Thousands of faith
schools in England could become academies in the next few years, a
leading Church of England bishop is predicting.
Both the Church of England and the Catholic church had been
cautious about their schools making the change but have now drawn up
policies for it.
The Bishop of Oxford told the Times Educational Supplement (Tes) there would be a "major shift".
About one third of schools in England are faith schools.
According to the Tes, the Right Reverend John Pritchard
believes up to seven in 10 Church of England schools could become
academies in the next five years.
The government ultimately wants all state-funded schools in
England to become academies - meaning they would be semi-independent,
with greater control over the curriculum, the school day and pay and
conditions of staff.
The government also gives academies money which would
previously have been spent on their behalf by local councils to provide
certain services.
A few church schools have already applied for or converted to academy status.
'Wither on the vine'
The bishop, who is chairman of the Church of England's Board
of Education, told the Tes: "In the long run there will be a major
shift to academies because it is what the government is determined shall
be.
"The local education authority is going to wither on the vine
in many cases. We will be part of that whole movement but have to make
sure there is still a family relationship (between schools) as we go
through this process."
Both the Church of England and the Catholic Church were
initially cautious about advocating or supporting schools' conversion to
academy status and have been talking to the government about the
arrangements for this.
They had been concerned about land ownership - in case there
was a danger of land being lost to the state - and feared that academy
status might damage schools' links with their dioceses.
But both now appear satisfied and are drawing up strategies.
'Free-for-all'
Rob Gwynne, head of school development for the Church of
England, said: "With all these large scale changes in mind the Church of
England's education division is actively creating the capacity and the
model to ensure the smooth transition and effective continuance of our
work.
"We are working closely with the Department of Education to ensure the important position of the church school system."
The Catholic Church recently said its schools could become academies "subject to further discussion with ministers".
It said decisions on whether schools became academies would
not be taken at a national level, but locally, by bishops in individual
dioceses.
It is particularly keen to look at arrangements where a cluster of schools works together in a single Academy Trust.
The church's position was set out in a statement by the Right Reverend Malcolm McMahon.
He said: "We are not in favour of a free-for-all in which
some institutions flourish whilst others wither, for our schools ...are
part of a family both of Catholic schools and the wider landscape of
schools. We do not seek to turn our schools into businesses.
"We are also aware of the legislative safeguards that have
applied to our schools for many years; we have therefore sought parity
with those safeguards and protection for our assets. We are feeling
more confident that this can be achieved."
The executive director of the National Secular Society Keith
Porteous Wood said: "A mass conversion of voluntary controlled schools
into entirely self-governing academies freed from the moderating
influence of local authorities will be the churches' dream and most
parents' nightmare.
"It is a betrayal of the nation's children to give the churches so much control of our publicly-funded education system."