 |
Independent schools in England
|
|
|
|
The Independent Schools Council (ISC), through seven affiliated organizations, represents 1,289 schools that together educate over 80% of the pupils in the UK independent sector. Those schools in England which are members of the affiliated organizations of the ISC are inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate under a framework agreed between ISC, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). Independent Schools not affiliated to the ISC in England and Independent schools accredited to the ISC in Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland are inspected through the national inspectorates in each country.
Independent schools in Scotland
Independent schools in Scotland educate about 31,000 children. Although many of the Scottish independent schools are members of the ISC they are also represented by the Scottish Independent Schools Council, which is the body recognised by the Scottish Parliament as the body representing independent schools in Scotland. Unlike England all Scottish independent schools are subject to the same regime of inspections by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education as local authority schools and they have to register with the Education and Lifelong Learning Directorate. [ [http://www.scis.org.uk/genInfo/genInfo_independent.html SISC Frequently asked questions] ]
The large independent schools in Scotland include Loretto School, Strathallan School, Glenalmond College, Merchiston Castle School, Gordonstoun and Fettes College.
See List of independent schools in Scotland for a full list, by county, by cost and by academic results.
Historically, in Scotland, it was common for children destined for independent schools (usually sons of the upper classes) to receive their primary education at a local school. This arose because of Scotland's long tradition of public education, which was spearheaded by the Church of Scotland from the seventeenth century, long before such education was common in England. Independent prep schools only became more widespread in Scotland from the late 19th century (usually attached to an existing secondary independent school, though exceptions such as Cargilfield Preparatory School do exist), though they are still much less prevalent than in England. They are, however, currently gaining in numbers.Fact|date=November 2007
Speir's school near Beith in North Ayrshire was set up as an independent school and existed as such from 1888 to 1937 when it became a part of the local education authority. The school eventually closed in 1972 when a number of local schools were combined to become Garnock Academy, built on a new site in Kilbirnie.
Election and conditions
Independent schools are entirely free to select their own pupils, subject only to the general legislation against various forms of discrimination. Some are more or less formally confined to a particular religion, or may require all pupils to attend services regardless of their personal religion. Nowadays most schools pay little regard to family connections, apart from siblings currently at the school. Although credit may be given for musical or sporting promise, the principal forms of selection are academic and financial.
|
|
|
Only a minority of parents can afford school fees averaging over £19,000 per annum for boarding pupils and £9,000 for day pupils, with unpredictable extra costs for uniform, equipment and facilities. Some parents make immense sacrifices to send their children to these schools.Means-tested bursaries to assist the education of the less well-off, a mission which may form the historic basis of the school, are usually awarded by a process which combines academic and other criteria.
Facilities for dyslexia or for gifted children are common, and other special needs may be accommodated. However some independent schools are highly selective on academic grounds, using the competitive Common Entrance examinations at ages 11-13. Scholarships are offered to attract brighter pupils, sometimes approaching the GCSE standard intended for age 16. Poorly performing pupils may be required to leave, and following GCSE results are replaced in the sixth form by a new tranche of high-performing pupils, which may distort apparent results.
Independent schools, as compared with maintained schools, are generally characterised by more individual teaching; much better pupil-teacher ratios at around 9:1. [ http://www.isc.co.uk/FactsFigures_TeachingStaffTeacherPupilRatio.htm ISC ] ]; longer teaching hours (sometimes including Saturday morning teaching) and homework, though shorter terms; more time for organised sports and extra-curricular activities; more emphasis on traditional academic subjects such as maths, classics and modern languages; a broader view of education than that prescribed by the national curriculum, to which state school education is in practice limited; more emphasis on achievement, whether academic, sporting, musical, dramatic, artistic, or otherwise; and historical buildings and school traditions. Pastoral care is regarded as important, and the manners and morals learnt, and schoolfriends made, naturally reflect the social classes from which wealthier parents are drawn. Even allowing for the selected pupils, educational achievement is excellent. Independent school pupils are four times more likely to attain an A* at GCSE than their state sector counterparts and twice as likely to attain an A grade at A level. Accordingly a totally disproporionate number go to university; however studies have shown a significant deterioration in the performance of independent school students at university, compared to state educated students who have overcome their clear disadvantage. [ http://www.isc.co.uk/FactsFigures_GCSEResults.htm ISC ] ]. Universities assessing academic potential should therefore show preference for state school applicants with comparable A-level results, and are encouraged to do so by government funding.
Independent schools do not have to follow the national curriculum, so a wider range of subjects is available for study. Even in day schools, school hours are substantially longer than at state schools, so allowing a broader or deeper education. Some schools specialise in particular strengths, whether academic, vocational or artistic, and most diversify into sporting, musical, dramatic and art facilities, often with the benefit of generations of past investment.
|
|
|
Independent schools are able to set their own discipline regime, with much greater freedom to exclude children, primarily exercised in the wider interests of the school: the most usual causes being drug-taking, whether at school or away, or an open rejection of the school's values, such as dishonesty or violence.
In England and Wales there are no requirements for teaching staff to have Qualified Teacher Status or to be registered with the General Teaching Council; but as independent schools must necessarily offer better facilities and smaller classes, often easier pupils, and better pay, they generally attract and require a higher standard of teachers. In Scotland a teaching qualification and registration with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) is mandatory for all teaching positions.
Preparatory schools
In England and Wales a preparatory school, or prep school in current usage, is an independent school designed to prepare a pupil for fee-paying, secondary independent school. The age range is normally eight to eleven or thirteen, although it may include younger pupils as well. An independent school which only caters for under eights is a "pre-prep" and the junior departments of prep schools which cover the first years of schooling are also called "pre-preps". [ [http://www.iaps.org.uk/index1.php IAPS] [http://www.iaps.org.uk/whatisaprep.php What is a prep school?] ]
The Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools(IAPS) is the prep schools heads association serving the top 500+ independent prep schools in the UK and Worldwide. IAPS is one of seven affiliated associations of the Independent Schools Council. [ [http://www.iaps.org.uk/index1.php What is IAPS] ]
There are 130,000 pupils in over 500 schools of all types and sizes. Prep schools may be for boys or girls only, or may be co-educational. They may be day schools, boarding schools, weekly boarding, flexi-boarding, or a combination. They fall into the following general categories: [ What is a prep school and IAPS: ]
* Wholly independent prep schools, both charitable and proprietary
* Junior schools linked to senior schools
* Choir schools, which educate child choristers of cathedrals and some other large religious institutions; they all accept non-chorister pupils with the exception of Westminster Abbey Choir School; these schools are usually affiliated to Anglican churches, but may occasionally be associated with Catholic ones such as Westminster Cathedral
* Schools offering special educational provision or facilities
* Schools with particular religious affiliations
Public schools
'Public school' is a label sometimes applied to leading fee-charging independent schools in England and Wales which are members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. In Scotland and Ireland it is not commonly used in this sense for schools in those countries (and indeed in Scotland and Northern Ireland the phrase has long been an alternative name for council schools in the state sector). A public school (in the independent sense) usually teaches children from the ages of 11 or 13 (the latter being the traditional age at which boys moved from prep school to public school, although many now move at 11) to 18, and was traditionally a single-sex boarding school, although most now accept day pupils and are coeducational. The majority date back to the 18th or 19th centuries, but several are over 600 years old. Nine old-established schools were regulated by the Public Schools Act 1868. Today nearly all such schools, no matter what their history, tend formally to call themselves "independent schools". It is suggested that the term originally referred to a distinction between public institutions open to anybody who paid the fees and education provided by private tutors. The earliest known reference to a "public school" dates from 1364 when the Bishop of Winchester wrote concerning "the public school" at Kingston, which was then part of the diocese of Winchester. [ [http://www.kingston.gov.uk/leisure/museum/heritage_trail/citizenship_in_kingston/education_archives.htm Education in History] website of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames ]
|
|
|
This English usage of the word "public" contrasts with the expectations of many English speakers from around the world. Outside the British Isles people usually refer to fee-paying schools as private schools or independent schools; many would assume that the word "public" should imply public financial support. Indeed, in many countries "public school" is the commonplace name for any government-maintained school where instruction is provided free of charge and attendance may be compulsory up to certain age. In England such a maintained school would commonly be called a state school, a local authority school, or a foundation or community school.Usage in Scotland has its own particular nuances: as in England nowadays, there is a tendency to avoid the phrase "public school" altogether, and to speak of "state schools" or "council schools" on the one hand and "private" or "independent schools" on the other. However, contrary to practice in England, the phrase "public school" is used in official documents (and still sometimes colloquially) to refer to Scottish state-funded schools. When the term is applied informally to independent schools located in Scotland some interpret the usage as an Anglicism or a parody of English usage.
The English usage dates to an era before the development of widespread national state-sponsored education in England and Wales, although Scotland had early universal provision of education through the Church of Scotland dating from the mid 16th century, and the system of education in Scotland remains separate and different from the system covering England and Wales. Some schools (often called "grammar schools") were sponsored by towns or villages or by guilds, others by cathedrals for their choir. "Private schools" were owned and operated by their headmasters, for their own profit or loss, and often in their own houses. "Public schools" often drew students from across the country to board; in the 19th century golden era of public schools, boys from upper-class families typically began their education with home tutoring or as a day student at a local private school (what would today be called a preparatory school), and then went off to board at a public school once old enough.
The term in England can be traced to the Middle Ages, an era when most education was accomplished by tutoring or monasteries. In later centuries, the landed classes educated their boys at home, with visiting resident tutors, or with the local clergyman -- that is, privately, away from the hurly-burly of the towns. In the 19th century, it became the fashion to send boys to mix with their contemporaries, that is, to be educated publicly. Public schools were independent charities that started by often offering free education. As time passed, such schools expanded greatly in size to include many fee-paying students alongside a few charitable scholars, until they acquired their upper-class connotations. By the late 19th century, public schools were characterized not so much by the way the schools were governed or the students educated as by a very specific ethos of student life often celebrated or parodied in the novels of the day, the best-known of which is probably "Tom Brown's Schooldays".
|
|
|
Differing definitions
The head teachers of major British independent boys' and mixed schools belong to the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), and a common but disputed definition of a public school is any school whose head teacher is a member of the HMC. [ London based national newspapers and broadcasting media tend to use the terms private, public, and independent, interchangeably, quite often in the same article, but they usually quote membership of the HMC a criteria. Some examples:
*Rebecca Smithers " [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,805920,00.html A-level student sues for £100,000 over 'grade fixing'] ", The Guardian 7 October, 2002.
*Jenny Booth " [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/10/13/nhead13.xml Red tape drove me out, says Downside's head] ", The Daily Telegraph 13 October, 2002.
*David Millward " [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F02%2F19%2Fnuniv19.xml University eases entry rules to lure state pupils] ", The Daily Telegraph 19 February, 2003.
*Glen Owen " [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-662980,00.html Public schools switch scholarship funds from the rich to the poor] ", in The Times 29 April, 2003.
*Staff, " [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3859425.stm Head attacks elite public schools] ", BBC 2 July, 2004.
*Tony Halpin " [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1806067,00.html Public schools plead to be let off fines over fee-fixing] ", The Times 1 October, 2005 "The Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference of leading public schools is due to hold its annual conference next week. " ] It is debatable as to whether any girls' school can be considered to be a public school. Public schools are often categorised as either "major" or "minor" public schools, but there are no official criteria and the inclusion of a school in one or the other group is purely subjective (although a select few would be included in any list of "major" schools). Thus, in E W Hornung's book "Raffles Further Adventures" (1901), the following exchange takes place: "'Varsity man?" "No." "Public school?" "Yes." "Which one?" I told him, and he sighed relief. "At last! You're the very first I've not had to argue with as to what is and what is not a public school."A similar exchange takes place in "Murder must Advertise" by Dorothy L. Sayers:'"What' would you call a public school, then?" "Eton...and Harrow" "Rugby?" "No no, that's a railway junction!"'
Prior to the Clarendon Commission, a Royal Commission that investigated the public school system in England between 1861 and 1864, there was no clear definition of a public school. The commission investigated nine of the more established schools: two day schools (Merchant Taylors', London and St Paul's) and seven boarding schools (Charterhouse, Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Shrewsbury, Westminster and Winchester). A report published by the commission formed the basis of the Public Schools Act 1868.
Another way of determining the major public schools is to distinguish them by the players allowed to play in the Butterfly Cricket Club which was founded by an old Rugbeian. Only players who came from what were and are considered the major public schools were allowed to play. The schools included Charterhouse, Eton, Harrow, Marlborough, Oakham, Rugby, Westminster and Winchester. However, this omits Shrewsbury which is more famous and "major" than Oakham. Indeed, there is some fluidity in this area. Schools which had enjoyed the reputation of being major public schools at one time or another can become less fashionable while those which at one time were considered minor might find themselves more popular.
However, the common perception of public schools is that they pre-date the 20th century and were established as boys-only schools even if they are now coeducational, with distinctive traditions and high academic performance.
Some suggest that only particularly old independent schools should be afforded the dignity of "public school" (see Lists of independent schools in the UK below).
The terms of reference of the influential Fleming Committee on Public Schools, which was appointed by the President of the Board of Education in 1942 and reported in 1944, defined as a public school any school which was a member of either the Headmasters' Conference or the Association of Governing Bodies of Public Schools. [ Board of Education, "The Public Schools and the General Educational System: Report of the Committee on Public Schools", 1944 ]
Public Schools Yearbook
The "Public Schools Yearbook"Fact|date=March 2008 published in 1889 named the following 25 boarding schools, all in England:
* Bedford School
* Bradfield College
* Brighton College
* Charterhouse School
* Cheltenham College
* Clifton College
* Dover College
* Dulwich College
* Eton College
* Haileybury College
* Harrow School
* Lancing College
* Malvern College
* Marlborough College
* Radley College
* Repton School
* Rossall School
* Rugby School
* Sherborne School
* Shrewsbury School
* Tonbridge School
* Uppingham School
* Wellington College
* Westminster School
* Winchester College
|
|
|
