British values?
Michael Goodwin, head of Sibford School, discerns a worrying trend in recent changes to the regulations that govern independent schools
Sibford School, along with other independent schools, Quaker and non-Quaker, received notification on Friday 26 September 2014 of changes to Part 2 of Schedule 1 (Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development of Pupils) that were to come into force three days later, on 29 September 2014.
There had been a consultation over the summer holiday, when teachers were least likely to be at their desks, but the shortage of time between the notice and the need to implement left some of us feeling rather breathless.
The first line of the revised standard now charges governors to ensure that a school ‘actively promotes the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs…’
The Friends School Council had argued that ‘British values’ might be replaced by ‘human rights’ or ‘international law’, but this view was, seemingly, ignored in the consultation.
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