Recruiting and appointing staff
Governors can be instrumental in seeking to appoint good teachers and support staff who are not only well-qualified and excellent practitioners, but who will also make a positive contribution to the Christian nature of the school and actively help to form a community inspired by the Gospel. Schools with a designated Church of England character are able to ask for Christian commitment as one of the criteria used in making staff appointments, so that the Christian character of the school may be effectively maintained. The school's ethos statement should form part of the information sent to all candidates for teaching or other posts, as they can be expected to support the ethos of the school where they have chosen to work.
Voluntary Controlled and Foundation schools
Candidates for the post of headteacher in a school that has a religious character may be asked to demonstrate their ability and fitness to ‘sustain and develop the religious character of the school’ (School Standards and Framework Act, 1998, Section 10 (4)). A member of the interview panel (usually one of the foundation governors or the diocesan officer present) should ask questions in this area, and due weight should be given to the candidates' answers to these questions when considering who should be appointed. However Governors may not, in a VC or Foundation school, ask questions directly about a candidate's personal faith commitment.
Voluntary Aided schools
In a VA school, in addition to the provision above, Governors may, if they wish, ask candidates to demonstrate a positive commitment to the Christian faith and its expression in the school. This also applies to teaching staff, as they share with the governors the responsibility for sustaining the Anglican ethos and Christian character of the school. Governors should make these points clear both in their advertisements and in their job or person specifications. This is a special right available to the governors of voluntary aided schools and is not affected by current human rights or equal employment opportunities legislation.
Governors and senior staff of Aided schools will need to develop a shared view of the extent to which the members of the teaching staff of the school need to be active Christians and active Anglicans. This should always be justified by reference to the duties of the post, for example teaching religious education, leading school worship or providing Christian leadership within the school or a section of it. There needs to be a clear understanding of what this means in practice. It does not mean that an active Christian will be appointed to the post even if he or she is not the best candidate on professional grounds. What it does mean is that for some posts the governors will not appoint unless the best professional candidate is also an active Christian. There is a particular issue, however, of which governors should be aware. It could be argued that advertising for 'a Christian' or 'an Anglican' is indirect racial discrimination because, for example, the criterion is more likely to be met by a white rather than an Asian applicant. In a recent test case the indirect discrimination was held to be justified in the case of the headteacher of a voluntary aided primary school on the basis of the duties that were required of the post holder. It is, therefore, important that there are good reasons for the statement in terms of the specific duties and responsibilities of the post, which could include details of the contributions required of the post holder in leading school worship in the 'Anglican tradition'.
Governors in Church schools should always refer to the National Society’s guide to ‘Employment in C of E School'. This is the clearest statement of the legal position regarding the recruitment to staff in Church schools. It also provides good advice on the whole recruitment process and the subsequent induction and professional development of staff.