Two schools separated by a thin fence: one Christian and thriving, the other secular and striving. Proof, says the Church of England, of the superiority of a religious ethos. But is it really that simple? Julie Henry and Jon Slater investigate.
A Lancashire church school outperforms the community school next-door because of its religious ethos, the Church of England’s leading education officer has said.
Canon John Hall, general secretary of the Anglican board of education, has plunged into the controversy over the expansion of faith schools by comparing the superior standards at St Christopher’s high school in Accrington with those at neighbouring Moorhead.
Ministers have announced plans for more faith schools but teachers’ leaders, Labour activists and backbench MPs have argued that the policy could damage race relations and sow the seeds for dangerous social divisions.
In a Royal Society of Arts debate, Canon Hall held up St Christopher’s as a shining example of the value of faith schools. It beats next-door Moorhead in the league tables every year.
He said: “I can show you two schools next door to each other which are similar in many respects but one is a church school and one is a community school. The church school regularly outperforms the community school.”
His comments, which ignore clear differences between the two schools’ intakes, echo comments from ministers about the relatively high standards in faith schools.
School standards minister Stephen Timms has insisted that faith schools are doing “a very good job”.
But Mr Timms admitted in a recent Parliamentary answer that Church of England, Roman Catholic, Jewish and Sikh schools all have fewer pupils with special needs and fewer pupils eligible for free school meals than other schools.
Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society, said: “Faith schools, especially Anglican ones, with good results are generally those with a high proportion of relatively privileged parents.
“The schools’ ability to select allows them to cherry-pick pupils.”
On average, Church of England primary schools have 40 per cent fewer pupils eligible for free schools meals than secular schools. The figure for secondaries is 30 per cent, said Mr Timms.
Roman Catholic schools have a higher proportion eligible for free school meals than their Anglican counterparts but fewer with special needs statements. Jewish and Sikh schools both have an even lower proportion of disadvantaged pupils than Christian schools.
By contrast, Muslim schools have 50 per cent more pupils eligible for free school meals than secular schools and almost three times the proportion in Anglican schools. However, compared with secular schools, they only have a third as many pupils with special needs statements.
Canon Hall defended his comparison: “The difference in attainment of the intake in the two schools is not very different but the outcomes at GCSE are. The last thing I want to do is knock any particular school.
“I don’t think things like free school meals figures demonstrate why C of E schools are seen to have better outcomes.”
Graham Lane, education chair of the Local Government Association, said that giving schools control of their own admissions policies had resulted in covert selection. “Not all church schools do this but some are tolerant about admitting people who, when they reach age 11, suddenly start going to church.”
Recent research by John Marks for the right-wing Institute for the Study of Civil Society showed that church schools often get worse results than should be expected.
Dr Marks found “staggeringly large variations in average standards” and questioned whether the number of church schools should be increased.
The Government’s White Paper published earlier this term endorsed a report by Lord Dearing which calls for 100 new Anglican secondaries.
Parliamentary questions, 31
