This blog is all about the brilliant support work that our SchoolTV service provides. But I can’t help include in these introductory 3 paragraphs that some of the headline leaders in the Press have been having a right go at Sir Kier Starmer, his wife Lady Victoria, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and Deputy Leader Angela Rayner, because of the ‘Freebie culture’ they seem all to have been enjoying recently. All have children, lots of them, all of school age. I can’t imagine the difference a few weeks have made to the life of these 3 and other lead politicians, but the dramatic change in their presence in the ‘Public Eye’ will certainly have impacted upon their home life. I suspect the PM remembers speaking about how come Friday nights, he’ll put the government iPad down at 6pm, and get on with having a nice night in. Honestly, as if!!! Apart from facing a barrage of criticism on the salary levels of his top staff, on the way to the Labour Party conference, no doubt with some jet setting across the pond to deliver his first Speech to the UN stuck into his diary at the last minute.

The Times newspaper writes a lovely weekly diary, lampooning the latest ‘star’ caught in the headlights, Sir Kier and Donald Trump being the most recent targets for journalist Hugo Rifkind’s acid wit. Last week’s diary spoke of Sir Kier’s Monday as follows: “Monday: I’ve just finished brushing my teeth with the toothbrush bought for me by Lord Alli, then rinsing my mouth out with the enamel mug bought for me by Lord Alli, when I pick up the iPhone bought for me by Lord Alli and give him a call. “Listen,” I say. “I’m off to Italy in a minute. But first we need to talk about all these silly stories that you’re giving me loads of free stuff.” “No need to ring,” he says, striding into the bathroom. “Because I haven’t given back my Downing Street pass.” And then we go into the kitchen and use the coffee machine he bought us to make a couple of flat whites. “It’s just a smear,” says my wife Vic, who is here, too. “All this. We’ve done nothing wrong.”

Now I am just running the school as Academic Principal, rather than also covering the day job of leading Senior Boys, it’s fair to say my week could not have been busier, though in a nice way, because it’s been filled with leadership work, across the sites and the last 2 days at a major conference ISPN South, working with Independent school leaders from across the country. We will not be giving the PM or his team any credit for their first 2 months in office. Announcing that 20% VAT was to be added to private school fees from January 2024 on 29 July meant that most of us had to cancel our holiday plans and renew the fire fighting. You can read the Independent Schools Council submission to HM Treasury’s VAT consultation here: it’s a fabulous read and covers the whole spectrum of schools in our sector. Quite how our PM can speak at the United Nations this week about how his government is bringing back “Britain’s return to responsible global leadership”, whilst choosing to dismantle one of the fundamental tenets of the UN, Article 26 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a grave example of such Labour party hypocrisy on steroids.

Back to the present – what Claires Court SchoolTV offers is a very sane, sensible set of directions to adults and for adults to investigate concerns they might have about family life and school. I’ve added this week the module on Respectful Relationships (I can only imagine what the kids are saying to their parents as the adults return from Liverpool and the Labour Party conference, but if my house was anything to go by when my 2 were at home, it would have been a genuine mix of concern and leg-pulling. Whatever happens at work, for stable family life’, it’s probably best to leave the workplace at the front door if you can. CC Past pupil Will Ballntyne runs an excellent local set of brilliant offices here in Maidenhead, MyWorkPlace, busier than ever because whilst work can of course take place anywhere, being able to separate work from home is essential.

Here’s the link to the Claires Court SchoolTV Positive Parenting Series. Id recommend you to check out the particular Topic on ‘Respectful Relationships’, covering as it does some great groundwork, if you’re unfamiliar with the subject. The copy is written by experts from the UK and Australia, and I capture some below to give you a flavour of its common sense approach:

Teaching children to respect themselves and others will open up avenues for both personal growth and academic achievement. Fostering an environment where respect is not just a word, but a practiced behaviour, will empower young people with essential life skills. Effective communication, active listening, and the art of compromise, will provide your child with a solid foundation that will transcend family interactions and help them collaborate effectively with peers, teachers and the broader community.

The point is with SchoolTV is that’s it’s not a good read – it’s made up of a series of great video clips which can be watched or listened to, quickly and simply – because it is copyright protected, I can’t show clip embedded in my blog, BUT do go look and check out what it has to offer. The worldwide team from SchoolTV are coming to visit us at Claires Court in a week or so. As with so many of the resources we fund and share, such as Going to the Cloud with Google in 2012 or Investing in AI 3 years ago for a safe school-based tool, being early adopters means the lessons we help a service provider gain assists everyone in the longer term. In short, CC knows stuff and we are always keen to share that.

After the party conferences, Parliament returns and on Tuesday morning, 8 October, James Wilding will be back in Parliament Square, queueing with the Education not Taxation pressure group to attend the House of Commons debate on the same Topic as the Lords 2 weeks ago. All the leaders of the Independent Schools groups have to be very circumspect in dealing with government.politicians, particularly in Parliament can be as rude as they like, but if we ever chose to disrepect a government department, you can be very certain they would not speak to us again! Some groups were very rude when the last government swapped in 2010, only to wait in the Abyss for 14 years before being able to ‘jaw-jaw’ once more. That’s why of course I’ve checked in with SchoolTV on ‘Respectful Relationships‘ – you should do so too!!!