THE HEADMASTER at the school Prince George and Princess Charlotte attend has opened up about “significant challenges” caused by demanding parents.
Ben Thomas, the principal of Thomas’s Battersea says an “I pay therefore I expect” mantra among pushy mums and dads can turn pupils into “robots”.
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Earlier this month, Prince William and Kate Middleton were seen taking their four-year-old daughter to her first day at the school alongside her six-year-old older brother.
The Cambridge children’s head teacher wrote about the “significant challenge” of parental demands in the book The State of Independence: Key Challenges Facing Private Schools .
“With school fees up by nearly 100 per cent since 2003, parents’ expectations are, not unreasonably, sky-high,” he noted.
“The days of the laid-back, hands-off, middle-class parents (if they ever existed) are long gone … ‘I pay therefore I expect’ has become a mantra.”
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In today’s Times magazine, Thomas revealed his belief that the pressure from parents on the school to get kids into top secondary schools risks turning them into “overanxious, overprepared young robots”.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and their two eldest children, met Helen Haslam, head of the lower school in early September.
In 2017, the same teacher greeted William and George for the youngster’s first day of school.
Kate was forced to remain at home due to severe morning sickness while pregnant with Prince Louis.
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It was recently revealed that George will be taking on religious studies, computer programming, poetry and ballet as part of his curriculum.
He was cruelly mocked by Good Morning America presenter Lara Spencer for his dance classes.
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According to The Times, Thomas’s Battersea – where fees range from £5,145 to £7,262 per term – has a courtyard, dance wing and “space-age” canteen.
A source recently told Fabulous Digital that the school dinners are “first class” – featuring “French onion soups, salmon dishes with dauphinoise potatoes plus an array of amazing puddings”.
In other royal news, Sarah Ferguson stunned in a black silk gown and chic headband at a British Heart Foundation event.
We also revealed how the Queen “giggled like a schoolgirl” when she heard a rude joke about Viagra.
