Education Secretary's speech to the National Society Conference

The Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, addressed Church of England school leaders at the National Society Annual Conference 2026.

Good evening, everyone.

Thank you so much for inviting me to speak.

What a pleasure it is to be here with you in these incredible surroundings.

Where more than 200 years ago the National Society was formed.

So perhaps we meet this evening not just in a beautiful church, but at the origin of universal education in this country.

Decades before it crossed the mind of the state.

Because – as you'll be quick to tell me – the national society, the Church of England, got there first.

Back in 1811, it was you who first looked at education and thought that this should be for everyone.

That the privilege of the few should become the right of the many.

And you didn't just think about it.

You acted.

You opened schools and brought the light of learning into the lives of children up and down the country.

You put down the roots of a system that still flourishes to this day.

But the state eventually caught up.

It might have taken us more than half a century, but we came to agree with you that a great education for every child was in fact a good idea.

And we've worked in partnership ever since.

So let me take this opportunity, as we look back over the centuries, to thank you for your commitment to the children of this country.

To tell you how much I value our partnership.

To recognise that our education system is so much the stronger for that collaboration.

And, Nigel [Genders, CofE Chief Education Officer], your leadership has been essential.

Over the past decade you've done so much for the education of more than a million children.

Each one now with brighter life chances thanks to your hard work.

What a legacy you leave behind.

The clear vision for strong school groupings, the leadership development through NPQs, a deep sense of partnership at the heart of the National Society.

And while I'm sad that you'll shortly be leaving your role,

I was pleased to appoint you as the Government's Chief Schools Adjudicator.

Mixed emotions!

I look forward to working closely with you in your new role.

And I look forward to working closely with Andy Wolfe as the new interim Chief Executive of the National Society.

Andy – we've got plenty to get on with.

More than 200 years on from the founding of the National Society, you don't need me to tell you that improving education is a journey.

A journey that remains incomplete. Perhaps we will never reach the end.

But to say we've still got far to go is not to diminish how far we've come.

The landscape has been completely transformed since 1811.

And each generation that has come since has brought us further down the road towards a truly excellent education for every child.

Now it's our turn. And we have work to do. Nobody here will deny that.

The theme of today's conference is a reminder of what really matters.

Who we really do this for.

Young people at the centre.

But colleagues, what it means to be young is changing so quickly.

The challenges of childhood are mutating; they're expanding with every passing day.

The pandemic sped this up, no doubt, but the roots reach deeper.

Our children have at their fingertips an endless web of information.

More content to consume. More data to explore.

But somehow less certainty. Fewer clear routes to a good life.

Growing up in the grips of a cost-of-living crisis, with child poverty closing in.

They must navigate a youth in which the boundaries are blurring.

Real and fake.

Fact and fiction.

Never have young people had to work this hard to find the right path.

But their struggle has sparked within them a stronger sense of agency.

A greater respect for difference.

A deeper well of empathy.

Our young people are amazing, astounding and brilliant ; you know that better than anyone.

But change this profound is bound to be destabilising.

Research tells us that young people today are more anxious and less happy.

They spend more time online, but feel less connected than ever before

They're surrounded by more noise, but find less clarity.

And I can see the fabric of our communities starting to fray.

Colleagues, back in October I took our message to the Confederation of School Trusts annual conference.

I told the delegates that too many children are growing up today not feeling part of something.

Something to which they can contribute. Something to which they can belong. Maybe you've seen the same.

These are the young people who don't see the point of school, who don't sense a clear path forward.

These are the young people who spend more and more time alone in their bedroom. Vulnerable to the vicious voices that seek them out online.

And perhaps more than ever before they need something solid to hold on to.

A strong foundation to hold them up. A happy childhood. Love and support at home.

With parents free from the strain of stretching every last penny of the family budget.

Trips to the cinema, an ice-cream in the park, or a visit to the beach . And a love of learning that starts in early years education.

Then achieving and thriving at great schools, set up to champion their talents and support their needs.

And routes on into top-class training and rewarding careers.

Our job as educators, as leaders is to make that childhood a reality for each and every child.

Together, we must renew childhood in this country, make it fit for the 2030s and beyond.

My vision is a childhood rooted in community.

Communities of support for children, from their first days on this planet right through to the first steps in their career.

At the centre of those communities must be you, schools.

For young people, much of their connection to where they are growing up should come through their school.

I want schools to be calm and hopeful anchors in their communities.

There are so many Church of England schools that understand this already.

So many leaders here today who are already driving this.

There are strong C of E trusts across the country building communities of schools.

And it's the children who benefit.

So I want to thank all of you here today, from the bottom of my heart, for the work you do.

For the lives you change.

I want to see more of that excellence, spreading across schools and through trusts, so that every child can benefit.

But schools can't be alone in this of course. For too long schools have been left to carry the weight of wider social problems alone.

That's why our new schools white paper will sit together with our other work.

Our child poverty strategy, our best start in life strategy, our new approach to children's social care, our post-16 white paper.

Different documents, but all with one coherent goal – making this the best country in the world in which to grow up.

So the schools white paper is coming soon.

And it will set out how, together with you as inspirational school leaders, we'll build a school system to help renew childhood.

A system of high expectations for every child.

Academic rigour hand in glove with inclusive ethos.

A school experience rooted in excellence and enriched by sport, culture, art, RE.

A system that supports all children to succeed, as pupils and as people. Proud members of their communities, part of something exciting.

From narrow to broad, an education system that captures everything it means to learn – inside the classroom and out.

From let down to included, an education system that works not just for some children but for every child.

White working-class children. Children with SEND. The children who are capable of so much but who are challenged too little.

And finally, if we get this right, from withdrawn to engaged.

I want us to reach those communities in which belief in the power of education is fading.

I want those families to see once again what schools can do for their children.

I want them to be engaged in communities of learning.

Children feeling that they belong in their school.

Parents proud to send them off in the morning.

That's where I want to take us.

Our white paper will guide us along the next leg of the journey, through those shifts and onward.

But this isn't about schools or institutions or buildings.

It's about children. Young people. Lifting the life chances of each and every one of them.

That won't be easy. As you'll know, there are no simple solutions or quick fixes to the challenges we face – especially on SEND.

It's difficult and it's complex, but it's the right thing to do.

And we do it for the children of this country.

The theme of this conference reminds us of that. Why we as leaders work so hard. Early mornings, late nights.

Young people at the centre. The class of 2040.

Not just the pupils of now, but the citizens of our common future.

The teachers and parents, engineers and technicians, scientists and artists that will take us on towards the 22nd century.

Now is the time to come together, to seize this opportunity, and give every young person the education they deserve.