The Board promotes understanding of the nature and importance of that mission in the diocese and more widely, and celebrates and champions it as an outworking of God’s love for his people.

The Chair of the Board is the Rt Revd Paul Ferguson, Bishop of Whitby. Andrew Smith is the Diocesan Director of Education. Andrew is responsible for managing the work of the Education Department and the lead officer in the development of the Board of Education strategy and policies for working with children and young people in schools, colleges and universities. He will work closely with the Department for Education and local authority colleagues on school organisational matters and advise and support schools on academy and collaboration frameworks. He will also represent the Board in appropriate contexts at local and national level.

The Board has 13 elected and appointed members who represent the 3 archdeaconries and have relevant experience in the field of education.

It has 2 committees:

  • The Property, Planning & Resources Committee (PPR), which deals with DBE staffing and finance/accounts, property and trust matters, foundation governor appointments and other school organisation matters;
  • The Schools Committee, which monitors school standards in Church of England schools and academies across the Diocese and supports them in the development of their Christian vision. It's work includes monitoring denominational and Ofsted inspection reports, the team's work on supporting RE across the Diocese, the support provided through the Board's Service Level Agreement with schools and the Board's training provision. This committee also facilitates and supports partnership working with local authorities, Regional School Commissioners and others involved in providing relevant support to Church of England schools.

The Board has established the Diocese of York Educational Trust (DYET) to act as the corporate member of academy trusts and sponsor of individual academies.

The Board is a member of DBE Services Ltd, a company providing educational services to schools in the Dioceses of Blackburn, Carlisle, Chester, Liverpool, Manchester and York.

The Board is a member of DBE Services Ltd, a company providing educational services to schools in the dioceses of Blackburn, Carlisle, Chester, Liverpool, Manchester and York.

The officers of the Board work very much as a team, sharing a commitment to providing the best possible service to schools, colleges and universities and those who work with them. We carry out the Board’s statutory responsibilities for Church schools, working alongside local authorities and the Department for Children Schools and Families. Our aim is to be an expert resource, responsive to needs and offering advice, encouragement and inspiration to all who want to engage with education with a Christian purpose.

We deliver much of our support to schools through our Service Level Agreement - the details can be downloaded from this page;

https://dioceseofyork.org.uk/schools-and-youth/schools-education-homepage/what-we-do/sla-2021-23/

The support we offer includes:

For further information, please contact Anita Smukulis - PA to Andrew Smith, Diocesan Director of Education & Administrator to the team on 01904 699511 or anita.smukulis@yorkdiocese.org.