As I see it there is no way that a relationship between the headmaster and parents could supersede either his role as a servant of the governing body ( whose obligation is to ensure the legislation is followed), or any way in which the presence of a pupil on the school grounds can be in any other way than as a state pupil, who, ipso facto, may not be beaten.
However, the fact that those paid for on government scholarships, which elsewhere is defined, and also specifically clarified in Hansard after the passage of the bill, as including fee-paying students whose fees are met from the public purse for the children of armed forces personnel in independent schools raises an interesting point,