Church of England head defends 'broad thinking' faith schools

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has rubbished claims that faith schools do not think broadly enough.

The Church of England leader told the PM programme on BBC Radio 4 that faith schools are not setting out to indoctrinate their pupils or forcing them to understand one particular philosophy.

He added that faith schools were institutions that were able to "think broadly" because they have a vision which many different types of people were part of and believed in.

All faith schools should be open, Dr Williams said, and they should promote the fact that they are not there to "convert" students nor "protect" their own community.

He said about faith schools: "We are here to serve the wider community and we are here to give you that broader view of humanity."

However, the Archbishop did express alarm over the current regime of testing taking place in all schools across Britain.

In particular, he said that the frequency of exams was creating a climate of "anxious children".

The issue of over-assessment in schools has also recently been highlighted by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).

Following the publication of GCSE result achievement earlier last week, the union voiced its concerns that there is too much testing within the schools system - something Dr Williams also seemed to agree with.