Education

Here to help

Diocesan Director of Education

Church of England Schools and Academies are a vital part of the work and ministry of the Diocese.

They provide education for the children and young people of South Yorkshire and a part of East Riding. There are currently 38 primary schools and 1 secondary school in the Diocese of Sheffield educating about 8,300 students. 

The Diocese of Sheffield Board of Education (DBE) is committed to

the development of effective collaboration with, and between, our Church Schools
the celebration of the excellent work that has been, and will be, carried out in our Church Schools
and to the supporting and enrichment of Church Schools’ distinctive offering of teaching and learning within a Christian context.

We have five areas of mission in relation to schools: 

Cultivation of Christian distinctiveness in the ethos and practice of our schools 
Securing of excellence for all children, with schools meeting and, in time, exceeding core expectations 
Strong leadership and capacity to improve within our service 
Networking leading to excellence through the sharing of school-to-school development across the Diocese 
Offer of service beyond the Diocese through schools affiliating and drawing upon our provision, in the wider community

Huw’s latest blog:

Ascension

Happy Easter to everyone. We remain in the Easter Season until 14^th May, which as well as marking the final SATs test is also the Feast of Ascension. (Even Jesus didn’t absent himself until the end of the SATs.)

This is the day on which we recall the story of Jesus ascending to be with God, and leaving the physical presence of the disciples. The Gospel of Luke retells the story as does Luke’s sequel, Acts. In the former Jesus “was carried up into heaven” (Luke 24:51b), whereas in Acts, “as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9b). When working with children, this sort of thing can cause all sorts of questions.

“Where did he actually go next?”
“Did he pass Artemis II?”
“Is God in the sky somewhere?”

And, yes, that story can come across as a bit strange.

It’s at times like this we remind our children – and ourselves – that those writers believed in a universe very different to the one science has taught us. They did believe that there were waters below the Earth, and above, making up the sky. Heaven was above that. Very different.

Yet not so different. It’s not unusual for us to feel connected to someone who is not physically with us. My mum lives in another place. My dad died in 1991. In different ways I feel the presence of both in my life, on a daily basis. I’m sure you’ll have your own examples of those who are with you, right now, even though they are physically well away.

Whatever happened to the first followers of Jesus they came to describe it as being like him going away from them at some clear point, and for them this had an upwards, heavenly direction.

One way we can relate to this, and prompt discussion that may spill over between home and school, is to think about those people we cannot see and who are not physically with us, yet they feel very much a part of our lives on an almost daily basis. With all due sensitivity we can explore the way we feel connected to those who live far away, those who are working away – and also to those who are no longer with us. It would be great to have that idea shared between children such that they end up at home thinking about uncles, grandparents, friends who, though far away, are a part of life. Maybe they’ll bring in a photo or even a message from that distant person.

In our Diocese, when we define ‘spirituality’ we begin with the words of Jesus in John 3, describing that which is unseen, but very real.

“A person is born physically of human parents, but is born spiritually of the Spirit. …The wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

The connection Christians experience to Christ is one religious example of something we all experience in different ways.

While mentioning the way we discuss the spiritual in schools, can I remind you of the resources for unpicking this idea with children. Alongside our guidance on Church Schools and Spirituality we have the “Your School, Your Spirituality” Paper – a guide on how to explain spirituality to pupils. This goes with the full PowerPoint to explain that idea of things spiritual. I’d be interested to know of any discussions that follow.

Huw