In England, around 19% of primary school pupils and around 6% of secondary pupils are in Church of England schools.
I’ve been reading a few bits and pieces to help me to understand what church schools are all about.
Tim Elbourne, Church Schools: A Mission-Shaped Vision (Grove Booklet)
Published in 2009, this booklet launched a new series: Grove Education. There is some helpful history of church schools in chapter 4. The bulk of the booklet is an attempt to blur the definitions of ‘church’ and ‘school’ so that church schools can be seen as part of the church, and therefore as central to the mission of the church.
I didn’t find the exercise in blurring things particularly useful. I don’t see why ‘church’ and ‘school’ have to be blurred into each other in order make the case that church schools are an important part of mission. There is much in the booklet about the importance of the relationship between church and school. But will this relationship not be helped by the church knowing that it is not a school, and the school knowing that it is not a church?
Rather than blurring things, I would have preferred some more clarity. For example, what does it actually mean to be a ‘church school’? How is that different to a faith school? We read that ‘Most Anglican church schools are more accurately described as “neighbourhood schools with a Christian character” than “faith schools”’ (p. 22), but I would have loved to read more about that. What does it means for a school to have a ‘Christian character’?
Margaret James, A Fresh Look at Church School Inspection: Examining the 2023 SIAMS Framework (Grove Booklet)
Perhaps a better way to understand church schools is to look at the way in which they are assessed as church schools. This booklet focuses on the 2023 framework for the Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools (SIAMS), and is written by Margaret James, the National Director of SIAMS.
The booklet helpfully explains the statutory nature of this. Although SIAMS inspections are undertaken by the church, rather than by the state, they have a statutory basis in Section 48 of the Education Act 2005 (p. 4). Paragraph 4 of that section says (emphasis added):
It is the general duty of a person conducting an inspection under this section—
(a) to report on the quality of the denominational education provided by the school for any pupils to whom denominational education is given by the school, and
(b) to report on the content of the school’s collective worship,
and any such person may report on the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils at the school.
The primary focus on the booklet is on the methodology for the new SIAMS Framework. I had previously given very little thought to the methodology of schools inspections, so this made for fascinating reading. Although the booklet at times reads like a piece of promotional literature, it does provide reassurance that the inspection framework is built on solid foundations. There is a strong emphasis on the school’s context, and on the expertise of the school’s leadership in formulating an appropriate vision in response to that context.
Despite the emphasis on methodology, there is some material addressing what it means to be a church school. An effective church school will provide education ‘in a Christian manner’ (p. 16).
One of the ways in which a church school education does this is by valuing each person simply for who they are and the gifts they have. It ascribed to them dignity, made as they are in the image of God, and it does all it can to enable them to flourish holistically (p. 16).
However,
What a church school education does not do is impose or expect Christian belief (p. 18).
This may be developed in different ways in different contexts, and there is a helpful example of what a ‘theologically rooted Christian vision’ might look like in practice (pp. 18-19).
It is striking that the focus of this booklet is very much on the pupils’ ‘spiritual, moral, social and cultural development’, with much less about ‘denominational education’ and ‘collective worship’, although presumably the latter would be expected to contribute to the former.
2023 SIAMS Framework
The SIAMS Framework itself certainly makes more sense after reading the Grove Booklet on the topic. It isn’t very long, and it is relatively readable. The emphasis is strongly on the school’s vision: the document speaks repeatedly of the school’s ‘theologically rooted Christian vision’, and looks for ‘evidence of how this vision enables people to flourish’ (p. 2).
The inspection itself first focuses on the school in a factual way, including the local community. Next, the focus shifts to the school as a church school: its ‘theologically rooted Christian vision’ and the outworking of that vision in the life of the school, along with the school’s partnerships with the church, both locally and more broadly (e.g., with the Diocesan Board of Education). Having looked at the context of the school, the inspection itself begins with a series of ‘Inspection Questions’, exploring the impact and effectiveness of the school’s ‘theologically rooted Christian vision’ in enabling pupils and adults to flourish. Areas covered include: the curriculum, collective worship, wellbeing, justice, responsibility, and religious education. Finally, the inspection concludes with the ‘Inspection Judgements’, which would highlight any important areas for development.
How does a school go about developing a ‘theologically rooted Christian vision’? That is the question in my mind at this point.
Church of England Vision for Education: Deeply Christian, Serving the Common Good
The Church of England has articulated its ‘Vision for Education’ in a document from 2016, Deeply Christian, Serving the Common Good. The context for this is a decreasing role for the local authority, and an increasing role for the diocese, in ensuring quality of education.
The title for the document is inspired by Jesus turning water into wine:
It was a quiet, untrumpeted sign, done for the common good of the host and guests, to celebrate one of the most universal social realities, coming together in marriage; and it seems that most of those present were not even aware that Jesus was responsible for it. Yet some, his disciples did have eyes to see it, and believed.
The hope is that a deeply Christian vision for education will be beneficial to all.
Many will enjoy the wine and not recognize where it comes from; some will, with our help, trace it to who is responsible for it; but whether our inspiration for doing what we do is acknowledged or not, it is the right thing to do – as followers of the One who came to bring life in all its fullness, to do signs that give glory to God.
‘Life in all its fullness’ is the key thread that runs through the document. This is contrasted with a reliance on ‘measurement and assessment’, with one of the notes at the end of the document stating that ‘the present regimes of measurement and assessment are often too limited’.
Education for ‘fullness of life’ includes academic excellence, but its focus is much broader. There are four ‘basic elements’, which ‘permeate [the] vision for education’: wisdom, hope, community and dignity.
- Wisdom ‘is about ethics as well as cognition, values and purposes as well as facts, and above all tries to make sound judgements that do justice to the whole “ecology” of life’.
- Hope leads ‘not only to affirming the goodness of life but also to facing and finding ways through whatever goes wrong with ourselves and our communities’.
- Community is inspired by Jesus gathering a ‘community of learners’, and emphasises the importance of relationships and character.
- Dignity is modelled on Jesus paying ‘special attention to the disadvantaged, excluded, despised and feared’.
Our Hope for a Flourishing Schools System
The theme of flourishing continues in a recent publication from the Church of England, Our Hope for a Flourishing Schools System (published in 2023).
The themes of wisdom, hope, community and dignity are applied to the various parts of the school system, starting with children at the centre, and then in relation to adults, schools, school trusts, dioceses, and the schools system as a whole.
- Children will flourish as their voices are heard in school decision-making.
- Adults working in schools need to be flourishing themselves if the children are going to flourish.
- Schools will flourish as they respond to the specific needs of the communities they serve.
- School trusts will flourish as they facilitate collaboration.
- Dioceses will flourish as connections are made between churches and schools.
- The schools system will flourish as attention is given to the relationships between the above elements.
Putting it all together…
There is a strong emphasis on vision. The Christian faith inspires a vision for human flourishing. Church schools are schools that have a vision for the ‘fullness of life’ – a vision that is rooted in Christian beliefs.
This does leave open the question of how overt Christianity might be in a church school. In the water-into-wine episode, the majority of those who tasted the wine were unaware of its origin. But no church school hides its identity as a church school. What, then, is the appropriate place for Christianity in the day-to-day life of a church school?
Probably the answer is related to the role of collective worship and the approach to religious education – topics that have (strangely) been somewhat glossed over in the things I have been reading.