Church schools are at the heart of the nation and should robustly assert their Christian ethos and foundation, according to recommendations included in a groundbreaking report published by the Church of England. The Church, which is responsible for more than 4,800 schools across the country, educates more than a million pupils and schools are increasingly in the front line of its work in communities. The report, The Church School of the Future, has taken evidence from dioceses, school leaders, politicians and other stakeholders with an interest in education.
It was launched last Friday, March 23, at a conference at Lambeth Palace. It says the challenge for all existing Church schools, and any new schools, is to maintain their distinctive Christian character in an increasingly fragmented education system and amid strong attacks from secularists.
It warns against a ‘utilitarian’ approach to education where economic pressures risk forcing a narrow view of pupils’ ability to develop and learn both academically and spiritually. While giving firm backing to the current Government’s drive to raise attainment, the report describes the administration’s approach to religious education as ‘disappointing’ and calls for a new strategy to improve teaching and learning in RE.
CHURCH SOURCES
Report download – excellent executive summary:
http://www.liverpool.anglican.org/?p=1986
C of E press release
PRESS COVERAGE
The Church of England is a good brand, says the chair of its education board
Guardian – John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford, is a deft politician who intends to make the best of government policies even though he may not agree with them
The Church of England, it is often said, is a broad church. You can’t get broader than John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford and chair of the church’s board of education since January 2011. When he went up to Oxford University, he joined the Conservative and Labour parties simultaneously, though today, he admits, quietly and a little grudgingly, to being “on the left”. In ecclesiastical terms, he is said to be an “open evangelical” which would mean, very loosely, that he is traditional in doctrine but liberal in political and social matters, including the ordination of women as bishops. He prefers, however, to resist even that label, perhaps understandably, since one clergyman described an open evangelical to me as “a bigot who wants a nicer title”. Pritchard says: “I am a Christian of the centre, the generous centre”.
The right man, you may think, to negotiate the turbulent currents of the education system, in which Pritchard plays a key role. Church schools educate about a million children, including nearly 19% of English primary-age pupils in state-funded schools and 6% of secondary pupils. What is the point of CofE schools? On this, Pritchard is clear. Their mission is not, as he once put it, “to collect nice Christians into safe places”, still less to fill the pews with aspirant parents. The church set up schools two centuries ago, he says, “to educate poor children throughout the land”. That remains its commitment.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/mar/19/bishop-of-oxford-john-pritchard-education-board
Religious education ‘undermined by Coalition reforms’
Telegraph – The teaching of Christian values in schools is being eroded by the Government’s “utilitarian approach” to education, the Church of England warns today.
Children’s moral and spiritual development is being “pushed to the side” because of reforms that put an increasing focus on learning facts and figures, it is claimed.
In a major report, the Cof E said that religious education was being marginalised in many schools but the Coalition “seems to have no will” to address the problem…
Dr Priscilla Chadwick, a former private school headmistress and chairman of the CofE’s education inquiry, said all schools valued the importance of assessment but insisted it should not be at the expense of “nurturing the whole child”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9160498/Religious-education-undermined-by-Coalition-reforms.html
School reforms are sidelining religious education.
UK Press Association – The Government has came under fire from the Church of England, which warned that school reforms are sidelining religious education.
The subject is facing “multiple challenges” but the Government has “no will” to address them, the Anglican Church argued.
A new report on church schools warns that the Government’s responses to Christian leaders’ concerns about RE have been “disappointing”.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5i5iosveg-l4vFW7bq5hVO0CQ8_RQ?docId=N0043161332422563780A
Chadwick review backs concordat on C of E schools
Church Times – The Church of England is seeking a new concordat with the Government, which would restate the historic church-state partnership in school provision, and confirm the Church’s wider position in the education system. The issue is on the agenda for a meeting between Church of England education leaders and the Education Minister, Lord Hill, scheduled for next week in the House of Lords.
http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=126069
http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=126132
Christian education pushed aside by Coalition reforms
The Way – Christian values in schools is being eroded by the Government’s “utilitarian approach” to education, the Church of England warns today. British Children’s moral and spiritual development is being “pushed to the side” because of reforms that put an
http://www.theway.co.uk/news-8773-christian-education-pushed-aside-by-coalition-reforms