Currently the British educational system can be characterised by its instrumentalisation (of ends) and control (of means), revealing an impoverished vision of community and a lack of care. To (re)imagine public education is to reconsider what this 'public' means and signifies in practice. This article suggests that at the core of a richer and more compelling vision lies the notion of care. It re-examines what constitutes the content of our caring, and argues that to care is to direct attention to things that are intrinsically valuable, such as persons, relationships, educative experiences, all of which are comprised in our well-being. This understanding is a shift from care as a virtue and disposition, to care as valuing the cared-for and engaging the community in caring, and facilitates an exploration of a public education that is caring, in terms of its aims, values and processes, and in terms of schools as learning communities.