On January 16 he went to the Hanbury Manor Hotel outside Ware in Hertfordshire to speak to a large group of new heads at a conference organised by the Independent Schools Association (ISA), of which he is President.
He stressed two points above all. The first was the need to counter the widespread impression given almost daily by the media that independent schools are all expensive and highly selective establishments barred to most families. To that end he was seeking a debate in the Lords to draw attention to the variety and diversity of the sector; nowhere were these features to be found more prominently than in the ISA, whose membership today is expanding steadily.
The second matter on which he dwelt was the crucial question of stimulating interest in, and knowledge of, political life in Britain today, particularly with a general election approaching. That is a challenge to which ISA heads are clearly responding.