The quote above is one of my favourites from Ian Leslie, a humorous and informed author of a range of books in which he sets out to identify how we/society can change for the better. I await the arrival of “Conflicted: Why Arguments Are Tearing Us Apart and How They Can Bring Us Together” for a read-through this weekend once again, because put simply, both the UK and US democracies have chosen their new leaders and governments for the next 4/5 years and as a school principal and business owner, I’ve just got to get on and live with the consequences. In truth, the best I can do is just to work hard, “be the best we can be” and in 4 to 5 years’ time, I hope the decisions made in 2024 have actually helped us, our society and the wider world.

As the fall-out from the UK Budget proposals continue, I thought it wise to draw to your attention the correspondence all headteachers received last Friday, from the Education Secretary, Bridget Philipson. In it, she reminds schools that a very large number, £63.9bn is to be made available for education in state schools in 2025-26, that being an increase of £2.3bn on this year, plus an additional £3.5bn for school building repairs and RAAC concrete recovery emergencies; I can only assume that means the majority of the education increase is to come from the £1.725bn due to be taken from the private sector through the imposition of VAT. Apparently, all the money being made available to is to be spent at National level, to cover shortfalls otherwise in teacher provision, salary raises and SEN. The clear message from Ms Phillipson in her conclusion is as follows: “This Budget is about fixing foundations of this country. Whether it’s a brilliant early years, free breakfast clubs or rising standards in our schools, all children should receive the best possible start to life, no matter what their background is. There will undoubtedly be challenging times ahead, but you can be assured that this government will support you and that we’re putting education back at the forefront of national life.”

As no doubt her colleagues from around the cabinet table are reminding her and Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, “Actually, you seem to have forgotten you are raising the NI contributions for employees, lowering the NI floor and as a consequence almost certainly school/college budgets are going to be even more stretched than ever”. Even if there is additional revenue entering the system at National level, the chances of that filtering down to the local school level any time soon is as close to zero, because if nothing else, we don’t have a national education system at all, just an extraordinary complex web of free schools, academies, local state council schools & colleges and a host of alternative provisions, independently owned but fully funded by local authority funding – the latter alone has an estimated hole of £2.5bn, but so dispersed and allocated in a myriad of ways including by court tribunal hearings, there is no chance of that landscape changing until whole scale reform takes place.

Yesterday and today, I’ve spent talking with over 150 prospective parent groups looking at entry into our senior school and sixth form for next September and beyond, and all the key drivers are the same. Their interest is not about securing ‘privilege’ for their children but something much simpler and understandable – opportunity for provision and a ‘joined-up service delivered in a competent, exciting and innovative manner, ensuring that every child and young person is included and recovers from the set-backs that in the main have impacted upon their education to date. I listened to the BBC Moral Maze on Radio 4 on Tuesday night, in which the private sector was scrutinised, pummeled and otherwise criticised for separating out and as a consequence ‘winning all the best seats at the table’ in the decades to come, be that university, work, celebrity etc. A leading professor from Newcastle University was asked by Michael Buerk what he would recommend. “Sort out the diverse nature of the state sector – we simply don’t have a national education system, and blaming & blaming the private sector won’t improve UK education at all.

Whilst it’s true none of us can see the future for education, what I do know is that it can be readily imagined. Just spend a few hours within the boundaries of Claires Court, listen to the children talking about the school, see the extraordinary capabilities of very normal young people that can be developed to the max if only they can be given the time and opportunity to ‘learn to fly’. I am sorry the country can’t afford to offer a full day of school, that it’s only just working out that learning to swim needs more than 6 weeks in Year 3 on water safety, that art, drama, music and sport are as essential as the 3Rs. It’s not enough to use rhetoric to improve schools, politicians have little understanding of what makes children love school. All hot air ever does is dry up support, whereas they could go be cheerleading the amazing achievements our schools bring to UK PLC.

This proprietor can only applaud the decisions made by parents to choose the right school for their child. I hope mine is one in which everyone feels both welcome and chosen. Perhaps if nothing else, on this grey Friday evening in winter, cheers yourself up with Simon Sineks’s story on Nike… https://youtube.com/shorts/yTotCREiTRU?si=ZvJcBfjRpCHQxVRd

As the Academic Principal of Claires Court, I don’t even think of my role as a curse, but a responsibility I am more than delighted to exercise every day. “We’ve got this!”