The Bishop of Chichester spoke in a debate on a report from the Education for 11 to 16-year olds Committee, ‘Requires improvement: urgent change for 11–16 education (Session 2023–24, HL Paper 17)’ on 26th July 2024, welcoming the report and highlighting the importance of religious education and the Church of England’s role as an educational provider:
The Lord Bishop of Chichester: My Lords, it is an honour to follow the noble Lord, Lord Aberdare, and the noble Baroness, Lady Blower, who have participated in the excellent report chaired by the group led by the noble Lord, Lord Johnson.
I welcome the priority that has been given to the review of the curriculum for 11 to 19 year-olds at an early stage of the Government coming into office. In particular, I welcome the report of the review group and how it will “refresh” the curriculum,
“build on the hard work of teachers and staff”,
and seek “evolution and not revolution”.
These are important indications that education will not be driven by ideology that leads to it becoming a political football, as sometimes has happened in the past.
In particular, the promise that the review will not
“place undue burdens on education staff”
will need to be delivered ostentatiously, particularly if the Government wish to improve the recruitment and retention of top-quality teachers. To that end, I greatly welcome also the acknowledgement of
“the innovation and professionalism of teachers”.
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