News Brief

Secondary schools convert to church in record numbers

-4/4/04

Record numbers of secondary schools are becoming Church of England schools to fulfil parental demand reports the Daily Telegraph

Since 2002, eight previously "secular" schools have become Church schools and three more will convert this year.

The step, which can take up to 12 months to complete and requires the support of parents, demonstrates the growing enthusiasm for faith schools - which has also been expressed recently by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Parents see them as well run with good academic records. Anglican secondary schools, on average, have a 12 per cent higher score in GCSEs than comprehensives.

The secondaries that are in the process of becoming voluntary aided Church schools - Eastbourne Comprehensive in Darlington; Summerbee School, in Bournemouth; and Whitburn Comprehensive, in Durham - have been spurred by examples such as Wyvern College, in Salisbury, Wiltshire, reports the Telegraph.

The boys' school has seen admissions soar since joining the Church of England last year and putting more religion on the curriculum. Although most parents with children at the school were not regular churchgoers, they supported the change, as did 85 per cent of the staff.

Glynis Seddon, the principal, told the Telegraph that the school had decided to convert after inspectors said that it needed to improve pupils' spiritual development and tackle pockets of unruly behaviour. "We were improving but we thought, what more can we offer our boys? We wanted to develop the school's ethos and values, and although it had no connection whatsoever with the Church, we decided that becoming a Church school was the best way to move forward."

Frank Sweasey, the chairman of the governors, said that parents welcomed the introduction of Christian ethics. "They understood the idea of a Church school and perceived the advantages in terms of discipline and respect for others," he added.

Wyvern has an "inclusive" admissions policy and does not demand religious observance. Many Church schools however give priority to children whose parents attend church, in particular the church with which the school is connected. This has led to accusations of bias and discrimination, and that the most vulnerable are sometimes ignored.

The degree to which church schools are "Christian" as opposed to "religious" is also a matter that is often debated. Since Wyvern converted, assemblies, have has a more religious character and the school has expanded its RE department. However staff have applied an "assertive discipline policy", which involves rewards and sanctions, such as detention, rather than ideas of restorative justice.

The head teacher, who is a practising Anglican, said that the school wanted to show pupils that there was more to life than secular values.

The Church is keen to open more schools to address the great disparity between the number of Church primary schools, about 4,500, and the number of Church secondary schools - just 197. It hopes to establish more than 100 new schools by 2007 and is sponsoring several new city academies, many of which are in inner-city areas, such as Leeds and Bradford, and will have high numbers of ethnic-minority pupils.

Voluntary-aided schools have more freedom than local authority schools. Church schools can appoint a majority of the governing body and control staff appointments.