Church corrects Cameron comments

The Diocese of Lichfield has sprung to the defence of church schools after they were criticised by Conservative leader David Cameron.

Diocesee director of education Colin Hopkins compiled a dossier of information and says that Mr Cameron's remarks about faith schools and "middle class parents with sharp elbows" are wide of the mark.

The diocese says that he has helped to perpetuate a myth that church schools are selective and only available to the children of more well-off parents.

Mr Hopkins explores the role the Church of England played in establishing thousands of schools around the country nearly 200 years ago to provide elementary education for the masses.

He says: "Our schools have a tradition of serving the whole of the community and neighbourhood in which they are located.

"Our schools are therefore serving not only children from Christian families, but also children from all backgrounds and faiths, and those of no faith.

"We are simply not engaged in a separatist or sectarian endeavour."

He added: "It is sometimes alleged that Church schools are engaged in a covert process of social selection, "creaming off" the best pupils.

"The reality is that, as inclusive institutions, Church schools will reflect the communities in which they are located.

"Very many of our schools are serving areas of significant socio-economic disadvantage, whether in urban or rural areas.

"Church of England schools were established in the nineteenth century 'to educate the poor', and we continue that honourable tradition by maintaining our institutional presence in some of the most difficult areas in society."

He said church schools had parents' confidence and provided a moral framework for children's development.