St Margaret's - don't go... a message from a parent

It is so sad to hear of the potential demise of St Margaret’s School; sad for the Staff; sad for the pupils; sad for the parents.
But, can you balance commercialism with upbringing – financial figures with academic statistics – results with manners? If you cannot, then the future of St Margaret’s has been written in the sand years ago.

As a father of three St Margaret’s daughters who are enjoying successful careers and lives after school and the husband of a former pupil and long standing teacher at the school, I can tell you without fear of contradiction – St Margaret’s stands for those extra values that go towards making a special human being – values of caring, of respect, of integrity, of humour, of manners – but none of these traits are converted to a statistical analysis as academic achievements are and, therefore, is not appreciated as part of the school fee.
I cannot speak for my youth as I went to a Boarding School hundreds of miles from civilisation in the African bush – but, what I do see is that most Cities in the UK had a fair share of Independent, private schools which were topped off by Internationally recognised Private Schools with the massive reputations – eg: Eton, Harrow, Winchester etc.

Now these cities had sufficient parents who were prepared to send their Children to private schools in order that they got the very best opportunities in life – the State System being somewhat confused at that time. However, so much has now changed.

The State system particularly in Devon, has improved enormously, ‘middle class aspirational parents’ are not as well off as they were proportionately and independent schools have totally ignored their hitherto unwritten geographical boundaries, to solicit children from neighbouring Cities – viz Taunton market in Exeter and, no doubt, vice versa.

All of this had added obstacles to the way our Private Schools have needed to be seen to be run – comparisons with the State sector and other Independent Schools within a 40 mile radius is now more marked... but how to judge as a parent? Results? What results, though?

Exam results in a league table? Factual. Evidence of academic success. No brainer? Or, is there something else that a Private School can offer – something that is intangible but inexplicably beneficial to the future of the School’s charges?

Add to this underlying financial and marketing background a school that is governed by a Trust and run by Teachers, not by business people and marketers, you can see the large hole appearing.
Please, this is not a criticism of the Teaching Staff – indeed, their professionalism and dedication is second to none – but, that is what they are – Teachers. It was the Doctors who over 10/15 years ago realised that a large practice was better run by a Practice Manager rather than a Doctor – perhaps; St Margaret’s should have taken the metaphorical leaf out of the Doctor’s tree?

Is St Margaret’s School saveable? Its ideals are worth having a go at saving, but, there will need to be a huge financial input into the project and, quite probably, the real estate interests of The Woodard Trust would need to be realised so that St Margaret’s could stand alone, proudly endorsing its ideals and aspirations, its academic and dramatic leadership, and, with the right financial governance, be a great establishment that Exeter can continue to be proud of... anyone out there with the money ? If there is I can guarantee that there are some exceptional staff and enthusiastic parents prepared to come for the ride.

This time – review the location; shout out about those special attributes that make ‘a St Margaret’s girl’ and go forward with confidence and belief. I’m there for you...!

Nick Agg-Manning: 27/01/13