Religious Character in Church of England Schools: The Relationship Between a Religious Tradition and Its Educational Institutions

Abstract

Research into the relationship between the Anglican tradition and its schools is relatively undeveloped in England. The research reported here draws on Benne's (2001) significant components of the relationship between educational institutions and their founding religious tradition to examine whether these components are a helpful way of describing religious character in Anglican schools. While school leaders and staff are committed to the Christian faith and seek to establish an ethos informed by Christian beliefs and practices, they are less able to articulate a distinctive philosophy of education particularly with respect to teaching, learning and the curriculum; some reasons for this are discussed.

Notes

¹In voluntary-aided (VA) schools:

	Foundation Governors form the majority of governors on the governing body.
	Governors are legally the employers of staff other than supervisory staff (but paid for by the local education authority) and have the legal right to appoint a personally committed Christian headteacher in order to lead the school religiously and academically.
	Governors have responsibility for admissions, exclusions and appeals.
	VA governing bodies are responsible for 100% of the costs of capital works; however, they are assisted by a 90% grant from the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
	Religious education teaching must be consistent with its religious foundation and reflect the Anglican tradition. Ethos, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, worship, and religious education are included in the statutory inspection of Anglican schools.
	Governors in VA schools are responsible for the whole of the school's basic curriculum (i.e., the national curriculum plus religious education).
	The Diocesan Board of Education is the Education Authority for Church schools.

²Voluntary-controlled (VC) schools came into being when local parishes handed over control of their schools to the local education authority while retaining certain rights and powers related to their religious foundation. In VC schools:

	Foundation governors are in the minority on the governing body.
	The school buildings are owned by the church, which it ‘lends’ free of cost to the State.
	Governors are empowered to select a headteacher who is ‘professionally committed to the support and development of the Christian ethos of the school’.
	Worship must be Christian and reflect the Anglican tradition. Governors are empowered to appoint a reserved teacher for the purpose of providing denominational religious education for children whose parents request it.
	In these schools Ethos, Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development and Worship is included in the statutory inspection of Anglican schools.

³See Table 2, School-Year Group and Student Age in the English School System.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Helen Jelfs

Helen Jelfs is a Research Associate in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Bristol in England.