CHURCH of England schools are “calm and hopeful anchors” for youngsters of their communities, the Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, told C of E school leaders on the National Society’s annual conference on Friday.
She thanked the leaders for his or her commitment to constructing strong communities through which children could flourish, and for the Church’s own commitment to education for all.
“There are strong C of E trusts across the country constructing communities of colleges. And it’s the kids who profit,” she said. “So I need to thank all of you here today, from the underside of my heart: for the work you do, for the lives you alter.”
Children today faced growing pressures, from isolation to online abuse and the cost-of-living crisis. Schools have to be a part of “renew[ing] childhood” for all children, she said.
“My vision is a childhood rooted in community: communities of support for youngsters, from their first days on this planet all through to the primary steps of their profession. At the centre of those communities have to be you, schools.
“For young people, much of their connection to where they’re growing up should come through their school. I need schools to be calm and hopeful anchors of their communities.”
She spoke of the forthcoming Schools White Paper, which, she said, would support all children of their efforts to succeed, and would reach those that have disengaged from school and now not believed in the facility of education to remodel their lives.
She also thanked Canon Nigel Genders, who’s stepping down because the Church’s Chief Education Officer. He is becoming the Government’s Chief Schools Adjudicator next month (News, 28 November 2025).
More than a million children are educated in Church of England schools.
The conference was billed as a “festival of flourishing” to rejoice putting the humanities at the guts of youngsters’s development. There were performance workshops from, amongst others, the Royal Shakespeare Company. The day ended with a performance by Twyford C of E High School’s gospel choir.
