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There are many opportunities to teach in a Church of England or Church in Wales school, with 4,500 primary schools and 200 secondary schools having been founded by the Church and enjoying close relationships not only with the Local Education Authority but also with their Diocesan Board of Education.
Second edition of the National Society guide, avaiable as a Word .doc file. (published December 2004)
Teaching posts in Church schools are
advertised as other teaching posts via the Local
Education Authority and the TES.
Increasing numbers of posts are also advertised online
through Eteach at www.eteach.com.
Posts are sometimes also advertised in the Church press, especially in the Church Times but also in the Church of England Newspaper. Diocesan Boards of Education do not generally have their own advertising system.
Basic information about the different types of Church schools can be found in Introducing Church schools in the Parents section of this site. It is important to understand the difference between schools in each category with regard to the employment of staff.
In a voluntary aided Church school, the governing body are the employers of the school staff, so the teacher's contract is with the governing body, not with the maintaining Local Education Authority. The National Society publishes contracts that can be downloaded. It is in teachers' interest to ensure that they have the correct contract.
In a voluntary controlled or foundation Church school, the employer is the Local Education Authority and the contract should be with them.
The law allows the governing
bodies of Church schools to take the religious commitment
of candidates for teaching posts into account.
See more on
legislation regarding the employment of teachers in
schools with a religious character.
However, the decision as to how far the governing body of a voluntary aided Church school wishes to insist on appointing a practising Christian or wishes to prefer so to appoint, is a matter for them, with the advice of the Diocesan Director of Education. Schools must make the decision objectively and paying due regard to equal opportunities, so the religious requirements must be made clear in the person specification sent out with the details of the job to potential applicants.
For a fuller statement of the Church of England's policy, see chapter 6 "Teachers, teachers, teachers" (PDF, 66 KB) in the report of Lord Dearing's review of Church schools, The Way ahead (June 2001).
Training to teach
Registering as a teacher: the
General Teaching Councils
Teachers and collective worship
in a Church school
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