AngliSchools, Anglican Identity, and School Councils
A key Anglican Identity focus this year is to visit all School Councils to broaden and deepen the conversation about how we express the Anglicanism characteristic to AngliSchools in each school community. Happily, at this middle point of the year, I’m halfway through my visits and well on track to have spent time with each School Council in 2026.
Thinking into the purview of School Councils has taken me into the new territory of the AngliSchools Charter and its clarity around Anglican Identity and what it means for us. The Charter defines Anglican Identity as ‘the distinctive aspects of an Anglican School, with reference to matters of faith, reason, worship, inclusion, character and service.’ It makes clear that it is the responsibility of the School Council to ensure that their school fosters an Anglican Identity that champions inclusion and social justice, one aligned with ‘the vision, purpose, mission, values, aims and objectives of AngliSchools.’
The obvious areas of Anglican Identity include the frequency of chapel services and Religious Studies lessons, the style of the Chaplain and the chaplaincy, and the model of the Religious Studies curriculum. While such things are well understood, I’ve been asking School Councils to consider what it really is for governors to ensure that the Anglican Identity that distinguishes AngliSchools from other Independent Christian Schools is translated into the lived experience of all students, staff, and families in every aspect of school life.
Our Strategy 2030, which includes a honed down set of AngliSchools values, well expresses the breadth of our aspirations in this regard. So, we will understand our value of faith as living our Anglican Identity and teaching Gospel values. We will understand our value of inclusion as promoting diversity, celebrating difference, welcoming all. We will understand our value of respect as compassionately respecting self, others and our world. We will understand our value of excellence as pursuing high personal standards in all endeavours. I’m reminding School Councils that our new AngliSchools Prayer explicitly mentions governors, and that the intent of the prayer is that our values flourish in every aspect of the life of each school, our values effectively being our Anglican Identity.
I’m looking forward to visiting the second half of the School Councils of AngliSchools as the rest of 2026 unfolds.
The Reverend Dr Eleanor O’Donnell
Director of Anglican Identity
