In the education world there is much talk of independence. Academies are independent, free schools are independent and of course independent schools, like Bolton School, are independent as well. A free state school is apparently completely different to a state free school. The exact difference between an academy and a free school is in reality opaque. When most schools are academies the exact difference between an academy and anything else will also not be entirely clear. At present their advantage is being different. However, if everyone is different, then in fact everyone is the same. áSometimes a word can be stretched to cover just too many different meanings and I am quite sure that independent is in that position right now.
Evidently we can infer from the widespread use of the word independent and free in education that those are thought to be good things. But why is that exactly? And there is no doubt that the first question to ask is æindependent and free of what?Æ
Starting close to home û what exactly is Bolton School independent of? It is certainly independent of any local or national admissions policy. We can select who we wish in the way we wish to be pupils at the school. That allows us to be academically selective but because of that, we believe, it allows us to be one of the most inclusive schools in Bolton in terms of ethnic origin. The recent census data shows we have a mix absolutely reflecting the local area û how many other schools actually do that? It is being academically selective that allows us to be ethnically inclusive.
Then there are school accountability measures. We are also independent of those. Of course we have to produce the outcome our pupils and their parents want, but we do not have to worry about changing a curriculum not to suit the pupils but to suit the latest measure of performance. Look at the recent issues about the EBacc, with schools squeezing the arts to do better in a table. We have never worried about the EBacc, yet come well up those tables nationally. We have a curriculum that matches those aspirations because we want to have one, not because we have to have one.
Finally there is financial independence. This is the touchstone of real independence. We rely only on recruiting pupils and parents who wish to be at the school and our sole accountability is to them. No one else has a say, because we rely on no one else for our existence.á More than that our endowed bursary funds allow an even greater measure of financial independence û one in five pupils have financial support we can provide ourselves.
All this does explain why independence is a good thing. It means the focus is on the experience of the boy or girl in school and their future and absolutely nothing else.
So what about academies and free schools? Are academies independent and are free schools really free? I am not so sure they are. They are free of the Local Authority in many respects. However, the Local Authority usually provides support more than constraint. They are not free of Government. Government imposes admissions policies, national pay structures and school accountability measures that deform the curriculum. Further, since the finance comes from Government it is they who have the say, not parents and pupils directly.
My sense is that in all important respects academies and free schools are not at all free or remotely independent of anything that it matters to be independent of.
Much more will need to be done before every school is as directly accountable to the people in it as is the long standing tradition of independent schools like Bolton School.
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