‘Let children climb trees and play poker’ call

The twin pressures of exams and health and safety mean that today’s youngsters are left with little time to develop life skills and enjoy their childhood, according to Christian Heinrich, chairman of the Boarding Schools’ Association (BSA). Mr Heinrich accused private senior schools of being more interested in a child’s intelligence than their other abilities.

Speaking at BSA’s conference in Brighton, Mr Heinrich was to say: “Those long hours in our schools offer a wider co-curriculum alongside the extended core of academic subjects, certainly, but also a greater chance to develop the qualities that we would all wish our children to have in spades: the very qualities that hold together society. The qualities that suggest there is more to society than just the individual and family. Children and young adults learn about sharing and borrowing, about others’ feelings, concerns and priorities, about self-control and perseverance and, perhaps most importantly, about curiosity, in an environment in which it is possible and much encouraged to learn safely from your mistakes rather than to repeat them.

“So I exhort children at my school: ‘Climb trees! Cook your own lunch! Drive a go-kart around the car-park (cordoned off!). Even play poker!’. There’s more to school than classrooms and exams.”