New schools policy may fail to deliver improved results
Posted: 14 May 2010
The new government’s aim to implement the Conservatives’ 'free schools' plan promises parents, teachers, churches and other community groups greater choice and influence over children’s education. However, plans to fund 220,000 extra school places need urgent clarification or else they could absurdly result in less choice, as new schools may enjoy fewer freedoms than existing ones.
Faith schools currently make up a third of all state-funded schools in England, are often over-subscribed and, as judged by Ofsted inspection gradings, play an important and positive role in both promoting community cohesion and equality of opportunity whilst taking positive steps in eliminating discrimination. Ahead of the election, the Conservatives stated their commitment to opening more faith schools, although also suggested that these will be ‘non-selective’. The LibDems agreed that suitably qualified people and charities should be able to establish new schools but claimed allowing such schools to be free of local authority control would be 'a disaster for standards.'
The promise of flexibility over the national curriculum raises new opportunities for faith schools in creating teaching resources with a Christian, relational message at their heart, rather than tacked on as a corrective afterwards. However, a Jubilee Centre report urges the new Government to clarify how parents and other stakeholders in pupils’ education will be responsible for school operation in practice, whilst retaining a safety net of accountability to maintain standards and, where necessary, prevent unsuitable applications.
If the new schools have to be non-selective with respect to both pupil intake and staff appointment, then it raises questions both about what we understand a faith school to be and for existing faith schools funded by the state. Depending on what the coalition government actually proposes, it could close the door for parents and teachers interested in establishing particular types of school.
Despite research suggesting that faith schools may promote community cohesion and equality of opportunity more than non-faith schools, further study is needed into the nature and effect of different types of faith schools, and what they each contribute to education. A distinction should be made between those who see their distinctiveness in terms of: how the school's Christian community impacts pupils’ own identity; the wellbeing and spiritual development of the whole child, regardless of their membership of the Christian faith community; a moral and ethical framework for character formation and promoting civic values; and its contribution to pupil performance through beneficial learning habits.
The charity’s senior researcher, Dr Guy Brandon observed, 'One educationalist told the Jubilee Centre, "if the proposals are delivered as they stand, they will represent the most significant shift in educational policy for 50 years." All the same, a market-driven model of education to raise academic achievement can be unsustainable and harmful to teachers and pupils.'
The charity’s policy assessment, New Academies, New Opportunities, questions whether attempts to turn around failing schools should start by using proven and cheaper relational solutions like federation with other local schools and community engagement, rather than immediate replacement with an Academy.
Executive Director Dr John Hayward also warns that the inspection framework currently holds undue influence over school organisation and management, and is interested solely in academic performance. He suggests a need for broader value-added measures of ‘success’, such as pupil behaviour, exclusion rates, rates of alcohol and drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and crime, and levels of community engagement, such as through volunteering and the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
The report also calls for the creation of a set of resources to help those setting up new schools, particularly given the specific requirements and rules around faith schools.