Teacher training scheme started in Yorkshire could help find leaders of church schools

A TEACHER TRAINING programme started by two schools in Yorkshire could be rolled out nationally to help train future leaders of Church of England schools.
Brian CrosbyBrian Crosby
Brian Crosby

Around one million children attend Church of England schools, comprising 4,500 primaries and more than 200 secondary schools, many of which are led by heads who are not practising Christians.

A report in a national newspaper yesterday said that many schools are struggling to find school leaders with the “necessary understanding and commitment”.

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A Church of England Needs analysis report said that many dioceses are having to become more flexible around the requirement that head teachers need to be practising Christians.

The Yorkshire Post can now reveal that talks are ongoing about rolling out a training programme which started two years ago in Yorkshire to help train leaders of church schools.

The Ebor Teaching Schools Alliance, in York, and the Hallam Teaching School Alliance, in Sheffield, operate out of Manor CE Academy in York and Notre Dame High School respectively.

Two years ago they received funding from the National College for Teaching and Leadership to develop the Doulos programme. The course was designed to go alongside the headship qualification in preparing future leaders of both Church of England and Roman Catholic schools.

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The programme was backed by the dioceses of Bradford, Hallam, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Ripon, Sheffield, Wakefield and York. It is now in its third year and has supported more than 30 deputy heads and vice principals who were aspiring to become leaders of church schools.

Brian Crosby, the principal of Manor CE School, York, said that talks were taking place this week with the Church of England about whether the approach used in the programme could be rolled out.

He said: “One of the issues is that although the National Society of the Church of England is responsible for church schools, the dioceses are all separate.

“However I think there is a real commitment at diocesan level to want to do something about this. When I first started in 2002 as a leader of a church school there wasn’t really anything in place I spoke to a colleague which was very valuable but the course aims to get people to understand what is involved in leading a church school.”

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Mr Crosby said the course looked at issue of how a school carries out collective worship and how a school works in and with its community. Mr Crosby said if a teacher wanted to be a church school leader but was not a practicing Christian they would need to have an understanding of these issues.

Responding to the national report Rev Nigel Genders, the Church of England’s chief education officer, said a lack of effective leadership training for heads has led to the launch of a large-scale consultation about how to improve this.

Heads and teachers alike have also said they want more help and better training. Mr Genders said: “Church schools continue to be oversubscribed and popular with parents and pupils, opting for a Christian-based education whatever their own faith. Both community and church schools increasingly testify to difficulties in recruiting headteachers and our recent consultation has shown a strong desire for more support in training new leaders.