Like other businesses, independent schools spell out their aims and objectives. The school’s mission statement will, not infrequently, be included on the school website and in the prospectus. This is a worthwhile management exercise but it is worth checking out what this adds up to for your own child. A prospectus may wax lyrical about realising pupils’ potential and achieving academic excellence, but what happens within the school to a highly creative individual, a quiet and gentle person or a dyslexic pupil?