About The National Society (Church of England) for Promoting Religious Education

Leading Education with Christian Purpose

200 Years of Supporting Christian Education

When it was founded in 1811, the National Society's aim was that "the National Religion should be made the foundation of National Education": education for all, firmly based on the Christian Gospel and Anglican principles. With prodigious energy, the Society established a national system of education, supplemented by the State from 1870 onwards. Five thousand Church of England and Church in Wales schools, educating almost a million children and young people, are the heirs of that proud tradition. For more information about the Society's history, read the History page.

Today, Church schools have effective support from many national and local bodies including LEAs and Diocesan Boards of Education. But The National Society still exists to inform and encourage Church schools throughout England and Wales and to promote Christian education. It does so through careful reflection on the needs of Church schools and through targeted innovation.

A small committed staff team works under the direction of the National Society Council, which represents Church schools, diocesan directors of education (in England and Wales) and the Society's membership.

The Society shares a chairman and chief education officer, as well as other staff, with the Church of England's Education Division. The staff are in a unique position to offer a national Church vision on education matters through their contact with government networks and agencies, such as the DfES, OFSTED, QCA, and TTA. Staff also maintain links with schools and further and higher education institutions within Europe and the Anglican Communion worldwide

In recent years The National Society:

• has set up a joint company with the Government, Partnerships for Church of England Schools, to unlock public and private funds for the rebuilding of Church of England schools;
  
  
• has innovated on the Internet, now providing a wealth of resources, inspiration and information for Church schools (and others worldwide) on the free-access web site www.natsoc.org.uk (now including material from the former subscription site www.churchschools.co.uk);
  
  
• helped fund Lord Dearing's recent review of Church schools (The Way ahead: Church of England schools in the new millennium) and the associated video The Challenge of a Lifetime (available on loan from diocesan offices) and is supporting its implementation;
  
  
• established the inspection system for Church schools (under Section 23 of the 1996 Act) and continues to develop the inspection framework and to train and register Church school inspectors.

The National Society will continue:

• to offer a legal and management advice service for governors and headteachers of Church schools and diocesan education teams;
  
  
• to promote a wide range of publications supporting Church schools and teachers;
  
  
• to produce and make widely available forms of contract between governing bodies and all those they employ;
  
  
• to send NewS free of charge, every term, to all Church of England and Church in Wales schools and colleges (and National Society members);
  
  
• to support school chaplains and other clergy and lay people involved in school ministry;
  
  
• to create independent/maintained school partnerships;
  
  
• to keep an archive of the Church's work in education, with the records of many Church schools and colleges;
  
  
• to appoint members to the Churches' Joint Education Policy Committee, the Education Sunday Steering Group and the RE Council;
  
  
• to administer school trust funds;
  
  
• to provide commemorative scrolls signed by the Archbishop, the Bishop of Portsmouth, and the General Secretary of the Society, in recognition of important school anniversaries such as centenaries (free for member schools, and available to non-member schools for a fee).

Membership and Council

The National Society has a wide membership, including many Church of England and Church in Wales schools, as well as individual supporting members.

Why don't you become a member of the Society today?

The Society's activities are governed by its Council. This page contains further information, including a full list of Council members.

One crucial member of the National Society Council is the Treasurer. The Honorary Treasurer is a senior member of the Council, who works closely with the Society's Finance and Administrative Officer to advise the Council and its Committees on financial matters relating to all aspects of the work. The Society appointed a new Honorary Treasurer, Maurice Sharples, in September 2005.

Review of the year

Each year the Society publishes a review of its recent activities. The most recent was the review of 2003 (PDF file, 96 KB).