A Principled view

The image in the header celebrates the occasion of the Claires Court Boat Club’s Annual Dinner on Saturday, 7 March 2026. Whatever the drama, school life carries on.

The Headteachers’ Association I am a member of, and as a consequence so is the school is The Independent Schools Association. It’s the largest of the Associations, and it produces a quarterly review. Just in time, as you might suggest, they published in the Spring Journal this post. I’m quite proud of the 3 pages that’s been published, but for followers of my blog, please find below a summary of my life in teaching… thus far!

The full article can be read here.

My career in education spans more than half a century, a period of extraordinary social, political and technological change. It has allowed me to observe, from the inside, how schools respond to shifting family structures, evolving expectations and successive waves of reform. While policies, examinations, and technologies have come and gone, each generation of pupils has revealed something enduring about what young people need to thrive. This précis traces that journey through five generational lenses, reflecting both my personal experience and the broader story of British education.

Baby Boomers: founding, growth and traditional schooling

My story begins before my own teaching career, with my parents and the post-war baby-boomer generation. In 1959, responding to rapidly growing demand for education, my parents—both history graduates—founded Claires Court School in Maidenhead. Like many pioneers of that era, they took considerable risks, driven by the belief that education should combine academic ambition with strong values and personal care.

When I entered teaching in 1975, much of school life still looked remarkably familiar. Textbooks, curricula, and expectations differed little from those of my own childhood. Grammar and public school preparation dominated, and parental trust in teachers was high. Yet even within this traditional framework, innovation was emerging. Curriculum developments such as Nuffield Science emphasised practical understanding, curiosity and experimentation, laying early foundations for a broader view of education.

Latchkey Kids: confidence, coursework and co-curricular life

The 1980s brought significant social change. As more dual-income households formed, children became more independent, and schools responded accordingly. Coursework began to replace some rote learning, careers education was introduced, and work experience became a key feature of secondary schooling. Education increasingly focused on what pupils could do rather than what they could recall.

I assumed senior leadership responsibilities as headteacher during this period, gaining first-hand experience of inspection, regulation and changing pastoral expectations. The school flourished, supported by strong parental engagement and a growing PTA culture. Sport, drama, music and exhibitions became central to school identity, reinforcing the importance of confidence, teamwork and creativity. The acquisition of Maidenhead College in the early 1990s allowed us to establish a sixth form and extend opportunities while retaining independence of thought and action.

Millennials: optimism, reform and early digital learning

The 1990s were marked by optimism. GCSE and A-level reforms rewarded breadth, modular learning and coursework, while access to higher education expanded dramatically. The National Curriculum initially promised balance and opportunity, and early digital technologies enhanced research and communication without dominating classroom life.

As an independent school, we were able to preserve strong co-curricular programmes, leadership development and international links. Independence allowed us to align academic success with wider personal growth, reinforcing my belief that education works best when schools retain the flexibility to respond to individual learners rather than narrow performance measures.

Generation Alpha: screens, centralisation and wellbeing

The new millennium brought sharper tensions. Mobile technology transformed childhood almost overnight, while exam reform and increasing centralisation narrowed curricula and intensified pressure. Collaboration gave way to competition, and well-being concerns rose sharply.

We embraced digital tools where they genuinely enhanced learning, adopting platforms such as Google Classroom and Chromebooks, but remained cautious about screen overuse and distraction. The pandemic further exposed both the resilience of young people and the fragility of education systems, reinforcing the importance of structure, relationships and community. Independence once again proved vital in maintaining balance during uncertainty.

Generation Beta: returning to balance

Looking ahead, I sense we are approaching another turning point. Growing parental concern about screens, social media and mental health suggests a desire to restore balance rather than reject progress. Each generation arrives shaped by new forces, yet the fundamentals remain unchanged.

After fifty years in education, I am struck less by how much has changed than by how often we must relearn old truths. Young people thrive when schools value humanity as much as performance, breadth as much as results, and purpose as much as ambition. Education exists not to serve systems, but to grow people—and that conviction remains my reason for optimism about its future.

I’ve written the following thought piece to illustrate there are no easy answers for anyone in the education space in 2026. Probably true for most ‘human’ providers, from farmers, through care and health to pubs and the hospitality trade.

The state of the UK independent sector in early 2026 feels a bit like waking up the morning after a particularly rowdy party: the initial shock of the 20% VAT policy has finally moved into the rear-view mirror, but we are now left surveying the carpet stains and wondering where the furniture went.

We have moved from outrage and blind panic to a more sober phase of taking stock. Most leaders are no longer head-butting the inevitable; instead, they are trying to lean into each bend of a new and still unsettled reality. This is less ‘heroic’ transformation and more careful ‘driving in the rain’.

The View from the Rollercoaster

It has not been all doom and gloom, though “gloom-adjacent” remains a fair description. There are flashes of light in the storm. The QED Schools Group’s acquisition of Wycliffe College is a reminder that parts of the sector remain resilient and, crucially, investable. Schools with a genuinely premium proposition, or with a loud and credible public-benefit footprint, are holding their ground. And there is still dependable demand from international families, whose enduring affection for elite UK boarding suggests that the Hogwarts aesthetic is, for now at least, VAT-resistant. If nothing else, British boarding still photographs extremely well.

Another constructive development has been the arrival of the Association for Families of Independent Schooling (AFIS). This new advocacy group gives parents a collective voice in debates that have often felt remote and top-down. At a time when VAT hikes and funding pressures are reshaping family choices, AFIS converts individual frustration into organised representation. Its importance lies not just in amplifying parental concerns, but in reminding policymakers—particularly MPs—that these parents are also voters, spread across constituencies nationwide. By helping to bridge the gap between schools and families, AFIS may yet play a role in nudging the debate towards more balanced and workable reforms.

That said, the sector-wide rewiring is well under way, and the ride remains bumpy.

• The enrolment cliff: Some 11,000 and 13,000 pupils have already left the sector, circa round a 3% drop Clearly the exodus can only grow, as no doubt the 2026 ISC census will show. The impact has fallen disproportionately on middle-income families, many of whom have concluded that independent education is a discretionary luxury they can no longer justify—particularly when the weekly shop itself has begun to feel like a luxury item.
• The Hunger Games: A number of schools, including well-known Rendcomb College, Palmers Green and Longacre School, plus prep school elements of other schools/groups have already announced their exit from the market or consolidations onto one site as rising costs collide with falling rolls.
• The shared-pressure club: Independent schools are not alone. Universities, state academies and nurseries are grappling with the same workforce shortages, affordability constraints and cost inflation. Pension pressures, recruitment and retention challenges, energy costs and employer National Insurance and minimum wage rises are hitting across the system. It is not quite solidarity, but it is at least shared discomfort.
• Policy headwinds: The Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, has maintained a sustained focus on independent provision, particularly within SEND, arguing that some placements are high-cost and ineffective while advocating a “mainstream-first” model. These pressures sit alongside a wider policy agenda that continues to increase financial strain across both state and independent sectors. There is a notable tension here: while domestic provision faces VAT and regulatory headwinds, the government’s International Education Strategy actively encourages leading independent schools to expand overseas as part of a £40bn education-exports ambition by 2030. The contrast has not been lost on the sector.
• The legal cliffhanger: In January 2026, the Court of Appeal heard arguments that the VAT policy is disproportionate and incompatible with human-rights obligations. A written judgment is expected in late March or April. A declaration of incompatibility would place real pressure on the government to revisit the Finance Act, leaving the next twelve months pencilled in rather than set in stone.

Survival Tips for the Time-Poor Head

For leaders of small junior schools in particular, “time-poor” barely does justice to the reality. The ambition for 2026 is not grand transformation, but operational resilience: rebuilding enough of the school’s operating spine to withstand sustained pressure without snapping. This is not the year for glossy strategy decks.

What follows is a deliberately pragmatic survival guide, built around delegation rather than heroics.

• Lean on your board: If you have an effective chair, hand over long-term strategic projects—digital transformation, estate rationalisation, structural partnerships. Your focus should be on running the school day to day, not designing a vision for 2030.
• Redeploy proprietors: Where schools have owners, their energy is often better spent rebuilding community relationships and external partnerships than micromanaging operational detail.
• Explore co-operative back offices: Shared IT, HR, finance or estates services within a trust or local cluster can materially reduce costs without undermining autonomy.
• Adopt a hybrid staffing model: Employ teachers where scale justifies it, but partner with high-quality online providers for low-demand or niche subjects. Preserve in-person capacity for the experiences that genuinely require it.
• Sweat the assets: Grounds and facilities are frequently under-used. From summer camps to short-stay accommodation or specialist programmes, ancillary income can be generated without wholesale reinvention.
• Approach SEND strategically: Expanding into SEND provision can help fill capacity and attract local-authority funding, but it must be done with political awareness and genuine quality. Current policy rhetoric favours mainstream inclusion and remains sceptical of independent special provision. Any move in this direction should therefore be framed as collaborative, regionally integrated and outcomes-driven.
• Support advocacy: Encourage staff and parents to engage with AFIS and similar bodies. Schools can facilitate participation, but parental voices carry particular weight. In a charged policy environment, coordinated advocacy matters.

The year ahead is about surviving demographic contraction and maintaining operational viability. It is unlikely to be elegant. But then, survival rarely is—and it is still preferable to shutting the gates.