Blackboard jungle

The world of education is a complex one. There are so many options – public schools, academies, state schools; single-sex ones and co-educational ones – that it’s no wonder people get bogged down. This supplement, kindly sponsored by Investec Wealth & Investment, aims to make things at least a little clearer. When people raise the subject of boarding schools, for example, it’s normally expensive public schools that you think of. But as Beth Noakes explains, there are also state schools that also offer boarding – although you might find the odd frog in the swimming pool. School food is changing, as Laura Freeman discovers when she visits a state primary whose chef previously worked at Ottolenghi. So are funding methods. In the September 2014 edition, Ross Clark wrote about the public schools sponsoring state schools – an admirable aim. In this issue, he takes a look at whether the sponsored schools are living up to expectations. Meanwhile, Aidan Hartley remembers the teacher who saved him from expulsion and changed his life; Harry Mount returns to the chapel of his school days, and wonders how he could possibly have taken its exceptional architecture for granted; and Ysenda Maxtone Graham examines how Cheltenham Ladies’ College has changed since the chilly 1950s. There’s much more besides, so I hope you enjoy everything that this supplement has to offer. The next issue of Spectator Schools will be published in September. Do look out for it.

Camilla Swift