There is a way for the various schools to safeguard the consistency of the academic education of thousands of children - break all your links with the SES - now and forever. The SES in claiming ownership of the truth through its twisted philosophy and obtuse ideology displays its true colours if you scratch beneath the surface.
I totally agree with these sentiments Snowman and have suggested the same breaking of links in this forum previously.
I think St James should be completely upfront to potential parents about its connections (ownership by)/with the SES. It should publish a detailed document outlining exactly what the SES promotes including its past activities. This document should include descriptions of mistakes made and the resulting anger and mental anguish these mistakes have generated in the wider community of ex SES members and ex pupils of its day schools (St James and St Vedast).
There is a high demand for places in private childrens' schools in west London, which is probably the reason St James has continued to survive. This survival is surprising when:
the media pontifications (arguing the case for corporal punishment throughout the 1990s) of former headmaster Nicolas Debenham are remembered.
the SES system of betrothal of St James girls - recent leavers, to much older higher ranking SES men is considered,
the recruitment of St James 6th formers to foundation groups in the SES (still happens),
the lack of child protection policies and awareness at St James, resulting in children not being believed when reporting sexual abuse on the premises
these need to be dealt with by St James in a public way.
Debenham is responsible for the deep unhappiness of hundreds of children whose lives he made miserable by beating them brutally and repeatedly and overseeing schools in which casual violence and mental cruelty by teachers on often very young children was common place.
While the violence may have declined during the 1990s as it became illegal, many ex pupils are still reporting more recent cases of mental cruelty towards children. Even if this has stopped now the St James needs to publicly address these issues because former pupils are not staying quiet.
Will these wider issues be dealt with in the forthcoming inquiry I wonder?
Its not a defence in my opinion for St James to say 'these things don't happen any more'. These things should never have happened and it is time this deceitful organization (the SES and St James) publicly admitted and apologised for its many mistakes particularly in its treatment of children.