It is sometimes a bit frustrating that the reaction in society to problems is to expect schools to deal with them. Whether it is the appalling problems of child exploitation in Rochdale, healthy eating, family values in general – all three of these led to commentators in the weekend media saying ‘children should be taught about these things in school’.

Perhaps it is because school is actually a powerful influence. One striking example of this was quoted to me this week by Mike Nicholson, Director of Admissions at Oxford. I was meeting him on behalf of HMC and discussing Oxford’s attitude to the ‘widening participation’ agenda many students and parents will have heard about and perhaps be wary of: the idea whereby top  universities are being encouraged to ensure more students from disadvantaged backgrounds gain access to the best higher education. At its worst, this encouragement means reducing the quota of places given to those from independent schools. One statistic Mike quoted struck me forcefully: amongst the most disadvantaged 10% of students  (the ‘poorest’), given Oxford places last year, a third were at independent schools. His conclusion? Independent schools are actually already doing the job Government wants higher education to do. At King’s we are committed to increasing bursary provision, and it is genuinely striking how widespread the success of such provision is in the sector, as these figures show.

The general point about the power of schooling is very humbling. The attitudes and values, just as much as the learning and qualifications, mark our students for life. Mirrored by family values – respect, commitment as well as ambition, benevolence and co-operation – they give us heart for future generations. As students revise for exams (commitment, ambition) whilst still playing their team sport (co-operation and commitment) they are showing us that we should have hope for the future.  Too much of society is about just doing what you want, avoiding what is inconvenient or unappetising, giving up when it’s tough. What we do at King’s should be preparing our students to stand up for better values!