Schools

The Diocesan Board of Education values each of it's schools and offers the support of a professional and successful team of officers, which includes:

• the Director
• School Advisers
• Premises Officers
• Admissions Officer
• RE Specialists
• Administrative Specialists

In addition to easy access to all of the specialists each school has a named School Adviser. The Diocese offers all new heads and deputies opportunities for training in issues relating to church schools. Headteachers are offered school support visits during their first weeks in post and regularly thereafter. The Diocese also offers regular support, training and visits for governors, staff and NQTs.

Staff time is mainly spent on:

• appointment and support of headteachers, and support for governors
• advice on religious education and acts of worship
• consultation on any changes to schools
• assistance with maintenance and improvement of aided schools
• transfer of educational trust funds from closed schools
• use of educational trust funds for aided school buildings
• liaison with Bracknell, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, and Wokingham local education authorities
• representation on scrutiny committees, school organisation committees, school admissions forums, school forums and SACREs for each local education authority
• attendance at LEA committees concerning religious education
• liaison with the Department for Education and Skills
• liaison with other national bodies, eg the National College for School Leadership
• support in raising standards before and after inspection
• pastoral support for staff.

Most of our schools were established under trusts to provide education for the 'poor of the parish' with teaching according to the Church of England – before Parliament allowed, in 1870, the establishment of board, and later county, schools to provide free education. The school managers or governors were responsible for all costs relating to the school buildings. From 1833 the state provided an increasing amount of financial assistance, mainly for the payment of teachers.

The national need for the expansion of education beyond the means of many governing bodies was met in the Education Act 1944, which enabled voluntary schools to become either:

Controlled by the local education authority (LEA), which meets all the costs of the school, with a minority of church foundation governors and church trustees holding the school site and buildings under educational trusts, or

Aided,for which the local education authority meets most of the running costs, including teachers' pay, but the governors, of whom a majority are church foundation governors, have responsibility for improvements to the school buildings and maintenance of the exterior fabric, and can claim 90% of these costs back from DfES.

New legislation introduced in September 2000 has enabled all schools to seek a change of category if they so wish, and since then, 15 controlled schools have become aided.

Religious education in aided schools is under the control of the governing body in accordance with the school's trust deed, but in controlled schools is according to the agreed syllabus, which also applies to all county schools. Arrangements for the act of collective worship in both aided and controlled schools shall be made by the governing body after consulting the headteacher, taking account of each school's trust deed. The Education Reform Act 1988 has considerably increased the responsibilities of governors and headteachers, particularly regarding the introduction of local management of schools and the requirement that the curriculum, including religious education and religious worship, (a) 'promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society', and (b) 'prepares such pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life'.

The 1991 Board of Education Measure has brought up-to-date the statutory duties of the Diocesan Board. The Education Act 2002 has for the first time made it a statutory duty for aided schools to consult the DBE about their admissions policies.

Our Mission Statement

The Diocesan Board of Education is committed to the education of the whole person to the fullest potential, to the development of moral and spiritual understanding, to the uniqueness of the individual and to the education of all within the maintained system.

It works within statutory education on behalf of the Diocese of Oxford. This commitment is to all schools and is expressed through the provision of a range of advice and support. Through its advisory services it promotes RE, Collective Worship and the spiritual development of pupils.

The Board supports Church Aided and Controlled schools in developing a Christian Vision of Education. It ensures that church schools are provided with specialist support for building development and legal matters. Within the Diocese, the Board promotes church related education and provides advice for clergy, governors and parishes in support of their schools.

The Vision and Priorities of the Diocese and the pastoral role of the Church underpin all its tasks.

Bracknell
Buckinghamshire
Milton Keynes
Oxfordshire
Reading
Slough
West Berkshire
Windsor & Maidenhead
Wokingham