Frequently asked questions
about church schools
Voluntary Aided and
Voluntary Controlled schools
Admissions
Are Church of England schools socially
divisive?
Do the admission procedures for 'faith' places help CofE schools
'cherry pick' middle-class children?
Do parents attend church in order to gain places for their children
in CofE schools?
Teaching and Learning
Are children in CofE schools exposed to
narrow religious teaching?
Do CofE schools indoctrinate children?
Do CofE schools provide the full
National Curriculum?
Do CofE schools provide restricted forms of sex education?Do CofE schools encourage homophobia?
Do CofE schools discourage open discussion of important social and
political topics?
Employment
Aren't CofE schools
discriminating by only employing Christian staff?
Funding
Should CofE schools be publicly funded?
Why is taxpayers' money going to fund religious
schools?
Are Church of England schools
socially divisive?
No, most church schools simply reflect the areas in which they
are located. All CofE Voluntary Controlled schools (around 2,500)
have 100 per cent local admissions, and fully reflect the community
within which they are set. CofE Voluntary Aided schools (around
2,100) usually admit children of Church of England and other
Christian families first, but the vast majority also admit local
children including children from families of other faith
traditions. For background on admissions procedures, please see
response to the next question.
All schools are obliged to contribute to community cohesion, and
an assessment of each school's activity in this area is included in
their OFTED report. Joint projects and activities such as exchange
programmes, playing sports or more formal twinning arrangements are
used to link schools of different characters and help foster
greater respect and understanding.
Research published in November 2009 showed that the average
grade awarded by OFSTED to secondary-level faith schools for
promoting community cohesion was "substantially and significantly"
better than the average grade awarded to community schools. Similar
differences were found in relation to the grades given for
promoting equality of opportunity among students. At primary level,
schools with and without a faith foundation received the same
average grades for these two areas of school life.
In September 2007, the Church of England joined all the other
main faith school providers in England in signing a shared vision
for promoting community cohesion through schools with a religious
character. In 'Faith in the System,' the Government and religious
groups confirmed their commitment to continue to work together -
and with schools with and without a religious character - to
improve the life chances of children, to build bridges to greater
mutual trust and understanding and to contribute to a just and
cohesive society.
You can read the 'Faith in the System' document here.
Many church schools (both VC and VA, primary and secondary)
have a high proportion of Muslim children, a substantial number
have over 80 per cent intake from the Muslim community.
The CofE is committed to reserving at least 25 per cent of
places in new CofE schools for pupils from the local neighbourhood
regardless of faith background or none. In practice most new CofE
schools reserve less than 50 per cent for Christian applicants, and
almost all CofE Academies have 100 per cent neighbourhood
admissions.
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Do the admission
procedures for 'faith' places help CofE schools 'cherry pick'
middle-class children?
No, national and diocesan guidance on admissions to Voluntary
Aided schools stress the importance of simple, clear criteria,
which (for 'faith' places) focus solely on attendance at worship,
either on Sunday or another day of the week. There is nothing
inherently 'middle class' about going to church (and if parents are
opposed to attending worship it is difficult to see why they would
be seeking a place at a school because of its Christian foundation
and ethos).
The CofE has always supported the ban on interviews, additional
tests or the seeking of other information about the family.
The Church's own analysis shows that, across the whole school
stock (secondary and primary), the CofE has an almost identical
proportion of schools labelled as having 'severe' disadvantage
(over 30% eligible for free school meals) as the rest of the state
sector.
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Do parents
attend church in order to gain places for their children in CofE
schools?
The simple answer is that some may, in order to meet the
entrance requirements of the school they have chosen (i.e if it is
a popular Voluntary Aided school). Even if one accepts the idea
that this is wrong, it is not dissimilar to parents who live
outside the area served by a popular community school claiming to
live at an address within the area, or even to move house so they
do live in the area. It is easy to be judgmental: for some families
attending church can turn into genuine commitment.
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Are children
in CofE schools exposed to narrow religious teaching?
The Church considers it essential that children learn about the
major faiths represented in Britain today as well as having a sound
grounding in Christian faith and belief. Therefore, all RE
syllabuses taught in church schools are multi-faith and require
students to learn about at least the six major world faiths. The
recent non-statutory Framework for RE reinforces this
requirement.
Voluntary Controlled schools teach RE according to the local
Agreed Syllabus - the same syllabus used by community schools.
Voluntary Aided schools sometimes use this local syllabus, but
mostly use the syllabus developed by their diocese, which will be
based on the commitment above to teaching about a range of
faiths.
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Do CofE schools
indoctrinate children?
Of course not. While Church of England schools naturally have a
particular concern for enabling children to understand the
Christian faith, especially as expressed in the Anglican Church,
our schools are committed to nurturing, encouraging and challenging
those of all faiths and none. Indoctrination is where only one
point of view is represented as true and others are diminished or
ignored. In our schools, good RE enables students to learn about
Christianity and other faiths as part of their general education
and also part of their own spiritual development.
Nevertheless, as in all schools, parents have the right to
withdraw their children from RE and collective worship.
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Do CofE
schools provide the full National Curriculum?
Yes, church schools are bound by the law in this and many other
respects, and are inspected by OFSTED to ensure they are doing so.
Similarly, CofE Academies are the same as other Academies: they are
expected to demonstrate innovative approaches to the curriculum in
order to raise attainment.
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Do CofE schools
provide restricted forms of sex education? What does the Church say
about making Sex and Relationships Education a statutory part of
the curriculum?
CofE schools are subject to the same requirements as other
schools: governors take the decision on the specific nature of a
sex education programme, but all schools must follow the sex
education component of the science curriculum.
We welcomed the decision to make Sex and Relationship Education
a statutory part of the wider curriculum.
Church of England schools aim to develop in all students the
knowledge and capacity to make informed choices about their
personal lives. Whatever the specific content of the syllabus,
church schools will continue to place sex education within the
framework of a Christian understanding of sex and human
relationships, which stresses the importance of a faithful marriage
as the best framework for sex.
We are encouraged by the government's continuing recognition of
the role that governing bodies play, in discussion with parents, in
judging the most appropriate content for such lessons, particularly
at primary school level. The small minority of parents who wish to
withdraw their children from sex education lessons within the SRE
part of the curriculum continue to be able to do so (until the
child reaches the age of 15).
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Do CofE schools
encourage homophobia?
No. Bullying - whatever form it takes - has no place in schools
and staff work to enable all students to learn in an atmosphere
free from harassment and antagonism. In particular, discrimination
on grounds of race, colour, belief or sexual orientation is usually
expressly forbidden with a school's code of conduct.
The Anglican Church's traditional teaching is that homosexual
practice (as distinct from orientation) 'falls short of the ideal'
expression of sexual love, which should be set within the framework
of a faithful marriage. However, this subject is widely debated
within the Church. At the appropriate stage within the RE or sex
education curriculum, all students, in all schools, should have the
opportunity to examine the full range of views, including the
different Christian views, and to develop their own considered
position.
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Do CofE schools
discourage open discussion of important social and political
topics?
No, CofE schools are committed to putting the big questions of
life, purpose and meaning at the heart of the curriculum and to
equipping pupils to be able to form their own approaches to life,
whether informed by Christian or religious commitment or not.
CofE schools encourage pupils to express their personal beliefs
and philosophies with confidence and in an atmosphere of open and
critical discussion.
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Should CofE
schools be publicly funded? Why is taxpayers' money going to fund
religious schools?
The English system of education has been built in partnership
with the Christian churches, right from the start of mass
education. The Churches were the first providers, funding building
and staff costs through voluntary donations. The State gradually
became convinced that it had a duty to provide education and
gradually assumed a larger and larger part of the task. But this
shouldn't mean that church schools are no longer an important part
of the educational landscape of a liberal democracy.
A 2008 survey showed that the majority of the population -
including those who do not see themselves as Christian - agree that
parents should be able to choose a state-run school for their child
based on their own religious, moral or philosophical
considerations. Two-thirds of parents (with children under 18) hold
this opinion, consistent with the spirit of plurality in education
which is protected by the European Convention on Human Rights.
A 2009 Guardian/ICM poll of 1,000 adults showed that "60%
thought children benefited from a faith-based education, while 69%
of those with school-age children supported a religious ethos at
school".
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Firstly, Church of England schools do not only employ Christian
staff. The staff teams of Church of England schools are diverse,
with members drawn from all faiths and backgrounds. This diversity
is what helps make church schools as vibrant and stimulating as any
other school environment. The Christian commitment to the value of
every individual extends beyond the student in the classroom to the
staff, and every member of the school community.
Schools with a designated Church of England character are able
to ask for Christian commitment as one of the criteria used in
making staff appointments, so that the Christian character of the
school may be effectively maintained.
- In VC and Foundation schools, governors may want to ask how
potential headteachers will maintain and develop the religious
character and ethos of the school. This does not necessarily mean
that only Christians can be appointed to these leadership roles -
for instance, there are VC schools where the head is a Muslim, or
of no faith.
- When appointing members of the teaching staff, governors of VA
schools can include Christian commitment as part of the criteria
for the role. In practice, this is usually only the case for the
leadership team, where the responsibility for enhancing the
Christian ethos of the school is a major aspect of their role.
- For the appointment of teaching assistants and other
non-teaching staff, if VA schools and Academies can establish a
Genuine Occupational Requirement, they may be able to reserve the
post for those with a Christian commitment. This is particularly
important in the case of higher level teaching assistants, who may
be teaching large groups or whole classes of students.
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