A storm in a chalice

This furore about the Church of England preparing to open the doors of its schools to the children of non-believers really is a media storm over nothing. Even the most casual observer of education history will appreciate that Anglican schools have always been there to serve the community in which they are located. Let's not forget that, before state provided education began in 1870 the only volume providers of schools were Anglicans' National Society and the non-conformists' British and Foreign Schools Society. The schools they built were to serve not the denomination but the nation. This was different for Jewish schools, established to support Jewish tradition and teaching among Jewish children and to help migrants to Anglicise. It was also different for the Roman Catholic schools, established from the early 20th century to uphold Catholicism among the mainly Irish migrant communities.

It has only been in relatively recent years that the Church of England has been in a position to be able to restrict admission to members of the Anglican communion, with a small percentage of open places. This is a Roman Catholic model that has always sat uneasily alongside the founding purpose of CofE schools. Several years ago the Archbishops Council resolved to create more open enrolment, taking us some way back to founding principles. The recent remarks by the Bishop of Oxford, as Chair of the CofE's Board of Education merely confirm this intention.

The move, of course, only relates to the minority of Church schools who have had the dubious luxury of being this selective. Many Aided - and all Controlled - schools simply serve their local community as the founding National Society intended.  The proposals make a lot of sense and represent what must be the future model of faith schools within a state-funded system. It really does no good for sneering popularists such as Toby Young to make capital from a return to first principles. He and the more scornful sections of the press are making much of not much.