Striving for quality and innovation

Speaking at the HMC Head’s International Conference this year, it was great to be reminded of the work that the sector does that benefits a much wider population than just its own students and also its links to the international school world. Innovation was a word that was often on our lips, something that Bedales is in a position to talk about at length.

One of the big learning points from the conference was in talking to international members of HMC, schools from as far afield as New Zealand and Canada. Like Bedales, many of them have freedoms to make choices about what the best education should be without the constraints of governmental control. While there is an impulse across both main political parties in the UK to want to control matters of curriculum and assessment, the existence of a healthy independent sector is one which is both a fundamental civil liberty (very much one of the ‘British Values’ we are measured on when inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate) and a strength of this country which is recognised by families worldwide.

One of the appeals for many of the staff who come to work at Bedales is that they are able to exercise their professional skills and expertise in an environment which empowers them to make choices that serve our students’ needs without unnecessary constraints. These limitations are particularly acute at the moment in the state sector (one only need mention ‘Progress 8’, ‘SATs’ or the ‘EBacc’ to colleagues to know this) but they can also be found in the UK independent sector where, it could be argued, some schools are too cautious to push ahead with innovations that would deliver a more appropriate education to their students for the 21^st century.

Balance is one thing (a key watchword for us, alongside making sure we are evidence-driven) but ‘tradition’ holds perhaps excessive sway over too many independent schools in this country. At this moment of difficulty for the sector, demonstrating both quality AND innovation is a strong argument for the continued existence of independent schools, along with the work we do with bursaries and other partnership work. If we can demonstrate that our work on educational innovation can have a wider benefit and we want to be part of a national renewal in education, it is possible that, sooner or later, the government may rethink its approach to engagement with us. The Rethinking Assessment collaboration of state and independent schools has made much headway with this, and there have been a number of related parliamentary committee reviews in recent years investigating education. There is currently such an opportunity for educators and others to contribute to the UK government’s review of curriculum and assessment. Under the direction of Professor Becky Francis, the review panel wants to hear feedback on what works and doesn’t work in the current system, and suggestions for potential improvements. Her aims with the review are laudable, promising to “take stock of successes, weaknesses and opportunities, to provide a curriculum that exemplifies excellence; secures the knowledge and skills young people will need in their future lives; enriches and motivates learning; and adapts to the changing needs of the environment they will navigate.” We have until 22 November to contribute.