LETTERS

Mulling over the Church of England's hostile bid for the Blue Coat School, I couldn't help but recall that Alan Johnson had long been rumoured to have deputy leadership ambitions, and now his website confirms this (link above). I think his political motives for supporting the Church of England are pretty obvious -- his department has long since aligned itself with Tony Blair's support for faith schools. Blair is still PM and tacitly designated his successor as Labour party leader years ago, but has left the deputy leadership slot open.

Times have moved on since 1708, a truism which seems to have escaped the Church of England in this case:  Quite apart from the fact that all faiths should be welcome at the Blue Coat School, the Church of England have no right to the school. Indeed, the mere fact that they base their claim on a document written in 1708 shows just how tenuous it is. For a start, any school back then had no option but to embrace the established church in its teaching, and it would be ludicrous for the Church to suggest the school should stick to a curriculum devised in 1708, long before even the phlogiston theory was developed. I dare say the founding fathers made no mention of Computer Studies and that of course is the point; you can't selectively embrace modernity, and multiculturalism is as much a part of modern life as computing or indeed the ordination of women.  

The school has mattered little or nothing to the Church until now:  Precedent is also vital and I don't recall the Church of England providing even nominal support for the school over the years, let alone financial or moral help in the difficulties it has faced. The Church was nowhere to be seen when the school faced closure by the local council in the 1980s or when it needed £8 million for the recent rebuilding. Any links between the school and the Church have long since fallen into desuetude. I ask you, where has the Church been since 1708?

The fact the Church appears to be relying on executive fiat from Westminster also shows how arbitrary its claim is, as it is grounded neither in precedent nor the wishes and needs of the school. Indeed, to fly in the face of the school community would be an imposition, literally casting the Church in the role of impostor. This would serve neither the school nor the Church.

Religious links have also been absent:  Yes, the school has a chapel and we had regular services but even when we were less aware of diversity in the 1970s, Holy Eucharist according to Anglican rites was never administered on school grounds and our compulsory Religious Education lessons were never specifically oriented towards the Church of England. Personally, as a communicant member of the Church of England, I was able to worship and take confirmation classes outside the school and I still believe the Church's many roles should not include arbitrary takeover of the Blue Coat.

I also believe Sandy Tittershill is quite right when he says that narrowing the pool of applicants to the school on faith grounds, as well as being grossly unfair to non-Anglicans, would lower the educational standards from which generations of Blue Coat boys like us have benefited, particularly those of us from more modest social backgrounds; let's not kid ourselves, as a policeman's son, I would never have gone to Oxford had I not gone to the Blue Coat, a state school able to compete with Public Schools and I would hate to see similar opportunities denied to other kids today, when the social divide is actually wider.

As a parting thought, let's remember our motto: “Non sibi sed omnibus” – “Not for ourselves but for everyone.” Hear, hear!

Dear Mr Johnson

Liverpool Blue Coat School

I am sure you are already aware of the considered and vociferous opposition to the proposed re-designation of the Liverpool Blue Coat School as a Church of England School. We, the undersigned, form the committee of the Parents Association for the school and voluntarily represent the parents of both past, present and future pupils of the school. As such, we are deeply concerned about the potential reclassification of the school.

The Director of Education for the Diocese of Liverpool, Mr Jon Richardson has claimed that church schools in the Diocese educate children “from every social, racial and cultural group” a policy actively undertaken by the school at present. However, he has also publicly stated that “Church schools aspire to be unashamedly Christian communities, where religion is experienced as well as taught and which usually have strong links with their local churches”. We find that these constitute diametrically opposing views and raise concerns about the ability of the school to continue with a policy of diversity, should re-designation be approved by your department.

Over the past 300 years the Blue Coat School has gained an enviable reputation for its achievements, both academically, as can been seen in the league tables, and in the pastoral care of the students. It has achieved this without any input from the Church of England. To rely on a deed from 1739, including an undertaking to “teach the children to read, write and cast accounts and instruct them in the doctrines of the Church of England”, drawn up before Catholic Emancipation became law in 1829, appears to be an opportunist attempt by the Diocese to gain control of a school currently exceeding government set standards.

As a Parents Association, we strongly oppose any reclassification of the Liverpool Blue Coat School, believing that it will have a detrimental effect on both the educational standards, through a restriction on the current admissions policy, and on the cultural diversity of the students, through the desire to impose an unashamedly Christian community.

We would urge you to utilise your ministerial discretion and reject any re-classification of the school and allow it to continue to succeed as a diverse, multi-cultural, multi-faith voluntary-aided school in Liverpool.

Yours sincerely,

Mr G Jolliffe – Chairman

Mr J Williams – Vice Chair

Mrs S Connell – Treasurer

Mrs K Rosenthal – Hon. Secretary

Mrs J Findlay

Mrs A Edwards

Mr A Tapp

Mr & Mrs A Stoddart

Mr P Dolan

Mr D Wilson

Mrs P Hayes

Mr P Swart

Mrs S Cassell

Mrs J Riley

Mr M Walker

Mrs L Crawley

Mrs S Askew

Mrs P Young

Mr D Forster

Mr G Boyes

Mrs A Caton

Mrs H Garlick

Mr P Lynch

Mrs Y Stock

Mrs J Macleod