Why choose an independent school?

The main reasons stated by parents for choosing independent schools include:

• small classes with individual attention
  

• high standards of education and examination results
  

• good discipline
  

• encouragement of a responsible attitude to school work
  

• development of social responsibility, and
  

• extracurricular activities, sport, music, drama, etc.

  
  Advantages
  
  

• They offer diversity – boarding and day, co-educational and single-sex, choice of location, differing ethos and philosophy.
  

• Independent schools are accountable to parents. If parents do not think their children are being educated properly they will take them away and send them elsewhere. Because of this, independent schools have to have very high standards and most are equipped with the most up-to-date facilities available.
  

• More formal teaching with greater emphasis on homework.
  

• Most have smaller classes than state schools, and the staff have the time to give pupils individual attention.
  

• Better facilities.
  

• Independent schools pride themselves on being able to develop the full potential of each student, whatever their ability or aptitude.
  

• Broader range of extracurricular activities.
  

• More opportunities for languages and sport, music and drama.

  
  Recent surveys of parental attitudes revealed
  
  

• They rated the moral aspects of schooling and inculcation of values as higher priorities than concentration on exam results and league table success.
  

• Among the qualities of a school that parents felt were essential or very important were that it: encourages pupils to respect each other; pays close attention to individual pupils’ well-being; insists on good manners; adapts teaching methods to the needs of each child; and encourages independent thinking.
  

• They particularly valued the emphasis on small classes and individual care. Classes in many independent schools are smaller than in other types of school, particularly for the younger age groups between 5 and 13. This is when children are especially keen to learn, the foundations of a good education can be laid, and mistakes and learning difficulties are recognised and put right.

  
  There are two main issues which parents should feel confident about
  
  
  Academic
  
  First, academic where:

• 83% of 15 year olds at independent schools (including independent special schools) gain five or more GCSEs at grades *A–C (compared with 49% of maintained school pupils)
  

• independent school candidates achieve, on average, 350 UCAS points at A-level (roughly equivalent to A-level grades ABC plus an additional B grade at AS-level), compared with a state school average of 263 points
  

• nine out of ten independent school A-level leavers go on to higher-education degree courses; independent schools educate 7% of the total school population, but 20% of school sixth-formers. In addition, 19% of new university students coming from schools or sixthform colleges have been educated in them.

  
  

  Extracurricular activities
  
  Second, extracurricular activities, where independent schools aim to develop the whole personality by:
  

• the imaginative, practical and physical, as well as the academic
  

• fostering and developing music, art and drama
  

• encouraging team games as well as individual sports and indoor games and hobbies.

  
  Also remember that, in order to survive, independent schools have to satisfy parents that they are good value for money. Parents should value what they pay for and be keen to encourage their children to do well.

  
  A summary
  
  The case for the independents

• They enjoy freedom and prevent a state monopoly.
  
• They offer genuine choice, so ensuring the rights of parents.
  
• They encourage academic excellence, statistics in Science, maths, Languages, and reputation for innovations.
  
• They encourage facilities for gifted children – music, choir.
  
• They offer boarding-extra time; there is though State boarding.
  
• Many are religious Foundations – Methodist, Catholic, Quaker, Jewish.
  
• Their average sizes are much smaller.
  
• They still offer Single-sex education – Maintained schools have largely removed the choice of single-sex schools.
  
• Finance – they save the Maintained Sector the cost of educating over 0.5 Million in ISC Schools; earnings from overseas students help.

CHOOSING AN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL IS A VERY PERSONAL PROCESS
– Mark Filler one of the ISC information and advice services’ Regional Advisors outlines what you now need to consider.

If you want to do well at school, it has been said that you must chose your parents and your postcode very carefully. As the parent of three children, I know that choosing the right school for each child can be very difficult. This can be an even more daunting task when considering the independent sector given the range of choice. But, as I well know after a long career in the Army, for Service parents two of the most difficult decisions are whether or not to go down the boarding school route and if you do, then when is the best time to start. Of course I can’t give you the answers to all of this but I can tell you how it might be helpful to approach these issues.


Some parents will have their own experience of boarding school and that may or may not be a help, others may be completely closed to the idea. Don’t dismiss the boarding option just because it is unfamiliar or because you might have an image fixed in your mind of spartan and windswept orphanages, where children are sent away to spend their formative years being taught Latin by ancient and befuddled masters somehow held together by chalk dust and leather patches - it really isn’t like that now!


Far from being ‘sent away’, research shows that for the vast majority, the decision to board is a joint one between the parents and child. Of course not every child is suited to boarding but if they are then boarding schools do very well indeed by their pupils.
A good boarding school is a unique hybrid: somewhere between an educational community, a small independent nation and a large extended family. They offer stimulation and security, friendship and independence and a very efficient use of time. Children have the opportunity to develop in their own space and begin to gain their independence in a structured environment. They broaden their horizons and learn to live with and be tolerant of their fellow human beings, many of whom come from very different backgrounds and different parts of the country. They have quality time to spend with their peers and time to take advantage of the huge range of activities a boarding school can offer. Most importantly, boarding schools can do all these things without damaging the essential and vital certainty that children need – the sense that they belong, most truly and wholeheartedly, to their own family.


As for the timing issue, it must be what best suits the child and family circumstances. A prep school start might be the right choice but equally your child may not be ready or an overseas posting might be coming up which could be a tremendous experience for the whole family. Perhaps you are concerned with your child’s progress and are worried about getting a place at a senior school and in this case, if you have one or two schools in mind it can be helpful to chat things through with them. Above all, however, don’t feel pressurized into starting early, it could be right but it may not be necessary.


So how do you choose a school? Well you could go on the recommendations of friends but remember that they will have chosen the schools because they suited their particular children and schools, just as children, are all very different. A good starting point is the Independent Schools Council website (www.isc.co.uk) where you can conduct some initial research and look at locations and types of school as well as access such things as inspection reports. Once you have identified a few possibilities, and always try to consider at least two or three, then contact the schools for a copy of their prospectuses. My advice is don’t dismiss any of them at this stage and go and have a look at them all if you can. Visits are absolutely essential and are likely to be the single most influential part of the process of choosing a school. Open Days are a good way to start since everything is on show but they can be a bit stage managed and might not give you a true feel for a school. A personal visit on a normal school day can tell you a lot more and you should then have the chance to have a good chat to the Head so think about what you really want from a school and ask the questions that are important to you. During the visit always try and see beyond the gloss and the facilities and look at the heartbeat of the school - the pupils; the glint in the eye, the confident spirit and sound of laughter are all good indicators. How do the staff respond to you, do they greet you warmly or keep their heads down and rush on by?


Choosing a school is a very personal process so don’t just rely on inspection reports to guide you. They may well be a few years old and much could have happened since then but the key is how has the school responded and developed. Nevertheless, reports can provide good ammunition for some questions when you go on your visits. Equally, don’t pour over the minutiae of percentage points in league tables when making your judgements. Of course these statistics have their place but offer only very narrow snapshots and take no account of a whole range of variables such as selection, ability range and examination policy. They tell you nothing of the real character and ethos of a school that is so important in challenging and inspiring children to reach their true potential, whatever their ability. Look for a school that has originality and energy and above all don’t be afraid to follow your gut instinct – if a school just feels right then you have probably found the right one for your child.


If you need any help do use the Independent Schools Council free information and advice service and get in touch with one of the Regional Advisors on 0845 SCHOOLS (7246657) or email me at mark.filler@isc.co.uk, particularly if you are looking for schools in the east of England. The Regional Advisors will know the schools in their areas and can give you impartial advice and help you narrow down the choice.

Mark Filler was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead and Loughborough University. He was commissioned into the Army from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1977 and served in the UK and overseas in a variety of units and posts culminating in his appointment as Director of Education and Training Services. He was appointed a CBE in the 2006 New Year's Honours List. In 2005 he became a Regional Director of the Schools' Information Service, and joined the ISC information & advice service (ISCias) as Regional Advisor, East in January 2008. His three children were boarders at an independent school in Wiltshire

FORMER PUPIL, FORMER PARENT PROVIDES A SPORTING PERSPECTIVE
– Captain Graham Robinson, Secretary of the Combined Services Sports Board

Having played a lot of sport at school, with mixed success, physical recreation was already an important factor in my life when I joined the Royal Navy. It became more so and as well as participating myself in as many sporting activities as I could, I also gained a great deal of satisfaction of encouraging others to play and watching them do so.


I have been fortunate that the last 14 years of my working life have been entirely dedicated to the encouragement and promotion of sport. Good fun, yes but sport has an important role to play in the operational effectiveness of the Services as well as being a major contributor to morale. The development of personal qualities such as fitness, leadership, coordination, selfconfidence, self-awareness, determination, resilience, team work, esprit de corps and camaraderie are among the many benefits that sport has to bring to the Services. This is why ‘time for sport’ is an important factor in the life of successful units notwithstanding the operational pressures on today’s Armed Forces.


As Commander of the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth I was able to see at first hand that those who had had started to develop those qualities while at school were much more easily able to adapt to the necessary changes in their lifestyle as they embarked on their chosen careers. In watching their careers since, I have not been surprised to see most of them continuing to flourish. Of course, such personal qualities have wider application than contributing to the operational effectiveness of the Armed Forces. In this increasingly competitive world, no one really needs telling they are becoming more and more important in almost any walk of life.


As part of my current role, I find myself as a member of the General Council of the Central Council of Physical Recreation which brings together as ‘one voice’ the National Governing Bodies of Sport and the many organisations responsible for the organisation and development of sport and recreation within the UK. Within this forum I hear discussion of the struggles with which these organisations and individuals have to cope in order to provide the time and facilities for sport and recreation for the UK population as a whole but the young in particular. I am thus keenly reminded of the huge advantage I had in my life in having gone to boarding schools from the age of 11 rather than staying at day school. It was the very best decision my parents ever made! Not for me having to waste time and energy travelling twice a day. Instead, for me easy access to all the schools’ excellent facilities, the opportunity to learn independence, tolerance, self-sufficiency and self-discipline in addition to the chance to acquire all benefits of sport mentioned above. Finding out about other people and learning to live and work with them was another advantage that I learnt to value as time went on. Furthermore to have been given opportunities to take on
responsibilities, within clear boundaries, as part of the schools’ sports structure as a team captain, team secretary and competition organiser and other nonsporting posts was a real bonus for later life.


Thus when it came to chose the type of education of our 2 sons, my wife and I were heavily swayed by the opportunities that boarding had to offer compared with day school. And that was before we took into
account the disruption that might be caused by the 2-yearly changes in my Service appointment. We opted for the boarding option and while our younger son started slightly earlier than we and he (aged just 8) would have liked, in hindsight we would have made the same decision.

Captain Graham Robinson served nearly 35 years in the Royal Navy having been educated at Lancing College. His varied career as an above water warfare specialist included 2 ship commands, 4 MOD appointments and 3 years as Commander of the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. His last appointment in the Royal Navy was as the Director of Naval PT and Sport. Since retiring from the RN, he has been Secretary of the Combined Services Sports Board and as such responsible for developing and coordinating sports policy across all 3 Services for the MOD.