The Maps and The Methodology
In relating the proportions of church primary schools to those of county schools there were essentially two patterns of distribution that could be mapped; one was on a diocesan basis and the other on an LEA basis. In practice it was only possible to do comparisons on an LEA basis because in too many cases LEA and diocesan boundaries were not coterminous. The complex task of allocating each county school to its corresponding diocese, whilst it could have been undertaken for local study, was considered too involved for a national study. There was a further convenience in using LEA divisions in that the statistics are produced annually by the DfEE based on school returns.
The statistics for January 1995 were chosen because they came out in early 1996, before the latest reorganisation of local government which produced a range of new unitary authorities. In mapping distribution patterns, it was felt preferable to keep to the pre-unitary authority pattern, as this provided for consistency across the country. Whilst metropolitan districts were already LEAs, the statistics are also given for their aggregated metropolitan counties. In mapping terms this enabled the metropolitan counties to be included in the main map of England, with a separate district authority breakdown presented as enlarged windows of the main map.
By 1995 a few primary schools had become grant-maintained. For ease of analysis they have been included in the aided category, on the basis that those controlled schools which became grant-maintained thus acquired a greater degree of autonomy than before, and a majority of church places on the governing body.
There have been some slight changes between the position in January 1995 and the current position, largely due to the closure or amalgamation of small, mostly rural schools, and the establishment of some new schools especially in areas of population growth. However, these changes have little effect on the overall distribution patterns.
Table 1 gives the number and proportion of each type of church school on an LEA basis, and Table 2 gives the same information about pupils within them. In practice, church schools are largely either Church of England or Roman Catholic. There are still a few Methodist schools, some of which are now operated as jointly managed schools with the Church of England. Additionally there are a handful of jointly managed Roman Catholic/Church of England schools which are in practice lost in the DfEE statistics, eighteen Jewish primary schools and at the time the analyses were undertaken, no schools of other faith communities.
In terms of the maps, there are six sets in all. The first set (Section 1) are the base maps giving the names of the LEAs, either by county or metropolitan district. Section 2 looks at the total Church of England position, first of schools and then of pupils. Section 3 looks specifically at Church of England aided schools and the pupils in them. This is repeated in Section 4 for Church of England controlled schools. Section 5 looks at the percentage of Roman Catholic schools. Because the distribution of pupils is virtually the same, a separate map has not been included for these. Section 6 then displays the position of the combined Church of England and Roman Catholic contribution.
In methodological terms, cluster analysis was undertaken to determine the appropriate divisions into which the statistics should be grouped. Where a percentage was on the border of two categories, it was allocated to the more appropriate one on the basis of the cluster analysis. A shading hierarchy has been devised which indicates the distinctions between each category. In order to get a full range of categories, solid black was used in some cases for the top category even though this did not represent 100%. In order to show the appropriate gradations within the aided and controlled sectors, a finer graded classification has been used.
There are inevitably some anomalies. The Isles of Scilly have been omitted as they have only four schools – all Church of England controlled ones. The Corporation of London has just one Church of England aided school and in mapping terms, unlike the Isles of Scilly which could be removed without any problem, it was more difficult to ignore a space in the centre of London – hence it appears either as complete blank or as 100%.
In terms of the relationship between the percentages of the Church of England schools and of pupils in them, there are national discrepancies, in that the Church of England has 25% of the overall number of schools but only 18% of the nation’s pupils in them. This is because many of the church schools are small. By contrast, the Roman Catholic position is that percentages of pupils and schools are the same – their schools are of average size.