Bishop John gives strong support for education

Speaking on November 5 at the Chelmsford Diocesan Synod (or assembly of the Church of England in Essex and East London), the Bishop of Chelmsford, Rt Revd John Gladwin, set out a strong commitment to supporting education.

The Church of England is a major player in education in this country, he said. We have a responsibility, therefore, to the welfare of the whole education system. We are not just about church schools and building a church power base. We are about using out historic role to help build and improve education for all in our country. We bring to that a long history of commitment to help bring the liberation of education to those most in need of it. Our belief that the image of God is to be found in every human being underpins the way we have sought to establish schools and educational opportunity where none existed before. The ability to read, write, reason are fundamental to the exercise of human dignity and the expression of the worth of each person. Across the world Christians are supporting literacy projects, enabling the development of communication skills and developing professional skills for life. That because people who can achieve these things are better equipped to grow in their faith and come to maturity of life in Jesus Christ. That contribution refreshes the whole education system. Far from being divisive church schools help in the wider task of improving education for all.

Following the Deering Report we have held two vital things together in the church’s role in education. Our schools have a distinctive Christian ethos and value system. Our schools are open to all. Christian and inclusive. We are not running schools for the children of those who go to church. We are not running schools that are embarrassed about their distinctive Christian identity.

Historically we have been strong in the field of infant and primary education and in traditional and well established communities. Deering challenged us to strengthen our role in secondary education and behind that in training colleges and in FE and HE as well. To date 44 new Church of England Secondary Schools have been opened and a further 53 are under discussion – that is across England. St Peter’s College in Chelmsford is new to this diocese. That school illustrates what we are about. Giving a struggling school a clear identity in a community where social disadvantage is threatens to hold the children and young people of that place in perpetual disadvantage. Getting that school to the point of excellence needed is going to be very hard work – it will need all the support we can give it plus the good will of the local authority. Success here lays the foundation for building our contribution elsewhere. We are badly short of church secondary school provision in this diocese.

The Government’s White Paper has put down a challenge to us. The Church of England is cited as a partner for the future. The Government is seeking to do two things. First, to move away from any idea that one size of school fits all. There is an emphasis here on difference and distinctiveness for each school. That without compromising the principle of access by the whole community. So distinctiveness and inclusion are key principles of stated government policy. That is why a door of opportunity is opening in front of us.

The second feature of the policy is local management – parents, teachers and trusts being given much more freedom to determine the shape and style of education for the schools. When we see the detail of the legislation we will have to consider what new structures will be needed in the diocese to offer schools the opportunity to build links with the church that will help them gain a distinctive identity and enable them to be supported in building excellence for all.

We may need a diocesan trust as a vehicle for help for schools wanting to move in new directions and to establish links with the church along that way.

Quite clearly there are opportunities here – appropriate to the sort of communities we are in – for local churches and clergy and lay leaders to build good relationships with schools. That will require the support of the Board of Education in training and support and encouraging good practice. So the priorities of our own Board may have to shift as a result of this change.

Today we have an opportunity to commit ourselves to growth and to improvement. Not just the Board but all of us in our expectations for the future.

That comes into the work of the church in the parishes. The new course to help train people in working with children is a recognition of the need for the highest standards to be seen in the churches in our pastoral care and nurture of children and young people. Whether it is in preparing children to receive Communion, or for Confirmation or the Holiday Club once a year, or the group that meets during service on Sunday – we need trained leaders properly supported in this ministry producing excellence in the work they do – complimenting what is done in school.

To grasp this area of enormous opportunity might open the way to new ways of bearing witness to the liberating effects of the Gospel of Christ on human life and community.

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