Education in rural communities should be protected, says C of E

Countryside schools need a strategy to keep them funded and open, the Bishop of Ely has said.

Many rural schools are incredibly small, with staff and resources shortages.

In March, the Church of England produced a report on the state of rural schools and concluded that groups of small schools need to come together to help each other achieve “outstanding” in Ofsted inspections in their specific contexts, saying success for a city school looks very different to success for a school in the country. 

They also said that formal groupings would benefit the recruitment and retention of highly skilled staff in the area.

Stephen Conway, the Church of England’s lead bishop for Education and Bishop of Ely, has now called for a cross-Government rural strategy.

Bishop Stephen said: “We have been reassured that the Government has a presumption against the closure of rural schools, which is a positive foundation for the future.”

He added that he knew countryside communities were trying to collaborate to think about how technology can help rural schools.

“However, it is clear that these steps alone are insufficient, and an overarching rural strategy is now required for the issues facing our countryside communities to be seen together,” he said.

“Such an approach is needed not only to give longer-term stability to our education provision, but for housing, infrastructure, broadband,…