THE headmaster of Windermere School says Labour’s motion to ‘integrate all private schools into the state sector’ would come at a huge cost to the local area.
Party members backed the move at Labour’s conference in Brighton on Sunday (21 September).
Ian Lavender, headmaster of the fee-paying Windermere School for the last 10 years, says South Lakes businesses and the wider community benefit in many ways from having an independent school on their doorstep. He claims that if Labour has its way, these would be lost.
Mr Lavender explained: “We are a small school but a big business. We are one of the largest private employers in the area providing jobs to 140 staff. We source our services and goods locally which benefits local suppliers, including grocers, maintenance contractors, hotels, guesthouses and restaurants. And our international students bring millions of pounds into the local economy through their school fees. In the last 10 years, I estimate that over £20 million of overseas money has entered the local economy through school fees.”
The headmaster is also quick to point out that the school educates approximately 350 children at no cost to the taxpayer. He says the school, which makes no surplus, gives almost a million pounds away each year as bursaries so children, whose families cannot afford the fees, can attend.
Ian Lavender added: “Another financial consideration that Labour seem to ignore is that we meet all the costs of staff pensions. In the state sector the government pays the ‘employer’ pension contributions which is a significant additional burden on the public purse.
“It seems to me that far from saving money, as the Labour government seems to believe would happen, the government and our community would be substantially worse of”.
Mr Lavender now hopes that there will be an opportunity for a proper parliamentary debate on education, based on facts and not sweeping generalisations, which he says are discriminatory, inflammatory and simply wrong.
Established in 1863, Windermere School is a boarding and day school for boys and girls aged between 3 and 18 years of age. The School is based on two sites in Windermere, 75 younger pupils attend Elleray and 275 are in the Senior School.
