MICHAEL GOVE - is he a closet Trot? I ask only because of his
apparent devotion to rolling revolution.
Since the accession of the present Government in 2010, and his
rule at the Department for Education, the educational landscape has
experienced an earthquake, and the aftershocks seem
never-ending.
Interpreting education now means acquiring a whole new language,
one that develops by the month.
In 1973, when I started reporting education, it was
straightforward, once you had mastered the system. The 25,000 or so
schools in England at the time fell into two basic groups: primary
and secondary.
The majority, known as "county" schools, were provided by local
education authorities (LEAs), supplemented by a substantial
minority of church schools, most of which were Church of England or
Roman Catholic.
Local-authority education committees had oversight of all
schools. In the case of church schools they worked with the
relevant diocesan authorities in the dual system established by the
seminal Butler Education Act of 1944.
There were exceptions to the rule. Although most secondary
schools had become comprehensives, a handful of LEAs, notably
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Kent, retained selection at 11 or
13.
Under Mrs Thatcher, and after 1987, some comprehensives shed LEA
control and became grant-maintained - a foretaste of things to
come. A few authorities had tried out the three-tier system with
first, middle, and upper schools. But all these were geographic
peculiars, atypical of the national writ.
The next noticeable crack in the system appeared with the
introduction, under Labour, of city academies, sponsored by
businesses, charities, or churches. They were intended to raise
educational standards in deprived (the approved word was
"challenging") urban areas. They were free to innovate, and were
centrally funded, bypass-ing LEAs, which largely opposed them.
Within months of taking power, Mr Gove had elevated the academy
idea into the ideal. His dearest wish is for all schools to be
independent of town halls, and that status is on offer to all that
want it - and some that do not.
First, all schools with outstanding OFSTED ratings were allowed
- nay, bribed, with large amounts of cash - to become academies.
Then, schools judged by OFSTED to be failing were required to
become academies, whether they liked it or not.
These days, academy brokers, on behalf of the DfE, approach
promising schools and diocesan officials. It is even rumoured that
bishops have been leant on to fly the academy flag in sceptical
dioceses.
Then there are a plethora of other types of school, including Mr
Gove's favourite: free schools. These are a variation of the
academy principle, but they are started from scratch, and set up by
groups of parents or teachers and organisations such as the
Methodist Church, which has publicly acclaimed free schools as a
route back into running schools.
Other newcomers on the scene are studio schools - only a handful
so far - that specialise in a particular craft; and university
technical schools for 14-to-19-year-olds.
In August, during parliamentary recess, Mr Gove announced that
the teaching profession is to be augmented - so far, in academies
and free schools only - by those without a teaching qualification,
and is thus without guaranteed standards in English and maths. It
is a curious decision for a Secretary of State who has already
raised the bar for entry to teacher training.
Margaret Holness is the Church Times education
correspondent.
This provides new opportunities for the C of E, says
Nigel Genders
AMID all this flux, what is the position of the Church?
We still have 1972 voluntary aided schools, with a majority of
church-appointed governors responsible for the maintenance of
buildings, the employment of staff, and the implementation of the
school's admissions policy.
We still have 2335 voluntary controlled schools which, in terms
of governance, mirror community schools, but with a minority of
church-appointed foundation governors ensuring that the education
and worship are still in accordance with the founding trust
deed.
We still have 42 former grant-maintained schools (GMS), which
opted to become foundation schools when GMS were abolished in 1998.
Like voluntary controlled schools, they have only a minority of
church-appointed governors, but like voluntary aided schools, their
governing bodies are responsible for the admissions policy and the
employment of staff.
We still have 45 "Labour" academies, opened since 2001, in areas
of significant deprivation, where a new approach was needed to turn
previous community or church schools around. When sponsors were
sought to run these new academies, many dioceses in the Church of
England took up the challenge, either on their own or in
partnership with others. Sometimes, this was at the request of
local authorities that recognised the C of E approach would, in
itself, raise standards. This initiative increased the number of C
of E secondary schools.
The Government's acceleration of the academies programme,
through the Academies Act 2010, opened the door for many more
schools to convert to academy status.
Currently, the C of E oversees a total of 127 academies (46 of
which are primary), making the C of E the largest provider of
academies in the country. Nationally, more secondary schools than
primaries have welcomed the opportunity to take academy status;
often because smaller schools find that the incentives of
independence are outweighed by the burden of extra
responsibility.
For church schools that are used to a strong relationship with
their diocese, and the wider family of church schools - and
particularly for voluntary aided schools, with their strong
governance, local accountability, and freedom to express their
values - the supposed extra benefits of academy conversion are
unclear.
What schools and dioceses really want is to be able to develop
mechanisms that enable groups of primary schools to form
collaborative partnerships, enabling mutual support and economies
of scale.
Whether it is academies, free schools, studio schools, technical
academies, or university technical schools that are in the
headlines, the direction of travel is clear: state-funded
independent schools outside local authority control are regarded by
the Government as the best way forward.
So how should the C of E safeguard the provision it already has,
and ensure that it develops effective policies?
Even with the strong political drive behind it, academies
account for less than three per cent of Church of England schools,
and the focus on this small group of schools should not divert
attention from the 97 per cent who, more than ever, need the
support of their diocese as they navigate the often turbulent
waters of education.
An important area in which the National Society (which promotes
and resources C of E and Church in Wales schools) has taken
decisive action is in promoting the understanding that it is
impossible to take the Church out of church schools.
The Department for Education was keen to line up potential
sponsors to take over consistently under-performing schools, so the
C of E had to make it clear that any such sponsor must be
thoroughly rooted in a Christian perspective if they were to be
suitable partners for Church schools.
Consequently, the C of E agreed a memorandum of understanding
that set out how a diocese would always be assumed to be the most
suitable sponsor for any Church of England school. This put the
onus on dioceses to develop their capacity for effective school
improvement.
WITH the relentless drive towards a system of state-funded
independ-ent schools, directly accountable to, and ultimately
controlled by, the Secretary of State, there is a serious question
about what part the diocese should play, both now and in the
future.
The free-market ideology which says that good and outstanding
schools should get better, while under-performing schools should
close, or be taken over by a good sponsor, is one way of looking at
the world.
The danger is, however, that if we are not careful, the result
could be a fragmented system where those parents who are mobile, or
mobilised enough, to gain access to or promote the "good schools"
do well for their children, while the remaining children are left
in under-resourced schools that local authorities no longer have
the capacity to support.
The Church of England is determined to ensure that every C of E
school is either good or outstanding, and to this end dioceses need
to build capacity and strengthen their schools family.
If the academies programme is a means of achieving this
aspiration, it should be embraced, and models developed that enable
groups to work together, sometimes sharing governors and, in some
cases, sharing a single head-teacher.
Such an approach does not depend on the academy route. With the
de-creasing influence of local authorities (due, in part, to the
reduction in their funding), schools are recognising the need to
formalise the collabora- tion and partnerships they already
enjoy.
A steady stream of community schools now want their diocese to
take a lead in developing local collaborative trusts to ensure a
level of co-operation and mutual support that serves the whole
community, not just the C of E schools within it.
Now is the moment for dioceses to offer the strength of their
schools family to the wider system. Relationships with community
schools should be welcomed, and the number of affiliated schools
increased; so that no one who wants to be part of the family of
Church of England schools is excluded.
Church of England schools continue to be popular with parents
who recognise that their distinctive and inclusive character, with
high expectations and a clear focus on Christian values, give their
children excellent life-chances.
Given the pressing need to provide more school places to meet
the demands of an expanding school population, the Church of
England can help to meet that demand by expanding places in popular
schools, and opening more schools where demand requires it. Free
schools provide a ready mechanism to do this, and a number of
dioceses are exploring how best to promote such schools.
Two hundred years ago, the founders of the National Society
sought to provide education for whole communities, particularly for
the disadvantaged. That is still the Church of England focus,
whatever the category of school, and whatever the structures,
trusts, or academy status. The changing educational landscape is an
opportunity to respond for the good of the children the Church of
England serves.
The Revd Nigel Genders is Head of School Policy for the
Church of England's Board of Education.
The revolution in higher
education