Senior Staff Recruitment in Faith Schools

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Clive D. Field

Recruitment to senior staff posts in Anglican and – especially – Catholic faith schools continues to be more problematical than average according to the sixteenth annual report on The State of the Labour Market for Senior Staff in Schools in England and Wales, prepared for the National Association of Head Teachers by John Howson and Almut Sprigade of Education Data Surveys at TSL Education Ltd.

The document analyses the outcomes for 1,499 posts on the Leadership scale (head teachers, deputy head teachers and assistant head teachers) advertised by publicly-funded schools in England and Wales between September 2009 and April 2010. Results are presented for each level of post separately for secondary, primary and special schools, and also by type of control of school (including Church of England and Roman Catholic).

Although the authors note ‘some signs of possible improvement’ in 2009-10, they remain critical of the persistent failure, over the past decade, of some dioceses to give adequate attention to the issue of succession planning for school leadership and imply that these shortcomings have not been exposed to the ‘intense public scrutiny’ to which local authorities would have been subject. The failure is particularly manifest in the high proportion of faith school posts which have to be readvertised.

For detailed figures and commentary, see:

http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/resources/key-topics/leadership/unfilled-posts-leave-profession-on-knife-edge/

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Roman Catholic School Statistics

Posted on October 11, 2010 by Clive D. Field

Roman Catholic schools have long formed a key part of the state school system in Great Britain, accounting for about one in ten of all maintained school places in England and Wales. These schools receive 100% of their running costs and 90% of their capital funding from the state.

Over and above any reporting which these schools have to make to Government, there has been a much more detailed annual census of Roman Catholic schools, teachers and pupils carried out from within the Church since 1959, successively by the Newman Demographic Survey (NDS), Catholic Education Council and Catholic Education Service (CES) for England and Wales.

The results of these censuses were substantively published until the CES assumed responsibility for their administration. Although the CES has latterly issued digests for 2007 and 2008, it has allegedly declined researcher access to all its school statistics for 1992-2006 and to the unpublished data for 2007 and subsequent years.

One researcher who has regularly sought access to these hidden data has been Tony Spencer, founder of the NDS and currently Honorary Secretary of the Pastoral Research Centre (PRC), of which the present writer is also a non-Catholic trustee. Tony’s overall contribution to the development of Catholic statistics is summarized at:

http://www.brin.ac.uk/commentary/drs/appendix7/index.html

Tony has now written up the full story of his (as yet unsuccessful) attempts to persuade the CES to grant access to these school census data in a paper published by Russell-Spencer Ltd on 8 October and entitled Secrecy in the Catholic Church: The Case of Catholic School Statistics in England and Wales (ISBN 978 1 905270 52 1).

Copies of this paper, and of an accompanying press release, are available from Tony Spencer, Stone House, Hele, Taunton, Somerset, TA4 1AJ; telephone 01823 46169; email sociorelresearch@ukonline.co.uk

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Daybreak Surveys Religion

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Clive D. Field

Daybreak is the new breakfast television programme for the ITV network, anchored by Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley and launched on 6 September.

It has made an early entry into surveying public opinion by commissioning YouGov to run a poll on various aspects of religion.

Fieldwork was conducted online on 12-13 September among a representative sample of 2,108 adults aged 18 and over. Full data tabulations are available at:

http://today.yougov.co.uk/sites/today.yougov.co.uk/files/YG-Archives-Life-YouGov-DaybreakReligion-130910.pdf

Asked ‘Do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion?’, only 49% replied in the affirmative, which must be one of the lowest levels of religious affiliation ever recorded in British polling history. 45% said they did not belong to any religion.

The 49% certainly is in stark contrast to the figure of 82% obtained in the recently-published Citizenship Survey for 2008-09 in response to the question: ‘What is your religion even if you are not currently practising?’

Even allowing for variations in methodology and question-wording, a discrepancy of 33% between two surveys is huge, underlying the challenges in measuring this most basic dimension of religiosity. BRIN will return to this topic at a future date.

Women were more likely to profess a religion than men, older people rather than the young, the ABC1s more than the C2DEs, and Londoners more than the rest of the country.

The age effect was very marked. Whereas 60% of the over-60s were attached to a religion, the figure was only 36% for the 18-29s. Indeed, 20% more of the 18-29s did not belong to a religion than did, while for the over-60s 27% more belonged than not.

Among those who regarded themselves as belonging to a religion, a majority (55%) claimed to be Anglican, 18% Roman Catholic, 13% Free Church (including Presbyterian), 7% to belong to the major non-Christian faiths and 7% to other groups.

Most (78%) agreed that it was not necessary to attend religious services to be religious, although opinion was more balanced (38% agreeing, 34% disagreeing) when respondents were asked whether regular attenders were more religious than non-attenders.

Quizzed about marriage, just 3% opposed inter-faith marriage, most having no strong opinion on the subject. Of married persons, 55% had held the ceremony in a church, including 40% of those without a religion (albeit some unwillingly), and a further 13% would have liked to marry in church but had not.

Overall, in selecting a school for their children, few (9%) attached importance to the religion of the school, Catholics (36%) and Londoners (17%) being the main exceptions.   

68% agreed with the proposition that Christianity has been pushed to the sidelines in modern Britain. The figure was naturally highest for Christians (80%), but even 63% of those without a religion agreed.

Senior religious leaders (not specified in the question) were not respected by 56% of all adults, 20% more than held them in respect. For those with a religion, 53% held religious leaders in respect and 40% not, for those without a religion 20% and 73%.

27% considered that religious leaders spoke out too much about important issues affecting society, 19% the right amount and 35% too little. Those with a faith (43%) and the over-60s (40%) most wanted religious leaders to be more vociferous.

Asked about the papal visit, 17% supported it, 29% opposed it and 49% were neutral. Support was greatest among Catholics (54%) and opposition among those with no religion (37%).

79% (including 82% of Catholics, 83% of the over-40s and 85% of Scots) wanted the Pope to apologize for the sexual abuse of children perpetrated by Catholic priests.

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Faith Schools

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Clive D. Field

ICM Research has just posted on its website the results of a ‘faith schools survey’ undertaken by telephone between 25 and 27 June 2010 among a representative sample of 1,003 adult Britons aged 18 and over. They were randomly selected from the BT database of domestic telephone numbers.

A somewhat incomplete set of detailed computer tabulations, with breaks by standard demographics, can be found at:

http://www.icmresearch.co.uk/pdfs/2010_august_c4_FaithSchools.pdf

The survey was commissioned by Barnes Hassid Productions, seemingly in connection with their production of Faith School Menace?, presented by the renowned atheist and evolutionary biologist Professor Richard Dawkins and broadcast on Channel 4 on 18 August. He is an arch-critic of faith schools and of government’s plans to expand them.

At the same time, the schools are popular with parents, albeit often for their supposedly better track-record on educational standards and discipline as much as for their religious advantages. There is a useful guide to the literature in Elizabeth Green, Mapping the Field: A Review of the Current Research Evidence on the Impact of Schools with a Christian Ethos, London: Theos, 2009.

Question 1 is not reported on ICM’s website, but it may possibly have been about the principle of state funding of faith schools, in which case the answers can be inferred from elsewhere in the tables as: 50% for, 45% against, 5% undecided.

Question 2 is likewise not recorded in detail but shows up as a variable in analysing Question 3. It asked: ‘Which, if any, of the following would you be prepared to do in order to obtain a school place for your child at your preferred local school?’

The options, with those replying yes, were: buy a property within the school’s catchment area (52%); rent a property within the school’s catchment area (40%); regularly attend the place of worship of a religion you do believe in (50%); regularly attend the place of worship of a religion you do not believe in (7%); none of these (26%).

Question 3 related to instances where parents had pretended to belong to a religion in order to get their child into a faith school. Three-fifths of respondents thought this was wrong, while 37% said that parents could not be blamed for doing whatever they could to get their child into their preferred school.

Apart from majorities of 18-24s (51%) and students (54%) not blaming parents, demographic differences were not notable, even between those with and without a religious affiliation. However, 57% of those who were willing to attend a place of worship they did not believe in also exonerated parents for playing the system.

Question 4 tested opinions on whether children should have a daily religious assembly and prayers as part of their education (a requirement introduced for all schools by the Education Act 1944). Here views were split straight down the middle, 45% agreeing and 44% disagreeing.

Most in favour were adults aged 65 and over (65%) and those with a religion (56%). Most opposed were the irreligious (66%) and those who objected to the state funding of faith schools (55%).

Question 5 concerned government plans to expand faith schools, including Muslim ones (which were specifically mentioned). 59% felt that schools should be for everyone, regardless of religion, and that the government should not fund faith schools of any kind.

This position was held particularly by men (64%), Scots (66%), the irreligious (73%), and those who had said that the state should not fund faith schools (82%) or who disagreed that there should be a daily religious assembly (68%).

A further 27% (rising to 44% among those who supported state-funded faith schools) accepted the logic that, if there are Anglican, Catholic and Jewish state-funded schools, there should be Muslim ones, also, but 10% were hostile to Muslim schools even though they conceded that faith schools were an important part of the educational system. This 10% varied little between demographic sub-groups.

Five years ago, when ICM posed the identical question for The Guardian, 64% believed that state schools should be for everyone and opposed state-funded faith schools, 25% agreed that there should be Muslim state schools and 8% were clear that the government should not be funding Muslim schools. So, on this specific measure, there have been only marginal shifts in public opinion over time.

All in all, the role of religion in education remains somewhat divisive. As can be seen from the BRIN database, a fair number of surveys has been conducted which touch on the issue of faith schools, but their outcomes are rather dependent upon the question-wording (and, to an extent, the client paying for the poll). Not unexpectedly, people can take a different position at the level of principle than when confronted by a scenario which might directly impact their own child(ren).

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Attitudes to new academy faith schools

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Siobhan McAndrew

The Academies Act 2010 is well underway, having received its Second Reading in the House of Commons on Monday 19 July, and with Education Select Committee days due this week.

A number of private and state religious schools have indicated interest in becoming state-funded academies, among about 1500 schools overall so far. For comparative purposes, the January 2009 Schools Census suggested there were 17,064 state primaries and 3,361 state secondaries in England.

The full list of schools indicating interest is available at the Department for Education website, and is updated intermittently. The list does not indicate directly which are schools ‘of a religious character’ – the British Humanist Association estimates that it is ‘over 300’.

The BHA has suggested that schools with a nominal faith tradition (such as Anglican primary schools without a strong faith ethos) will have no provision to change religious character to ‘none’ when becoming academies, even if the Governing Body were in favour.

However, non-faith schools will be able to adopt a religious character when becoming academies – perhaps under the influence of governors or potential sponsors – and this may lead to a proliferation of new faith schools. Its additional concern is that academies with a strong faith character will be freed from National Curriculum strictures, specifically with regard to the teaching of creationism and sex and reproduction.

The BHA commissioned a poll on public attitudes to the religious character of future academies, available here.

67% of respondents thought faith academies should be required to teach about other beliefs including non-religious beliefs. 23% did not, and 11% of respondents didn’t know.

The survey also asked,

‘If an academy were set up by a religious organisation, would you be very, quite, not very or not at all concerned that public money may be used to promote a particular religion or belief?’

35% were very concerned, 36% quite concerned, 16% not very concerned, 5% not at all concerned, and 7% didn’t know.

The survey was conducted 9-11 July 2010, by online interview, with 2000 respondents. The full polling report will be shortly available at http://www.icmresearch.co.uk/media-centre.php

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Christian Schools and Social Selectivity

Posted on April 17, 2010 by Clive D. Field

A new report from the Sutton Trust suggests that Christian state secondary schools in England are more socially selective than their secular counterparts.

Entitled Worlds Apart: Social Variation among Schools, it has been prepared by Alan Smithers and Pamela Robinson of the Centre for Education and Employment Research, University of Buckingham.

It will be found at: http://www.suttontrust.com/reports/Worlds_apart.pdf

The researchers have used a new indicator developed by the Department of Communities and Local Government. This is the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI), which plots the proportion of children in defined areas who are in families in receipt of income support.

These IDACI data have enabled them to calculate a Social Selectivity Index for each maintained secondary school. A high score indicates that a school takes fewer pupils from income deprived homes than would be expected from the locality, a low score that it takes an above average number.

For the large category of 2,679 comprehensive schools, the mean social selectivity score was 497.0. However, for 140 Church of England schools it was 520.1, for 308 Roman Catholic schools 507.2 and for 22 other Christian schools 515.9. The 14 non-Christian schools scored 482.3 and 2,195 non-faith schools 494.1.

The results of this survey could well restoke the fires of debate about faith schools in this country, especially as regards their perceived social divisiveness.

The Sutton Trust was founded in 1997 by Sir Peter Lampl with the aim of promoting social mobility through education. It is particularly concerned with breaking the link between educational opportunities and family background.

Those seeking to learn more about faith schools more generally might like to read Elizabeth Green, Mapping the Field: A Review of the Current Research Evidence on the Impact of Schools with a Christian Ethos (London: Theos, 2009, ISBN 978 0 9562182 0 9, £10).

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Jewish Schools in Redbridge

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Clive D. Field

The current issue (12 March 2010) of the Jewish Chronicle includes an article by Simon Rocker on the results of a survey of parents of Jewish pupils attending the three Jewish schools (two primary, one high) in the London borough of Redbridge. It will be found at:

http://www.thejc.com/node/29309

According to the survey, commissioned by the Jewish Leadership Council, the overwhelming majority of Jewish parents are willing to accept the admission of non-Jewish children to Jewish schools.

Roughly one-half approve the admission of non-Jewish pupils up to 10% of the school roll, with one-quarter up to 25%. The remaining one-quarter deem it unacceptable to admit non-Jewish children.

In general, there is strong support for Jewish schools among Jewish parents, although fewer than two-fifths make voluntary contributions to support Jewish studies, in line with the recommendation of the Jewish Leadership Council’s Commission on Jewish Schools in 2008.

The survey (the full report on which is not yet online) is of particular interest from two perspectives.

First, there has been a recent test legal case, which went to the Supreme Court, concerning admissions policies at JFS, a Jewish school in another London borough (Brent).

Second, Redbridge is an area where there is a diminishing Jewish population, meaning that there will be insufficient Jewish children to fill an increasing number of Jewish school places, as warned by the Jewish Leadership Council’s 2008 Commission.

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Examination Performance of Muslim Schools

Posted on February 28, 2010 by Clive D. Field

The current issue (No. 250, 26 February 2010) of The Muslim News, the independent monthly newspaper for Muslims in the UK, features a league table of the 2009 GCSE (and equivalent) examination performance of 1,683 students attending 63 Muslim schools and colleges, of which just five are voluntary-aided.

The league table shows that Muslim schools surpass national GCSE averages in two important respects. In modern foreign languages 71% of students at these schools and colleges attained at least one A* to C grade, 26% higher than the national average. The figure is 79% in boys’ schools, 71% in girls’ schools and 59% in co-educational Muslim schools.

The number of Muslim students attaining five or more GCSE passes at A* to C grade is, at 61%, 11% higher than the national average. The figure is 65% for boys’ schools, 63% for girls’ schools and 50% for co-educational Muslim schools.

Additionally, with the exception of the average point score per student, it is said that Muslim schools outperform the national average in all the other indicators. All but nine of the schools and colleges had every student achieve at least one GCSE qualification.

An article by Elham Asaad Buaras containing an analysis of the league table is freely available online at:

http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/paper/index.php?article=4516

However, the full league table may only be consulted in the print edition of the newspaper, which may be purchased for £2 from The Muslim News, PO Box 380, Harrow, Middlesex, HA2 6LL.

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