Assessing student attitude toward Christianity in Church in Wales primary schools: Does aided status make a difference?

As a consequence of the 1944 Education Act church schools were given the choice of opting for voluntary controlled status or for voluntary aided status. In voluntary aided status the Church had more control but carried greater costs. Within England and Wales this distinction is still maintained. This study measures the attitude toward Christianity of 4,581 year 4, 5 and 6 students (8- to 11-years of age) attending 87 Church in Wales primary schools, and compares the responses of 1,678 students attending controlled schools with the responses of 2,903 students attending aided schools. After controlling for sex, age and frequency of church attendance, voluntary aided status is associated with a more positive attitude toward Christianity. In other words, aided status does make a difference to the attitudinal dimension of students’ religiosity

How students perceive attending Church in Wales primary schools: A psychometric assessment of Section 50 inspection criteria

A sample of 4,581 year 4, year 5 and year 6 students (8-11 years of age) attending Church in Wales primary schools completed six short scales designed to operationalise the Section 50 inspection criteria concerning aspects of the distinctiveness of church school ethos and concerning school worship. The data demonstrated the internal consistency reliability of the six measures and showed more positive attitudes to be associated with being female, being younger, and attending church. Overall the students displayed positive attitudes toward school ethos, toward school experience, toward school teachers, toward relationships within school, and toward school and environment. Attitude toward school worship was less positive

Engaging the student voice in dialogue with Section 50 inspection criteria in Church in Wales primary schools: A study in psychometric assessment

The inspection criteria for schools with a religious character within the state-maintained system in England and Wales require the sponsoring body to report on aspects of the distinctiveness of the school ethos and on school worship. This paper argues that the inspection process could be enhanced by taking into account the student voice on these areas. The paper then reports on a pilot study conducted among 1,899 students between the ages of 9 and 11 years, attending year-five and year-six classes within Church in Wales primary schools. On the basis of this pilot study six short scales were constructed to assess student attitude toward: school ethos, school experience, school teachers, relationships in school, school environment, and school worship. The data reported satisfactory internal consistency reliability for each of the six scales. The scales are commended for further application

Assessing the impact of the Student Voice Project on shaping the ethos of Anglican primary schools: A study focusing on the Diocese of Llandaff

The inspection criteria for schools with a religious character within the state-maintained system in England and Wales require the sponsoring body to arrange assessment on aspects of the distinctiveness of the school ethos and on school worship. The Student Voice Project was designed to include year-five and year-six students in this process. Within the Diocese of Llandaff, the Diocesan Director of Education utilised the customised reports prepared at the end of the first year of the survey for schools participating in the project with the senior leadership teams in order to enhance school improvement and effectiveness. The present study compares the responses of the 1,192 students participating in year one of the survey with the responses of the 1,111 students from the same 23 schools participating in year two. These data show a significant overall increase in scores recorded on the five six-item scales designed to measure student attitude toward five areas of ethos. No significant difference was recorded on the five-item scale designed to measure student attitude toward school worship. These findings suggest that the Student Voice Project, effectively implemented by the Diocesan Director of Education, had significant impact on the participating schools

Sustaining churchgoing young Anglicans in England and Wales: assessing influence of the home

Responding to the problem facing the Church of England, as identified by the Church Growth Research Programme, regarding sustaining churchgoing young Anglicans, and also responding to the Renewal and Reform agenda to address this problem, the present study discusses the roles of three agencies in delivering effective Christian education and Christian formation: local churches, local schools, and the home. Building on a fruitful stream of research within Australia and the UK, the present study drew on two samples of young Anglicans: 2,019 9- to 11-year-old students attending church primary schools in Wales, and 2,323 13- to 15-year-old students attending church secondary schools mainly in England. The data demonstrated that young Anglicans who practised their Anglican identity by attending church did so primarily because their parents were Anglican churchgoers. Moreover, young Anglican churchgoers were most likely to keep going to church if their churchgoing parents (especially mother) talked with them about their faith. The implications from these findings, for an Anglican Church strategy for ministry among children and young people, is that alongside resourcing local churches and promoting deeply Christian schools, it may also be wise for the Church to invest in the education and formation of churchgoing Anglican parents

The teenage religion and values survey in England and Wales : an overview

The Teenage Religion and Values Survey was conducted throughout the 1990s among young people between the ages of 13 and 15 years. A total of 33,982 young people took part in the survey. As the next phase of this research begins for the twenty-first century this paper looks back at the survey conducted in the 1990s and considers two aspects of the research. First, this paper considers the methodology behind designing such a survey. Second, this paper considers some of the insights generated by the survey under five headings: personality, spiritual health, religious affiliation, belonging without believing, and church leaving

Preparing for inspection in a church school The second round

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:97/25773 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Small schools

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:96/01117 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Church schools A guide for governors

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Teaching secondary RE at faith schools in England and Wales: listening to the teachers

The present study begins by distinguishing between three kinds of ‘faith schools’ (known as schools with a religious character) within England and Wales: faith schools that operate within the state-maintained sector and had their origin in voluntary church-related initiatives prior to the Education Act 1870; ‘traditional’ independent faith schools, many of which had their roots in or before the nineteenth century; and ‘new’ independent faith schools, particularly Christian and Muslim schools, following the Rochester initiative in 1969. Second, the present study draws attention to and summarises a quantitative research tradition established in 1982 concerned with identifying the attitudes and values of teachers working specifically within Anglican faith schools within the state-maintained sector, and with modelling the influence of personal and religious factors in shaping their attitudes. Third, the present study reanalyses a new database profiling the views of subject leaders in religious education (RE) across a broad range of secondary schools with a religious character in England. These new analyses demonstrate the different priorities given to different aims of RE by teachers in this sector, and illustrates the relative influence of personal factors (age, sex, and church attendance), professional factors (years teaching, qualifications, and continuing professional development) and contextual factors (type of school) in shaping these priorities. The main findings are that personal and professional factors are largely irrelevant compared with the type of school. The aims of RE promoted within the new independent faith schools are largely indistinguishable from those within Church of England schools within the state-maintained sector. Compared with state-maintained Church of England schools, state-maintained Roman Catholic schools gave less priority in RE to promoting personal and social values, to promoting religious and spiritual nurture, and to promoting community cohesion