New head says British schools ‘have gone soft’

A YORKSHIRE headmaster who has returned to Britain after working in the Far East has warned the country has “gone a bit soft” in accepting the idea that children should not be allowed to lose or fail.

Kevin Riley, who has just started his role as the new head of Bradford Grammar School, warned that younger generations would face fierce competition from those growing up in emerging economic powers who were hungry for success.

He told the Yorkshire Post he hoped to be able to broaden the horizon of Bradford pupils so that they will consider the likes of Harvard and Yale along with Cambridge and Oxford once they finish their sixth-form studies.

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Mr Riley said that he was pleased to be taking over “one of the great schools of the North of England” and was confident the private education sector would continue to flourish despite the creation of a new generation of state-funded free schools which have been modelled on independent education.

Before taking up his post at Bradford Mr Riley worked for two years in Thailand as the head of the Harrow International School in Bangkok. He also represented the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference’s International Confederation of Principals.

When asked what the British school system could learn from the Far East, he said: “I think as a country we have gone a bit soft. We are more indulgent of our children and seem to have this notion that you can’t have losers any more. It is the parent who complains that their son didn’t receive anything for coming fourth in a competition. In competition there are winners and losers, and sometimes losing can be a good thing. It makes people more resilient, it can add iron to the soul.

“As the saying goes; ‘Into each life some rain must fall’.”

Mr Riley said that educating children in a competitive environment allowed people to reach their potential and he also warned that today’s schoolchildren would be growing up in an increasingly competitive world.

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“Competition in the next five, 10, 15 or 20 years is going to come from the Far East. If people are expecting these nations to defer to countries like the UK in the world economy because we got here first then they are in for a shock.”

He said that working in the Far East he had seen pupils who were willing to work “extraordinarily hard and were hungry for success.”

But he praised British education as being a model which countries across the world had signed up to and said he believes UK schools are still well placed to produce creative innovators and leaders.

He also warned against trying to adopt successful approaches from other school systems without understanding the cultural differences that might exist.

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“If you take the example of Finland which is often highlighted as doing better than the UK in the PISA surveys (The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment) its formal schooling does not start until children are six years old but their first year of education is heavily based on literacy and reading to form a language basis for their education.

“Do we want to see a similar education delivered here? I am not sure we would be prepared to do it.”

Bradford Grammar is Mr Riley’s fourth headship. As well as leading the Harrow International School in Bangkok he has also been head of the Bristol Cathedral School and the John Lyon School, which is part of the Harrow Foundation.

Taking up the job also means his career has come full circle as his first job as a teacher was in Yorkshire at the independent Pockington School in the East Riding.

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He said: “I was delighted to come back to Yorkshire. Bradford Grammar is one of the great schools of the North of England. When the search committee was formed and asked me if I was interested I decided I wanted it.

“Its my fourth headship and I do have extensive experience of independent schools. I also have quite a lot of international experience.”

Mr Riley said he was struck by the contrast between the history of the school and the cutting edge work being done in lessons such as science. His vision to give the school a more international outlook could mean that the school’s modern languages department includes Mandarin and Japanese.

He also said he was “bullish” about the prospects of the independent sector during a time of massive reform in the education system.

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Since taking office Education Secretary Michael Gove has been encouraging the development of free schools – state funded primaries and secondaries set up by groups of parents, teachers or existing schools.

Free schools are said to be modelled on the private sector but Mr Riley believes independent schools will still be popular.

Mr Riley said: “The challenge for a private school which has a good free school down the road is to prove to parents that they are worth that £10,500 a year extra because of what they can provide. I am confident that independent schools will be able to adapt because that is what they have always done.”