Christian Distinctiveness and Values

In February 2017, the Church of England launched a new Vision for Education, saying,

‘This is a fresh articulation of the Church of England’s vision for education as we meet the challenges and take

the opportunities offered by the present situation. It is not simply for Church schools but, recognising the

Church of England’s involvement in education over many centuries, seeks to promote educational excellence

everywhere, for everyone. In Church schools the deeply Christian foundation for this vision will be seen

explicitly in teaching and learning both in RE and across the curriculum, and also in the authentically Christian

worship and ethos of those schools. In other schools which are not rooted in an explicit Christian ethos, our

vision for education can still be expressed and promoted as one of human flourishing that can inspire what

the school is and does.

The vision is deeply Christian, with the promise by Jesus of ‘life in all its fullness’ at its heart. It encompasses

schools, colleges, further and higher education, but in this initial articulation our focus is on schools; other

work will follow relating more specifically to colleges and universities.

Our vision embraces the spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, moral and social development of children

and young people. We offer a vision of human flourishing for all, one that embraces excellence and academic

rigour, but sets them in a wider framework. This is worked out theologically and educationally through four

basic elements which permeate our vision for education:

 Wisdom

 Hope

 Community

 Dignity

The vision, in line with the Church of England’s role as the established Church, is for the common good of

the whole human community and its environment, whether national, regional or local. It is hospitable to

diversity, respects freedom of religion and belief, and encourages others to contribute from the depths of

their own traditions and understandings. It invites collaboration, alliances, negotiation of differences, and the

forming of new settlements in order to serve the flourishing of a healthily plural society and democracy,

together with a healthily plural educational system’.

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