Lockdown: Support for Schools

To ask the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what support the Church of England is providing to schools during the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown.

Diocesan education teams and local churches have focused on supporting the wellbeing of students and staff through the ongoing provision of collective worship, by providing and distributing food for disadvantaged families and, in many cases, by renovating and distributing technology to enable online learning to supplement the Government’s provision.

I thank my hon. Friend for his response. Church leaders and congregations in Eastbourne and Willingdon at St Michael and All Angels and St John’s Meads have stepped into the digital divide by rallying round and providing laptops and devices for primary school children in their parishes. Will he join me in thanking them for their contribution, which complements the Government’s support in this vital area?

Of course I will do that. I am delighted to learn of the work of St Michael and All Angels and St John’s Meads. It is typical of what the Church is doing across the country to help not just schools but entire communities.