Costs of extras a barrier to learning, says head

HIDDEN COSTS OF educational extras can be a barrier to learning, according to the principal of a leading Catholic sixth-form college this week, writes Joanna Moorhead.

Dr Jane Overbury OBE, head of Christ the King in south-east London, was responding to the results of a survey that showed British parents will have to foot a collective bill of £2.9 million to kit their children out for the new school year.

Dr Overbury said the additional educational expenses of around £240 per child revealed by the Santander bank’s survey were a real problem for many families.

“Additional costs can range from text books and photocopying to expensive equipment and special clothing, such as laboratory coats and goggles for those studying science, or kit for sports students,” she said.

But Dr Overbury said she had always believed it to be part of the mission of a Catholic school to ensure that all students had everything they needed to study without having to resort to additional expenses, explaining that “there are many institutions that charge sixth-formers, but we feel we shouldn’t be asking them to pay for textbooks and other essentials”.