Independent Schools

Earl of Clancarty Excerpts
Monday 18th March 2024

(1 month, 3 weeks ago)

Lords Chamber
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Baroness Barran Portrait Baroness Barran (Con)
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I absolutely agree with my noble friend, and I thank Brentwood School and other schools involved in the types of partnerships that he described. We have such an asset in our independent schools, and this Government are focusing on encouraging more partnership work and understanding how all our pupils can benefit from that.

Earl of Clancarty Portrait The Earl of Clancarty (CB)
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My Lords, following on from the previous question, does the Minister agree that, in the perceived ideological tussle between state and private, it is sometimes education itself that is forgotten? The currently less restricted independent sector can be an incubator for forward-looking educational ideas; for instance, those of Rethinking Assessment, which submitted valuable evidence to the Education for 11-16 Year Olds Committee that school education as a whole can profit from such thinking.

Baroness Barran Portrait Baroness Barran (Con)
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I agree with the noble Earl. Independent schools have shown themselves to be areas of great innovation, but we also see important innovation in our state sector. Particularly where the two come together, we see some of the best results.