April 2010: Board of Education Meeting

Report by Beverley Joseph

On Thursday, 22nd April 2010 the first of this year's two, Church of England Board of Education, meetings was held at Church House.

Bishop Saxbee of Lincoln chaired the meeting, and opened with prayer and a passage from John 20:19-23, about the Holy Spirit being breathed upon Jesus' disciples. This in turn boosted the morale of the board members and started us off on a high note. There was a thanksgiving prayer before lunch and a closing prayer at the end of the meeting.

The board comprised of such esteemed members of the Church of England as Dr. Thistleton, Pr. of Theology, University of Nottingham., Rev. Dr John Breadon, National FE Advisor, Rev. Jan Ainsworth, Chief Education Officer, Leslie Stephen director of Education, Oxford Diocese, Mary Nagel, General Synod and many interesting others.

16 Papers were presented to the board, which demonstrated the variety that the educational scope covers. These varied from informal adult learning to an Update on the Government's education legislation.

They sparked some very interesting and thought provoking discussions between members about their experiences in identifying further good practice and challenges for developing Informal Adult Learning work in the church. These will be clarified in the next meeting.

The board was encouraged to answer other crucial questions such as: What would pupils experience in their church school if spiritual development was taken seriously? What would pupils be learning and how would they be learning it? etc.

Over all it was a successful meeting and covered wide ground, leaving members with a wider level of shared knowledge about our national Education system. It also invoked an eagerness to be proactive to bring about positive change.