|PIC1|On the day of the first national teacher's strike for 21 years, Church Army Chief Executive Mark Russell spoke to around 100 head teachers on Leading a Church of England School in an age of celebrity and consumerism.

In a wide ranging speech and conviction based talk given at the Diocese of St Albans Church School Heads Day held last Thursday, Russell, a former youth leader, outlined the value of inspirational school leadership, and acknowledged the unique pressures head teachers face and the tremendous impact they have on the ethos and direction of the school.

At the heart of the talk was the importance of challenging the celebrity culture that 70% of teachers say is perverting children's aspirations and expectations, and Russell quoted examples from Channel 4's programmes Skins and Big Brother as influencing the behaviours of young people rather than presenting a dramatised reflection.

Russell went on to set out the importance of home life as essential to developing the moral compass of young people and called upon parents to take responsibility for their own children alongside specific action which schools could take to ensure it was educational and career aspiration rather than celebrity following that set the agenda for young people.

Russell, a passionate advocate of bringing all young people to an understanding of how they are loved and valued by God, called upon head teachers to "encourage a culture in our schools where young people can have space to talk about their concerns and problems", and offered a 5 point action plan to helping to lead Church of England schools in the age of celebrity.

1. Promote different role models

2. Foster a doing your best mentality

3. Show that God loves young people

4. Enable spiritual creativity

5. Encourage young people to dream.

Still believing and hoping that for young people who are confident in spirit that everything is still possible, Russell called upon the delegates to "raise up a generation of young people who have reflected on their spirituality, know they are loved and can believe their lives can make a difference".