our school. For me, the transition from state to independent schools means I get to support each child, whether it be in lesson or around the school, and for someone who has made a career out of helping children, I’m only sorry I didn’t make the leap sooner.