bath & wells: services for children and young people
schools & colleges

Governors & Changing Lives

Most governors are probably aware that a number of governor training courses are run by the Diocese of Bath & Wells at the Old Deanery in Wells, but not all may know that we have a statutory responsibility for governance at all Church of England schools, both voluntary aided and voluntary controlled.

At present we are busy with the business of reconstitution, but there are two major initiatives that are shaping both our strategic approach to governance and our day-to-day work. These are Bishop Peter Price's Green Paper 'Changing Lives', and Somerset's Area Planning work on school organisation.

'Changing Lives' looks at new models of church within the Diocese of Bath & Wells and seeks to inspire the changes necessary for today's church to respond to changes in society. The central pillar of these changes is the formation of Local Ministry Groups in place of the traditional parochial structure, and a key player on each group will be a representative from the school community, very possibly a governor.

Within the Diocese, some 51% of all primary aged and 13% of secondary aged children attend a church school. In essence that means 35,000 children are regularly involved in Christian worship at schools, as opposed to the 27,500 attending church on Sundays. The question 'Are schools churches?' has become a central one for the Diocese and foundation governors have a pivotal role to play.

In recognition of this we recently ran a very successful Affirmation Day for foundation governors, exploring their unique role not just on the governing body, but also as a bridge between the school and the wider church community. We were able to assure them that they had a specific duty to not just maintain but also develop the Christian nature of the school, as enshrined within the trust deed and stated in the ethos statement sanctioned by the National Society and adopted, with some local adaptations, by virtually every church school in the diocese. This ethos statement acknowledges the historic foundation of the school and seeks to work in partnership with the church at both local and diocesan level, helping the school to develop in line with Christian teaching and principles.

Foundation governors can play a vital role within church schools already, and by affirming them in their unique role we are hoping to empower them to develop their work, particularly within the context of Changing Lives. Either appointed or nominated by the local Parochial Church Council, they are already a living link between the two worshipping communities of church and school, and with a falling number of clergy, such individuals have an ever more important part to play in facilitating communication, co-operation and joint working. A pooling of resources and expertise, enthusiasm and caring can only serve to enhance not only the school and church, but the whole of the local community.

This approach is also vital within the framework of Somerset's Area Planning. Already we have two church schools in the process of forming a formal federation, with a rapidly growing number of other schools poised to follow. Such federations can be the lifeblood of a continued school presence in rural communities, but what is certain is that it is the governors who are the key to making it work. I am delighted to say that the governors of Stogumber and Crowcombe schools were a model for the federation process, but technical questions on the size and composition of federated governing bodies still persist.

What is beyond question is the central role of the church school, and of the governors of such schools, within the community and within the Changing Lives agenda. What is also beyond question is the commitment of the Education Department at the Diocese of Bath & Wells to offer full support to our governors through this time of change.