OUR diocese has responded to criticism of church schools by issuing a rationale behind them.

Tony Blackshaw, director of education

Tony Blackshaw, director of education for Portsmouth and Winchester dioceses, claimed that critics who say such schools are divisive or socially selective are often working on flawed assumptions.

The rationale, which he has sent to all 49 church schools in Portsmouth’s Anglican diocese, explains how the Church of England played a vital role in the establishment of thousands of schools in the 19th century. From the creation of the National Society in 1811 until the Education Act in 1870, the Church provided elementary education for the masses at a time when the state did not.

It also debunks the notion that faith schools are educationally selective or divisive – and that they ‘cream off’ the best pupils.

“Our schools have a tradition, derived from our history, of serving the whole of the community and neighbourhood in which they are located,” he said. “Our schools are therefore serving not only children from Christian families, but also children from all backgrounds and faiths, and those of no faith. We are simply not engaged in a separatist or sectarian endeavour.

“It is sometimes alleged that church schools are engaged in a covert process of social selection, ‘creaming off’ the best pupils. This is an argument (or prejudice) often perpetuated in the media. The reality is that, as inclusive institutions, church schools will reflect the communities in which they are located. Very many of our schools are serving areas of significant socio-economic disadvantage, whether in urban or rural areas.

“Church of England schools were established in the nineteenth century ‘to educate the poor’, and we continue that honourable tradition by maintaining our institutional presence in some of the most difficult areas in society.”

He celebrated the fact that church schools were popular with parents, but said that was down to more than just good results.

“Parents have confidence that church schools provide a sound moral framework and a context in which the development of the whole child is nurtured,” he said. “Parents welcome the fact that church schools have a culture rooted explicitly in a clear set of values and principles. At a time when children and young people are facing enormous pressures to conform to a prevailing consumerist and media-driven construct of ‘success’, many parents want schools that are able to impart to children a sense of human dignity and a clear moral compass.

“Ultimately, the argument about church (or ‘faith’) schools resolves itself into a discussion about the kind of society we wish to be. Do we want to be a society in which religion is regarded as a purely private matter and relegated to the margins of public life and discourse (in which case it has the capacity to be a divisive force)? Or do we want to be a society in which religious expression is afforded an institutional involvement and presence, within prescribed limits that are generally considered acceptable?

“The latter represents pre-eminently the Anglican settlement, which has served our nation so well. As the established Church, within our educational role, we have the opportunity — and indeed the duty — to contribute to the wellbeing of society. Historically, Church of England schools have been part of the national landscape, and they express the Church’s concern for the whole of society. The vision of the founders of the National Society, in offering education to the whole nation, is still at the heart of our purposes in education today.”