|PIC1|The Archbishop of Canterbury has denied that Church of England schools are socially exclusive at a major church schools conference Tuesday.

Dr Rowan Williams stressed at the conference, Church Schools: Faith in the Future, that church schools are inclusive and that the schools continue to serve children in deprived areas.

“The often forgotten fact that church schools are the main educational presences in some of our most deprived communities means that it simply cannot be said that these schools somehow have a policy of sanitising or segregating,” he said.

Dr Williams’ statement was backed up by statistical evidence from a recent ORB poll released yesterday to coincide with the key conference.

The poll revealed widespread support for Church of England schools, with seven out of ten people, and 62 per cent of respondents from non-Christian faith groups, agreeing that Church of England schools play a positive role in educating the nation’s children.

The Rev. Canon John Hall, the Church’s chief education officer and conference presider, said: “I am encouraged by this level of support. Church schools are inclusive and truly serve a diverse range of communities.

“This is a core part of the Church of England’s commitment to the whole nation, a commitment to offering quality education with a distinctively ethos.”

|QUOTE|The figures also highlighted the diversity of Church of England secondary schools in admitting particularly high proportions of Black African and Caribbean students, with almost double the percentage of students from these minority groups enrolled in Church schools as in other state schools.

While most church schools have abolished parent interviews as a means of selection, Dr Williams also called at the conference for a more standardised admissions policy to be introduced across Church of England schools to ensure flexibility and social inclusion beyond postcode selection.

The Archbishop of Canterbury also warned the roughly 400 delegates against the danger of the “educational ghettoism” and growth of sectarian private schools that may develop from a purely secular approach to education.

The Archbishop’s calls were supported by Canon Hall, who said: “The challenge is to sort out a clear and objective admissions policy for the Church’s schools. It is one that I am sure we will take very seriously.”

Church of England schools’ admissions policies were defended by Jacqui Smith MP, Minister of State for Schools and 14 – 19 Learners, who also spoke at the conference, organised by the Church of England together with the Church in Wales.
She said: “Church of England schools’ admissions policies and community engagement set an excellent example to other schools, especially other faith schools.

|TOP|“In fact I want to see more faith schools adopting like-minded policies and sharing your commitment to serving the whole community, not just others of their own faith,” she told the conference.

She welcomed the ‘community cohesion’ and inclusiveness that can result from faith schools working together.

“I want to see more of this,” she said. “I want to see faith schools working with other local schools to bring children of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds together.

“And I want to see them making the most of their important role promoting understanding between different sections of our society.”

The conference also saw the launch of the new National Institute for Christian Education Research (NICER) to be based in Canterbury Christ Church University.

General Synod will debate admissions criteria and aspects of the new Education Bill, which will outlaw parent interviews in the admissions process, in July.