RICHARD JONES, Acting Head of Bryanston School in Dorset, says small class sizes, a focus on the individual and the ability to instil self-belief and confidence are just a few of the reasons to choose an independent school for your child.

Whenever I?m asked what?s the single biggest advantage of an independent school education, I always reply, ?individual attention.? It?s so important that it?s the cornerstone of our method at Bryanston. I?ll come back to that in a moment, but first, let?s consider the hard facts.

Why you should consider an independent school for your child

Small class sizes
Any teacher will tell you, and every study shows, that children do better in small classes. Anyone reading this who had to manage home schooling during lockdown will know how demanding it is to teach two or three children. Add a zero to the number, and you?ve got perhaps 30 children in a class.
That?s not unusual in state schools. Each child therefore gets two minutes per hour ? except they don?t, because the least able or most disruptive soak up the time, while the ones who are motivated and keen are often left to get on with it, with little attention from the teacher.

Bryanston pupils

It?s not quite that simple, though, because what happens in smaller classes is that the whole group can be focused together ? very hard to achieve with 30 children, far easier with 10 or 15. Most importantly, the teacher can get to know the individual children far better, and ta...