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Several schemes supporting independent-state school partnerships have been ended by successive governments. Should our schools be obliged to sponsor academies/free schools? Dr Helen Wright argues that the sector should decide

The issue of academy sponsorship has become something of a hot potato over the past few months, with repeated messages from the Government about the desirability of independent schools taking an involvement in the state sector. At best, these messages have appealed to the shared responsibility we all have to improve the quality of education for our young people in society (Dr Elizabeth Sidwell, the Schools’ Commissioner, speaks convincingly about the need to rescue a generation of young children in primaries in special measures). At worst, though, the tone has been hectoring, even vaguely menacing, and risks alienating the people the Government needs to ensure a top-quality education for all.

One of the major objections that heads have to the push to sponsoring academies is that it ignores – and appears to undervalue entirely – the wealth of extremely positive partnerships that have grown up over the past several years, precisely because independent school heads have felt it was important to develop lasting relationships that have a positive educational benefit for the communities beyond their schools.

Long gone
For a time, these partnerships were recognised with structures – Independent-State School Partnerships – and a funding framework that supported them; now, of course, this funding has been withdrawn. It is to the credit of many independent schools that they continue to fund such partnerships: is it any surprise, however, that they feel more than a little jaded that yet another initiative designed to help bring independent and state schools closer together has been shelved?

And this is the crux of the matter. Memories are long and deep in education, and heads have become cautious about embracing wholeheartedly any Government initiative which may not outlast the next election, and yet which has a major impact on the lives of young people. The removal of the Assisted Places scheme, for example, still angers many heads, who know what an enormous benefit it proved to be for the young people it helped.

Take care
Change in education, if it is to be effective, needs careful reflection and embedding, and schools do not want to find themselves left high and dry if the political wind changes and something other than academy and free school sponsorship becomes the flavour of the month. After all, it is only until very recently that the focus was on bursary support and financial aid.

What about the parents?
And then, too, we must consider the parents of students in our schools, who work extraordinarily hard to be able to afford an education for their children, and who make incredible sacrifices. We have to be very careful that we do not divert our attention in schools to such an extent that we fail to provide the education that they have striven to support for their children, in the best tradition of self-sufficiency and hard work.

All educators have an imperative to reach out beyond the bounds of their own schools to help educate the wider society: I certainly came into education to do this; but the important element of any relationship, however, is that it must be mutually beneficial. Without this element, it is not sustainable or morally right.

Our duty
The more closely bonded independent schools are with the state, the more at risk they are of the whims of Government, and this is not a morally defensible position to be in. State education is often a casualty of our political system, with wholesale changes occurring because of the whims of the electorate every few years; we have a duty in the independent sector to be the guardians of an educational tradition that is recognised as being among the best in the world. For some, this will involve sponsoring academies or setting up free schools, and – provided that they have a long-term, sustainable plan – then I have no doubt that they will make it a success. Of equal importance, however, are the existing partnerships we have built up over the years and continue to grow. Let us not undervalue them.

Dr Helen Wright is headteacher of St Mary’s, Calne.

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