Eton (a controversial opinion)

“What are Eton going to do?” I asked my daughter, when I was trying to get my head around whether it was right for schools to be opening in the phased way they are.
She snapped at me and I couldn’t understand why, until she told me of the flack that they were getting because they had announced that they wouldn’t open. She had misread the tone of my question. I genuinely wanted to know what Private schools would do. Because they are Independent they truly had a choice.

I fell into the trap, though, of using Eton as a generic word for all Independent schools. Although, I had asked her about Eton because it used to be on her patch when she was a junior reporter and I know she still has lots of contacts.

Since then, I have seen vitriol launched at Eton (and occasionally Harrow and Winchester) for their decision to tell parents they won’t be fully open before the end of the school year. This is something I think we have to be careful of. Whatever happened to solidarity amongst teachers? Don’t get me wrong, I would much prefer there was no Independent school market and that everyone had the same opportunities but this is not the time for that argument.

These top private schools are still run by teachers, who, at the heart of it, want the best for their students. They will also still feel some pressure to support the government and be under even more duress from the parents (or customers, as you could more accurately describe them.) Those school leaders will be just as torn as any head in the private sector.

We need to let Eton (and the others mentioned) off the hook for other reasons too.
1. Eton is not a prep school. Boys start at 13. This is the equivalent of an upper senior school and sixth form college. Senior schools are only being asked to consider some face to face time with years 10 and 12 before they break up for the Summer but not before the 4th of July.

2. Eton College breaks up for summer on the 3rd of July.

3. Eton, like other schools, hasn’t been completely closed. Boys of key workers have been in, as have the International borders. Potentially, that sounds like more than many schools have been teaching.

4. They will also have, just like other schools, been providing work, email support and possibly zoom lessons for their students. They are still under as much pressure as they ever were to provide the very best for their boys.

5. The idea that some face-to-face time with year 10 and 12 is needed for most schools is to remind some pupils that in those years they are (and always have been) expected to work through their holidays. It’s unlikely that boys at Eton aren’t told that and many will have Nannies and tutors to continue their education over the summer.

If Dulwich Prep had announced that they wouldn’t be following the government’s advice we might have reason to get cross but should we be more upset than the schools in Liverpool that have decided it’s too soon to plan for a June 1st opening, or the schools that have decided to only open part time, or to all year groups on a rota?

These are difficult times, it would be nice to cut everyone a bit of slack.