Walk around the world this Lent and help stamp out hunger.
This Lent CAFOD is inviting schools to Walk Against Hunger in solidarity with the 200 million children whose lives are at risk because of malnutrition.
Each little step we take will make a BIG difference. Set up a Just Giving page for your school or class and set your Lenten walking target.
• Walk on Lent Family Fast Day
• Walk as part of your daily mile
• Walk as part of a school event
However you choose to walk, add your kilometres to our Walk Against Hunger online totaliser. 40,000 km is a massive challenge, but by joining together we can all help stamp out hunger one step at a time.
Walk to help children around the world grow big and strong
When Lombeh was a baby, she was dangerously malnourished. One day, her mother Amie met a group of women walking along the road. They were new mothers just like herself and they told her about a CAFOD-funded clinic where Amie was taught how to make a highly nutritious food paste from a traditional recipe – perfect for malnourished babies – and it helped Lombeh get better and grow. Now Amie is teaching other new mums in her local community how to make the baby food.
By challenging ourselves to walk and get sponsored on Just Giving this Lent, we can help children like Lombeh to get what they need to grow up strong, healthy and happy.
How your money will help:
£12 £70 £125 £350
Can buy ingredients to make a nutritious paste so a new mum can help her malnourished child grow strong and healthy.
£1000
Can provide an entire community with bushels of rice for planting season
Can support weekly mobile outreach health clinics to visit remote communities.
Can pay for radio jingles about hygiene and nutrition to air on local radio stations in remote communities
Can build a greenhouse in a community on the front line of the climate crisis, and can teach local school children how to grow healthy vegetables all year round!
We can all be part of helping to eradicate global poverty. We can’t wait to see your school groups Walk Against Hunger on or around Friday 11 March!
Walk Against Hunger resources
If you haven’t already received it, look out for your Lent school pack arriving in January which is packed with ideas on how to get sponsored to walk, and keep an eye on our website for more resources including our Lent calendar and film on Sierra Leone: cafod.org.uk/schools
Join our national assembly
In our primary assembly, your students meet 4-year-old Lombeh in Sierra Leone and hear why we are asking schools to walk around the world this Lent to fight hunger. Our assembly is led by children and includes prayers and reflection and will be streamed live for Primary schools on Friday 11 March. For secondary schools, we provide an adaptable assembly script, along with PowerPoint and film clip, so that your school can make it your own.
Book a Catholic Social Teaching school visit
Our team of school speakers are delighted to be able to visit schools again. This Lent they will be delivering assemblies about Sierra Leone as part of our Walk Against Hunger challenge, and workshops on Catholic Social Teaching. You can book yours by emailing: schools@cafod.org.uk
Free liturgical resources
We also have a Lent calendar of daily classroom prayers, a reconciliation service, Stations of the Cross and other liturgies to help your students pray with and for their global neighbours. You can access our resources by visiting: cafod.org.uk/schools
Set up a Just Giving page for your school and set your walking target this Lent. Remember to share photos and stories of the day by tagging @CAFODSchools #WalkAgainstHunger Don’t miss this term’s CAFOD raffle! We hope you can join us and help your pupils put their faith into action this Lent.
we can help stamp out hunger one step at a time. For details of how to get involved, ask your pupils’ parents to search ‘CAFOD Spring Raffle’.
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Our mission is to serve as a forum where Catholic heads, teachers and other interested parties can exchange opinions, experiences, and insights about innovative teaching ideas, strategies, and tactics. We welcome—and regularly publish— articles written by members of the Catholic teaching community.
Here are answers to some basic questions about writing for Networking - Catholic Education Today.
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Usually it seems to work out best if contributors simply say what they have to say and let us worry about finding a spot for it in the journal. As a rough guideline we ask for articles of 1000/2000 words and school news of about 300/400 words.
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Please send as a Microsoft Word file attached to an e-mail. To submit articles for publication, contact John Clawson by email at editor@ networkingcet.co.uk
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Closing Date for Copy - Summer Term 2022 edition Copy to Editor by 9th April 2022. Published to schools 10th May 2022.
John Sullivan
George White
Peter Boylan
Raymond Friel
Willie Slavin, Dr Richard Wilkin, Dr Marie Griffin, Michael Holeman, Peter Boylan, Dr Maureen Glackin, Dr Sean Whittle
I am writing this before Christmas and it’s impossible to predict how things will be when you receive this edition of Networking journal as events are moving so quickly.
I know many schools are preparing for another difficult few months ahead and all are rising to the challenges that face them. I hope and pray the support you give and the support you receive will enable you to continue to provide the outstanding education your students deserve.
In this edition of Networking there are articles which describe the many wonderful projects which our schools undertake and also issues raised that are worthy of debate. As always we would welcome your comments on any topic of Catholic Education for publication.
John Clawson Editor
Catholic Teacher Formation
A Response to Sean Whittle
In the Autumn Term (2021) issue of Networking Sean Whittle raises some important concerns about using the language of formation in relation to Catholic teachers’ work in schools. My purpose here is to defend the retention of such language, despite the complexities pointed out by Sean. I fear that some people might drop any aspiration to provide formation (or to engage in programmes of formation) if they conclude from the difficulties pointed out in Sean’s article that such a process is in some way inappropriate or unnecessary.
First, I must express my great respect for Sean and my admiration for the many energetic and creative ways he has contributed to the mission of Catholic education over the past few years – in his own research and writing, his huge and effective work in organising conferences for academics and professionals, and his prolific editing of publications to enhance and challenge our field of endeavour. Nothing I say here calls any of that respect and admiration in question. We should not have to choose between formation, continuing professional development or learning from experience. All three are needed. Teachers in our Catholic schools require professional, practical and technical skills and knowledge to carry out their tasks. In order not to be hijacked by or distracted by spurious slogans and damaging ideologies that happen to be in fashion (or promoted by various authorities), they need intellectual, philosophical and conceptual clarity and sharpness. And, if they are to be ready to engage properly with the mission of Catholic education, they need spiritual development and theological literacy. Head, hand and heart need to be brought into harmony. Furthermore, the development needs of the individual members of staff transcend whatever priorities are identified for staff development at any particular time
and in particular schools. Teachers have (or should have) a life outside the school. That life – with its challenges and its joys – also needs support, encouragement and growth, in its own right. And that life outside of school will inevitably affect how teachers conduct and present themselves in school. There should be congruence, rather than a sharp differentiation or even a total disconnection between my life as a teacher and my life beyond school – for example, as a spouse, friend, parishioner or citizen. Teachers witness to a way of life even more than they do to a body of knowledge.
Those who disregard formation run the risk of lacking the distinctiveness, specificity or “salt” of Christian faith; they also might become vulnerable to “running on empty”, with insufficient motivational fuel” to sustain their commitment over the long haul or in the face of setbacks, disappointments and difficulties. Some years ago I described formation as “a long-term, deliberate, and multi-faceted process that seeks to produce a character of substance, one who is thoroughly inducted into the way of life of a particular community or tradition” (Sullivan, 2010, p.4). Such formation includes a way of thinking, a way of behaving, a way of worshipping and a way of belonging. Worship can easily slip into being treated as an optional extra, rather than something integral to (and feeding into) how we think and act and belong. Holistic formation seems to me to be a necessary foundation for educating in a Catholic way.
In his article, Sean draws attention to the great variety of teachers working in Catholic schools. Some do so with a strong sense of vocation. Some are fully committed insiders to the faith tradition. Others are non-practising but linked in some way to that tradition. Others again are either hostile to or experiencing real difficulties with the faith.
by John Sullivan Emeritus Professor (Christian Education), Liverpool Hope University sullivj@hope.ac.uk
Some are in tune with the spirit of the mission but as sympathetic outsiders to the tradition. This variety does complicate the issue of what kind of formation might be suitable for teachers, before and during their employment in Catholic schools. But acknowledging how complicated the task may be does not imply deciding that the endeavour should be discontinued.
He is right in implying that staff selection procedures often skate over the candidate’s understanding of and commitment to the mission of Catholic education, rather than explore that understanding and commitment more deeply (not least, in order to diagnose what kinds of formation might be needed after appointment to equip the person to contribute more effectively).
He is also right to question too close an association between traditional seminary formation and the type of formation required by teachers in Catholic schools. But in the questioning, he seems to come to the view that formation may therefore be an inappropriate and unhelpful goal, as he says, “a blind alley.” Despite difficulties about the use of such words as vocation and formation, I want to retain them and stress their continuing importance. I have argued at length elsewhere that a central feature of and an abiding outcome of Christian education should be taking seriously the question of personal vocation (Sullivan, 2013; Sullivan, 2018). This applies as much to teachers as it does to pupils. Of course, both vocation and formation need to be interpreted in ways that are suitable for the mixed, semi-secular and professional context of the school, as compared with the context of a seminary or religious community.
Teachers face many kinds of pressures and temptations in the course of work. Some of these are not necessarily either foreseen or prepared for in
academic and professional courses. There are moral dilemmas and pastoral challenges to face in the classroom and in leadership. There can be tensions between – on the one hand - a desire to be open and honest with pupils and students when they ask direct questions about the teacher’s personal views (and practices) and – on the other hand – preserving a prudent distance and detachment which both preserves a teacher’s privacy and keeps in view her or his role as a representative of, spokesperson for or elder in a tradition, entrusted by parents, school leadership and the diocese to convey faithfully what that tradition stands for. One can be pressured (for example, by peers, or by a desire for promotion, or simply to comply with what school leaders or other influential figures want from you) to fit in with practices that sit uneasily with one’s conscience. One can experience defeat, disappointment, apparent failure, perhaps marginalisation in carrying out one’s work and face tiredness, loss of motivation, perhaps an acute sense of “is this what I am here to do?” or “what good am I here to achieve?” One can face what feels
like rejection of one’s best efforts either by students or by one’s colleagues. In such cases, the kind of holistic formation referred to above offers resources that go beyond professional skill and academic knowledge (without in any way denigrating the necessity for these).
The recent movement towards a synodal Church, advocated by Pope Francis, brings home the need to move away from the passive and minimal model of discipleship that often has prevailed and this applies as much in the context of the school as in the Church. To work in a Catholic school is among other things, to work with and for the Church and for God’s universal family. Sean is right to alert us to the need to avoid using such terms as formation and vocation too cavalierly and to be aware of the very real challenges involved in upholding such notions. While the realities on the ground call for caution, prudence, patience, and discernment as to what is either suitable or possible at any particular moment, I believe that we still need to keep alive – as winsomely as we can – the long-term goals of fostering a sense of vocation and of
providing (pre- and inservice) formation that is timely, that takes account of local circumstances, opportunities and constraints, and that draws from the Church’s wells nourishment and guidance for thinking, acting, worshipping and belonging in ways that are inspiring and empowering.
John Sullivan is Emeritus Professor of Christian Education, Liverpool Hope University.
His email is: sullivj@hope.ac.uk
References:
Sullivan, John (2010) Communicating Faith (Catholic University of America Press).
Sullivan, John (2013) ‘Christian Education and the Discernment of Vocation: From “Whatever” to “Amen”. In ReImagining Christian Education for the 21st Century, edited by Andrew B. Morris (Matthew James Publishing), pp.87 – 98.
Sullivan, John (2018) The Christian Academic in Higher Education (Palgrave Macmillan).
Teachers Take Stock of Ambassadors’ Fundraising
Well it finally had to happen, some of our teachers have been put in the stocks and pelted with soaking sponges. But before you can say, ‘and not before time’, their soggy slapping was all in a good cause, being as it was to help raise money for charity.
The idea was one of the many our Value Ambassadors have been coming up with to raise money for the school’s nominated charity, Dementia UK.
Having set a fundraising target of £10,000, the 18 strong team have held a host of events to try and reach that amount. Over the past few weeks, there have been cake sales and a sponsored Mad Tie event that saw students pay a £1 to wear a wacky tie for the day but the fundraising hasn’t stopped there, as our youngsters have continued to find novel ways to boost the fundraising coffers.
Our nimble pupils have bent over backwards and got themselves in a spin, as they have done everything from limbo dancing to hula hooping.
Naturally, it was only a matter of time before our teachers got roped in with the activities but they probably didn’t bank on what our young scamps had lined up for them. The stocks.
Teachers agreed to put themselves in our specially made stocks and get pelted with sopping sponges.
In an event that proved extremely popular (can’t think why) our pupils lined up - some several times - to trash the teachers. Among them was Mr Roberts, who took the pelting in good spirits. He said: “It was great fun, especially for the pupils. They were very enthusiastic. But, of course, it is all for a good cause.”
Why is LGBT+ Inclusion Necessary in Catholic Schools?
George
The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls for LGBT+ people to be ‘accepted with compassion, sensitivity and respect.’ There are, fortunately, many examples of the Holy Father putting these words into action in the last few years. In the UK, there have been efforts from the Catholic Education Service to ensure that homophobic and biphobic bullying are challenged and eradicated in Catholic schools. (CES 2017). James Martin SJ suggests that the starting point is for the Catholic Church to listen to the lived experience of LGBT people. So here is my story.
Being LGBT+ and Catholic
I am a Catholic and transgender teacher of Religious Education (RE) working in the Catholic school that I attended and was baptised in as a sixth form pupil 11 years ago. I have had many positive and some negative experiences that have led me to question how we might make Catholic schools more inclusive for the LGBT community by reflecting some of the mercies that Pope Francis has extended in his recent years. My family is not religious but my parents sent myself and my twin sister to Catholic schools as they were recommended. I was lost for most of my time in school as I was navigating my way with what I now know to be ‘Gender Dysphoria’, a problem I did not know how to describe or who to tell about it. The secondary school I attended was a Catholic School in Leicester city; many different religions, ethnicities and cultures were present in the school community. However, there were no visible signs or support for openly LGBT staff or pupils. I started secondary school in 2004; Section 28 had only been repealed one year earlier. I became a disruptive class clown to hide how I felt. Fortunately for me, I had some teachers who never lost faith in me and provided excellent pastoral support. I decided that I wanted to be fully part of this community so I changed my behaviour, became a Catholic and was hopeful of a future career in teaching. I was baptised in the school chapel at the
age of 16 along with my twin sister and I chose some of the most inspiring and supportive teachers to be my baptismal sponsors, some of whom I now consider friends as well as colleagues.
I continued to study Philosophy, Theology, Ethics and Education whilst exploring my faith and my gender identity. In the midst of what I would describe as an existential crisis where I believed I had to choose between the two, I started teaching at a Catholic girls’ school in West London as Miss White. In my first year, two of our pupils came out as transgender. The head teacher wrote a letter that went out to parents stating that the school recognised their dignity and were going to support them by using their chosen name and pronouns (Catholic Herald, 2017). Some parents did not welcome this; one even removed their daughter from the school. National Catholic media published the letter and this led to the school facing some backlash because they had decided to support the decision of our transgender pupils (The Christian Institute, 2017). It would have been a big fight if I were to stay there and transition, especially as a Teacher of RE where the expectation is that you are a ‘practising Catholic’. For lots of people who did not support the school in this public statement, there was an assumption that you cannot be both a faithful Catholic and LGBT or accepting of LGBT people contrary to the teaching of the catechism
mentioned at the beginning.
I came to an interview at the secondary school I attended as a child where we spoke openly about transition and what that would mean for time off with appointments and surgeries which have been honoured ever since. I had started the process of hormone replacement therapy; namely taking testosterone injections only one month prior to accepting this role. Inevitably, pupils and staff were going to have questions. I wanted to have open dialogue but the interviewers advised me to shut down any conversations that were started as teachers did not have to answer questions about their personal life. This restricted me talking about my life in a way that my cisgender and heterosexual colleagues did not have to think about. I was supposed to be seen as a normal appointment to a job but without the openness, it felt as though my identity had to be kept secret and as a result, any transphobic comments were not dealt with in the same way other discriminatory remarks would have been. For many people in this school community, I am the first openly transgender person they have met and for some, perhaps the first LGBT Catholic. The more open I have been with the pupils, the more respectful and educated they have become about LGBT identities and the teachings of the Catholic Church. The more open I have been with staff, the more confident they have been in understanding appropriate
by
White Transgender and Catholic teacher of Religious Education at a Catholic secondary school in Leicester.
behaviour and language, challenging discrimination and supporting other LGBT+ people within our particular faith community.
How to make Catholic schools more inclusive for LGBT+ pupils and staff:
It is common for Religious Education teachers in Catholic schools to be asked how they would respond to a question on homosexuality from a pupil in their interview for the job. The expected response being that the candidate will not publicly deviate from church teaching. Other aspects of modern life that may conflict with church teaching are not questioned in this way; abortion, divorce, IVF, female ordination, who can receive the Eucharist and so on. These questions, in my opinion, need to be reconsidered as they give an impression that we must be silent on LGBT issues and that is not explicitly the same for all ‘difficult’ topics within RE or the wider school life. It does not respect the significance placed on primacy of conscience in the Catholic Church.
Also, a document approved by many dioceses outlines which candidates constitute ‘a practising Catholic’ for certain school roles. It suggests several violations which deem a person unworthy of applying for a particular role as a practising Catholic; same sex relationships being implicitly referred to as just one of them (Diocese of Nottingham, 2019). This document simply does not reflect the lived reality of many schools in the UK, there are many teachers in the roles who do not fit the criteria and have to remain secretive about it. There are many who have been overlooked from promotion to such roles based on this list of requirements. It seems to forget that the leaders Jesus chose were not perfect and that He was aware of that. I think it is important we remember that humility when selecting suitable candidates for roles within Catholic Education. The document outlining the details of what makes a practising Catholic suggests that people listed do not meet the conditions required, yet they are present in our community. In fact, they are not just present, they are actively participating, working and ministering in our church community.
This idyllic view of what constitutes a ‘practising Catholic’does not accurately reflect the people working and living in its institution. As Pope Francis puts it, “The Church does not exist to condemn people but to bring about an encounter with the visceral love of God’s mercy”. For the Church to offer God’s mercy it must “go outside and look for people where they live, where they suffer and where they hope”. The enemy of mercifulness is self-righteousness the disease of religious folk “who live attached to the letter of the law but who neglect love ...who only know how to close doors and draw boundaries”. Sadly their approach is “repeated throughout the long history of the Church” (Pope Francis, 2016). Pope Francis has made this invitation a reality with the Synod. Catholics, including LGBT+ ones and allies, have a chance to discuss their concerns about who is excluded and their hopes for the future of the church. This is an important step in the listening process.
In recent months, I have joined the committee for Quest which provides pastoral support for LGBT Catholics and also the LGBT+ Pastoral Ministry Team at the Diocese of Nottingham. I have been impressed and inspired by the tenacity and dedication of lay led teams who are making sure LGBT people have a place at the table. It was a sheer delight to travel to Cleethorpes where Bishop Patrick McKinney said Mass on behalf of the LGBT+ Pastoral Team in a really inclusive liturgy in October. It was also a special experience to deliver a session with the same title of this article to staff in my Catholic multi academy trust, offering support for how to develop LGBT+ inclusion in a Catholic School without dismissing church teaching. There is no conflict between church teaching and respecting the human dignity of each person, supporting them pastorally, and visibly reaching out to them. There are several examples of the Pope reaching out to the LGBT community and he continues to stress the importance of the individual’s conscience in decision making, both of which are things that our wider church community can emanate. For example, he has given funds to a struggling transgender community, helped a same-sex couple have their children
received into the Catholic church and extended his thanks to individuals and organisations who work with LGBT + Catholics such as New Ways Ministry. This shows that he is both listening to and accepting the LGBT+ community and providing pastoral care. Learning about others is one of the ways in which Catholic schools embody the call to love one’s neighbour and that is a gospel value that is at the very heart of Catholic Education.
References:
Catholic Education Service (2018) Made in God’s Image: Challenging homophobic and biphobic bullying in Catholic Schools. Available at: https:// www.catholiceducation.org.uk/images/ CES-Project_Homophobic-BullyingBooklet_JUN18_PROOF-9.pdf (last accessed 6th June 2021)
Martin SJ, James (2017) Building A Bridge: How the Catholic Church and LGBT community can enter into a relationship of respect, compassion and sensitivity. San Francisco: HarperOne.
Catholic Herald (staff writers) (2017) School: use transgender ‘preferred pronouns’. Catholic Herald. 5th October 2017
The Christian Institute (2017) Girls face ‘confusion’ over trans policy at RC school. Available at: https:// www.christian.org.uk/news/girls-faceconfusion-trans-policy-rc-school/ (last accessed 6th June 2021)
Diocese of Nottingham (2019) Definition of a Practising Catholic. Available at https://www. dioceseofnottingham.uk/application/ files/5915/5266/8243/Definition_of_a_ Practising_Catholic_-_January_2019.pdf (last accessed 6th June 2021)
Pope Francis (2016) The Name Of God Is Mercy. Bluebird (English translation). Cairns, Madoc (2020) Pope Gifts Funds to Transgender Community. The Tablet. 1st May 2020
Suggestions for making Catholic schools more LGBT+ inclusive:
Classrooms/corridors (visual support):
• Use inclusive language ‘they/them’, ‘year 9’ instead of ‘ladies and gentlemen’
• Avoid seating plans based on gender – so for example, do not implement a boy/girl seating plan
• Use inclusive visuals in advertising and displays: LGBT people, people of colour, people with disabilities and women.
• Have safe spaces/people to speak to visibly identified with LGBT & Christian badges/posters
• Use some of the resources shown below in RSE- these indicate that LGBT people have a place in the church and are to be treated with love and respect as the Catechism states. It also shows practical support for groups who may feel abandoned by the church.
• Mark particular occasions with prayers and reflection calling for an end to the persecution LGBT+ people face: Transgender Day of Remembrance/Orlando shooting 2016/LGBT+ History Month/Pride Month
• Normalise the use of visible pronouns (he/him etc.) and/or asking about them.
• Use LGBT+ people in other areas of the curriculum; Freddie Mercury in Music, Ruth Hunt in Politics, Alan Turing in Computer Science etc.
• Occasional mixed sports teams/ competitions/PE lessons.
Policies:
• A clear consequence system for discriminatory remarks reflecting current UK law on hate crimes. Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia should be treated the same way that racism is. (A hate crime is defined as ‘Any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s race or perceived race; religion or perceived religion; sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation; disability or perceived disability and any crime motivated by hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender.’ )
• Assess uniform and staff dress policies – are they unnecessarily gendered? Is this something that can be changed short term or long term?
• Inclusion & Diversity: Language should be inclusive and should reflect Equality Act 2010. How well is this implemented?
Training:
• Invite guest speakers from Quest, LGBT Catholics Westminster/ diocese links to deliver training to staff and/or pupils. This could be 1 to 1 support, delivering assemblies or providing staff training on how to listen to pupils, what to expect and what language is appropriate and what is not. Very often people seem to want to hear the stories of LGBT+ people of faith.
• Individuals such as myself may also offer this, please contact: geowhite24@gmail.com
LGBT + Catholic Resources:
Books: ‘Building a Bridge’ by Fr. James Martin SJ.
Articles: https://www.thetablet.co.uk/ news/12857/pope-gifts-funds-totransgender-community https://cruxnow.com/church-in-theamericas/2020/08/pope-tells-nunhelping-transgender-women-god-willrepay-you/
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/09/ fr-james-martin-pope-was-attentivewelcoming-and-warm-duringmeeting/
https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/ congregations/ccatheduc/documents/ rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20190202_ maschio-e-femmina_en.pdf https://rainbowcatholics.org/acritique-male-and-female-he-createdthem-giuseppe-2019/
https://www.americamagazine. org/faith/2021/07/02/popefrancis-transgender-vaccinationvatican-240974
Websites:
https://rainbowcatholics.org/aboutus/ https://questlgbti.uk/ https://www.lgbtcatholicsyag.org.uk/
by Professor Gerald Grace R and D Editor of Networking
PREFACE:
Questions & Answers:
How has your work in research and publication responded to the sexual abuse of young people which has occurred in catholic schools across the world?
This is a statement prepared by Professor Gerald Grace when taking part in a dialogue with a public audience about his research and publications on International Catholic Education.
The Editorial team of this journal took the view (with the agreement of Gerald), that it should be published in Networking.
Responses from our readership are invited.
John Clawson, Editor
How has your work in research and publication responded to the sexual abuse of young people which has occured in catholic schools across the world?
1. This is a valid question within the terms of reference of this session of dialogue and, of course, I have asked myself that question and as part of my own examination of conscience I have started to draft an answer.
2. There is no doubt that this is the greatest betrayal of the mission principles of the Catholic Church since the betrayal of Jesus Christ himself by Judas Iscariot and its consequences have been disastrous for the mission integrity of the Catholic Church and for Catholic educational systems across the world. The victims of this abuse witness to forms of diabolical corruption with long term consequences.
3. As the intention of my work (with many colleagues) has been in the
period 1997-2021 to focus empirical research and analytical scholarship on the positive and negative aspects of international Catholic education and to disseminate these especially through the journals International Studies in Catholic Education and Networking it is entirely reasonable to ask about the biggest negative of them all i.e. the abuse of young people by some teachers in Catholic schools and colleges. Has the work of Gerald Grace engaged with ‘the Great Betrayal of Trust’?
4. My answer is as follows: This is a 3 part Report:
1st: As soon as the scale of abuse became evident, I attempted to recruit some members of the clergy in the UK, who were my friends and associates to write articles for the journal about the sex abuse scandals, its causes, its effects and the necessary safeguarding responses needed for the future. No one was prepared to write on this subject.
2nd: Having failed at the informal level, I decide to write more formally to the member of the Hierarchy who Pope Francis had appointed to research these cases and to report on necessary reforms required in the culture and procedures of the Church in the future and of its educational agencies. This man is an Archbishop
I wrote him a letter on 11th March 2016 sending him a copy of the journal and asking if he would consider writing an article on the subject :‘What lessons has the Church learned in dealing with the clerical sex abuse cases: a report for the information of Catholic educators’.
I received a reply from his Secretary on 4th April saying that because of his many other commitments he was not able to write such an article.
I wrote to him again on 15th June 2020, as from the Editorial Board asking him if he would again consider writing such an article. This time, his Secretary responded by saying that the Archbishop would like me to send more details to his private email address. This I did. I regret to report that no response was ever received to this message.
3rd: Having failed to receive any positive responses from the Institutional Church, I asked my Editorial Assistant to do a search among other education journals to see if articles on this subject had been published. She located a brief article in an American journal and I wrote to the author asking him if he would consider writing a longer and more developed version for ISCE. I am pleased to report that we have published online in International Studies in Catholic Education in September 2021 an article entitled: ‘An Update on the Clerical Sex Abuse Scandal in the Catholic Church in the United States and its Impact on Education’.
We hope that this article will stimulate further update reports from other countries so that a global record can be produced. The Church and Catholic education organisations have much to learn from these corruptions.
Counter-cultural Christian Schools
Being a Faith leader of a Catholic School in the current times presents challenges of many dimensions, no more so than facing ‘the culture of the times.’
An example can be taken from the reported remarks made by the Head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, with regard to schools prioritising their poorest pupils during lockdown. She is reported to have said that while it was admirable to have focused on children in the greatest need... this may have had consequences for the calibre of learning on offer. She explained that in many schools it felt as though attention went most rapidly to the most disadvantaged children, into making food parcels….which may have meant these schools did not have capacity left to make sure that some kind of education was on offer for all children.
This could be challenged on many grounds, particularly humanitarian, social and educational, but many Christian leaders and others would be further shocked by its implications. Turning to the admonition of the apostle James concerning faith and good works one finds a distinct contrast. “Here is one, in need of clothes or enough food to live on … and you say ‘I wish you well, keep yourself warm and eat plenty’ without giving them these bare necessities of life, then what good is that? Faith is like that: if good works do not go with it, it is quite dead.” (2.14-17)
It is a sad commentary on the culture of our times, when claims that established priorities should not be overridden, even by the drastic crisis facing many children. For a leader of faith, and indeed any school leader, with a regard for fellow humans in distress, there would be no choice but for common humanity and faith to come together. While it is a matter of
great shame that any child living in a wealthy country should require a food parcel, it is this reality that should take Catholic School leaders in particular into the territory of being countercultural.
If the Head of Ofsted can display her leadership values by this comment, then that leadership model must be rejected. In my sixteen years of Headship and a further eight years of working with school governors and headteachers, experience shows many examples of the development of the culture that reduces schooling to a training period to pass exams. Education has been deliberately moved from communitarian and religious roots and increasingly into a policy driven governmental environment. The experience of helplessness drawn by this culture was expressed to me in this period by an effective Chairman of Governors of a county primary school in a deprived area where he was doing his best to motivate, involve and serve the local community. In private conversation he admitted that he was, as often sadly described, a ‘lapsed Catholic.’ He offered: “I have lost my Faith and my political beliefs.”
It should not be a matter of identifying how this has come about but accepting that we face a great rebuilding task. Notably, Professor Grace was seeing this challenge in his research from 1995 onwards and alongside other research projects in that period, shows that the change of culture was clear, but ignored. What matters now is to challenge and rebuild.
Consequences
Sadly, many of the structures established for Catholic education leaders in the 1990s have now become moribund, ineffective or split.
by Peter Boylan
Much has been due to the culture of the times. The ‘Great Education Reform Act’ of 1988 and upheavals that have followed, in particular with Ofsted, have led to drastically increase the workload of teachers and the additional responsibilities of school leaders and school governors. Oppressive accountability in many forms has added to develop a ‘fear of failure’ where livelihood, families and mortgages are at risk. This has left very little time for any voluntary activity of a related nature to take place. The catholic principles of fidelity, loyalty, mutual support and voluntary contribution have all been severely reduced or disappeared.
In conversation with an experienced colleague we simultaneously identified the most important quality for school leaders as being stamina, not something mentioned in leadership manuals. This quality was also an important feature for school governors. Many of the governor training courses, on explaining what was expected of them in terms of both knowledge and commitment, the response would be ‘but we’re only volunteers.’ Not surprisingly many governing body meetings experienced poor attendance or carried many vacancies. The link with a community became broken and their role in providing a strategic vision, acting as a critical friend and ensuring accountability, in light of the circumstances of the school, has disappeared.
Spirituality, Ethics and Catholic Social Teaching
There is now a need to take a bold step and make an attempt to reignite those dormant catholic values in all our school educators, in itself a massive challenge. Many of our school leaders, principles, headteachers, deputy headteachers and teachers
will already act on these values without recognising explicitly that they are so doing. What is required is a clarification and reassurance that these are the Christian values and principles, that should be a guide to our purpose. In doing so we are confirmed and strengthened in our solidarity with our colleagues. The words of President Nelson Mandela resonate here when he made his inaugural address in 1994. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, but we are powerful beyond measure….. As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
First of all, spirituality should be at the heart of any Christian leader. To develop a personal spiritual formation requires exploring the wisdom from the Old Testament scriptures; lessons from the gospels and guidance from the epistles; reflection and meditation. Prayer requires time for that reflection and individual prayer together with an opportunity to join in a more formal liturgical celebration. A full understanding of the Eucharist, of the meaning of Incarnation and of the Trinity is needed. Christ being the centre of all these parts.
Ethics can be defined as a study of moral principles in human conduct. First developed by ancient Greek scholars, these are seen to be sets of moral principles that guide human behaviour. Probably the best example being the Hippocratic Oath, taken by the medical profession. At the current time so many of these accepted principles have become disputed or bypassed. A rampant post-modern culture which we now inhabit, is one where free choice is paramount and any limitations depend only on personal decisions. Right and wrong; alternative facts; greed is good; optional truth; experts are not needed; factual evidence and learning become dependent on the individual’s own viewpoint. Legal requirements are ignored, judges become ‘the enemies of the people’; moral issues are being reduced to an individual choice. Thus we see the weakening of what have been considered universal principles in medicine, public service or financial dealings, in the principles
of law and justice. Even the accepted basic life needs of all, clean air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, are treated casually. Hence consideration of any agreed ethic or moral principle arising from daily circumstances as a basic management tool is lacking.
The Social Teaching of the Church has been described, with good reason, as both ‘it’s greatest treasurer’ and ‘its best kept secret.’ It is not only regarded as a primer for Catholics but for others and has long been treated as such. In his introduction to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, (2004) commissioned by John-Paul II, Cardinal Sodano writes ‘It is interesting to note how many elements brought here are shared by other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, as well as by other religions. The text is useful not only from within, but also from outside. ...All people of goodwill, can find fruitful occasions for reflection and common motivation.’
It begins with recognising not only the dignity of the person made in God’s image but also that the individual person is by nature a social being, contributing to and responsible for, the common good of all. This must be the starting point for any Catholic school community as a witness to Christian values. It accepts rights and responsibilities, justice and the preferential option for the poor, solidarity as an extension of the common good and subsidiarity passing responsibilities to lower levels of a community consistent with effectiveness. Catholic Social Teaching must become the bedrock of Catholic leadership in schools as elsewhere. But not simply in saying but also in doing. Faith is demonstrated by good works as James tells us.
Counter-cultural leadership
The challenge for Catholic leaders including teachers, is to reject this culture of the times and renew the moral principles in Catholic Social Teaching. The Challenge goes much wider than any single Catholic school community, where witness to the application of the Church’s social teaching is essential. Any emerging structure, be it multiacademies or whatever system of organising Catholic schools, must
both recognise and apply these principles. Issues such as ensuring the dignity of both children and adults; fairness in distribution of resources, including a preferential option for the poor including poorer schools in cluster, poorer learners in the school; working for a common good but delegating what can be safely passed to component parts; justice in disciplinary systems; a fair pay structure for all employees from cleaners to senior managers. The list will continue but with some challenging policy questions. For example, how would an enrolment policy figure? What about the publication of examination results?
If such a structure could be mounted, it would provide a witness and challenge to the prevailing culture of competition, divisiveness, mistrust and over accountability. Would it clash with statutory requirements and how should such issues be handled? There are examples of parts of these programmes among many schools already. Such examples need to be shared and expanded.
The issues facing school leaders, managers and administrators might be overwhelming but it would require vision and bravery to carry such a scheme forward. It would also demonstrate a radical way to move forward in witness to the Christian roots of why Catholic schools exist. Visitors to one Catholic secondary school in the south-east of England would see, painted above the entrance door ‘be it known that Christ is the reason for this place.’ Is this is not something that should be in evidence in every Catholic school as a reminder to visitors and those who spend regular time there, of the real purpose of why Catholic schools exist.
CSAN Update No. 2
By Raymond Friel, CEO of CSAN
What is the good news of God? How should it be enacted in the world by those who follow Christ, the Word of God who became a human being to tell us this good news? In Year C of the liturgical calendar, the year of the Gospel of Luke, a good place to start would be the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus, which in Luke’s account is the most extensive of all the Gospels. It is sometimes called the Nazareth Manifesto and we will be hearing it soon, on the third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday 23 January.
Jesus has just begun his public ministry. There has been some mission activity in Capernaum. Now he returns to his home in Nazareth, a village in Galilee, about eighty miles north of Jerusalem. He is invited to read in the synagogue, which would indicate he was held in some esteem. The scripture scholar Kenneth E. Bailey speculates that Jesus would probably have joined the nightly meetings of the haberim during his youth, a lay movement which spread around the villages of Galilee in the first century AD. Men of the village would gather in the evening after their day’s work and discuss the Torah. In his excellent book, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, Bailey says that we can be confident that Jesus took part in this group because in the Gospels he demonstrates skills in the rabbinic style of debate which would have been nurtured in these fellowships.
Jesus is handed the scroll in an expectant synagogue and finds the place in Isaiah 61 where it is written:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he has anointed me To bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To let the oppressed go free, To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
Luke 4: 18-19
But this is not quite the text from the beginning of Isaiah chapter 61. Jesus has edited the text. According to Bailey, he has done this to make the purpose of his mission very clear. Jesus stops reading mid-verse at, “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” He does not finish the verse, which is, “and the day of vengeance of our God.” This is good news. There is no vengeance in God. It turns out that the vengeance was in us all along. Jesus also ‘imports’ a line from Isaiah chapter 58, “to let the oppressed go free” from verse 6, which is all about loosing the bonds of injustice, sharing bread with the hungry, bringing the homeless into your house. Bailey makes the point that Jesus edits the text to make it clear that the mission of the anointed one is proclamation and justice advocacy, motivated by compassion, the beating heart of the Gospel.
It wasn’t quite what his listeners wanted to hear. They wanted to hear the Messiah proclaim a liberation which included vengeance on their enemies. When Jesus went on to cite two examples of faith from the Gentiles, rather than from the children of Abraham, they were inflamed. The warm welcome for the returning son of the village turned so hostile that they bundled him out intending to kill him, such was the level of offence taken at this undermining of their values. Jesus slips the crowd, but the master story-teller Luke has indicated that in the end the vengeful crowd would kill Jesus as a scapegoat, so that they could unite in feeling good about their narrow and vindictive view of the world.
What Jesus proclaimed was a reversal of the values of the world, a liberation from the old ways of belonging ‘over against’ another group, or tribe. Jesus announces a liberation not just from sin, which has sometimes been the
by Raymond Friel CEO of Caritas
dominant emphasis in the Catholic tradition, but also from oppressive social circumstances, “let the oppressed go free.” In Catholic Social Teaching this is called integral and universal salvation. As it says in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, it is a salvation which concerns “the human person in all his dimensions: personal and social, spiritual and corporeal, historical and transcendent” (para 38). It is, as it says in a later paragraph, “a complete form of humanism, that is to say, ‘a liberation from everything that oppresses man’” (para 82). This has a clear implication for our enactment of the good news, our building up of the kingdom of love, justice and peace. We are called upon not just to relieve the suffering of the poor and oppressed, but to work for their liberation from oppressive circumstances and to challenge the structures in society which maintain unjust relations and sustain poverty. In Chapter 4 of Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis deals with “the social dimension of evangelization” at some length. He says that an authentic faith “always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it” (para 183). He says that solidarity with those who are poor and afflicted is more than random acts of generosity, it includes “working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor” (para 188). Let the oppressed go free and work to eliminate the system that oppressed them in the first place.
This understanding of the mission of the Church is also found in the documents of the Congregation for Catholic Education. The 1982 document, Lay Catholics in Schools:
Social Action Network (CSAN)
Witnesses to Faith, describes the vocation of every Catholic educator as a work of social development, the formation of young men and women for social engagement, “preparing them in such a way that they will make the kind of social commitment which will enable them to work for the improvement of social structures, making these structures more conformed to the principles of the Gospel. Thus, they will form human beings who will make human society more peaceful, fraternal, and communitarian” (para 19). The purpose of the Catholic school is the formation of agents of change, social justice warriors who will challenge the systems of oppression.
The challenge for educators in Catholic schools is to ensure that social justice is not some add-on that appears occasionally in assemblies or PSHE lessons but features in the warp and weft of the curriculum. A curriculum, in other words, marinated in social justice, in a commitment to the transformation of relationships in society. It requires discerning leadership, since there will be many current issues of injustice which will bring the curriculum in close contact with the world of politics. There are those who say that the Church should keep out of politics, and indeed that schools should steer clear of politics. Pope Francis has been consistently clear that this should never be the case for a Christian. While we should avoid party politics, as in taking sides with the reds or the blues or yellows or whoever, we should not avoid what he calls capital P Politics, the way society is structured and the decisions it makes relating to the welfare and dignity of the human person.
One example of this which Caritas Social Action Network and a number of its members have been engaged with is the legislation on the reform of the asylum system, the Nationality and Borders Bill, which by the time this article is published (Jan 2022) is probably making its way through the House of Lords. CSAN issued an Advent Statement on this Bill which you can find on our website at https:// www.csan.org.uk/policy/bordersbill-2021/.
Two member organisations of the Caritas Social Action Network, the Saint Vincent de Paul Society and the Jesuit Refugee Service UK, have produced a campaign toolkit, 8 things you should know about the Nationality and Borders Bill and actions you can take to change it. This resource examines the Bill in the light of sacred Scripture and Catholic Social Teaching and proposes practical ways in which the Catholic community can express its concerns. You can find the resource at either of their websites: https://www.svp.org.uk/nationalityand-borders-bill-campaign-toolkit or https://www.jrsuk.net/eightthings-you-should-know-about-thenationality-and-borders-bill/.
Catholic schools do not tell its pupils what to think. Some of our opponents believe that we ‘indoctrinate’ our young people because we present a Christian view of reality. In fact, every school, no matter what its professed identity, has institutional values, either explicitly stated, or implicit. These are the values by which the school determines what it will stand for and not stand for. Every school has a value system. The Catholic school is just honest about it and proclaims without embarrassment that it is inspired by Gospel values.
When it comes to presenting the reality of the world to our young people, we have a starting point, a vision of a world transformed by love, justice and peace. In his encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis says that “Our response to the arrival of migrating persons can be summarised by four words: welcome, protect, promote and integrate” (para 29). Throughout sacred Scripture there is a constant theme of respect and welcome for the stranger, culminating in the stunning revelation in Chapter 25 of Matthew’s Gospel that in our encounters with the hungry and the weak we encounter our Lord: “you did it to me” (Matthew 25: 40).
When it comes to legislation which is designed to increase a culture of hostility and suspicion towards those who comes to our country, often after perilous journeys across the Channel, then we are not neutral. We
present this to our pupils in the light of our Gospel values, in the light of Catholic Social Teaching. If part of our mission is to challenge the structures of injustice, the degradation of the human person, then the question to ask of any policy or piece of legislation is as follows: does it enhance human dignity and the common good, or demean and diminish it? Our pupils will come to their own conclusions. The Catholic school encourages critical thinking, it does not crush contrary opinion, but it knows where it stands, inspired by a Teacher who caused outrage in his own village two thousand years ago when he said, “let the oppressed go free.”
Keep in touch:
CSAN website: www.csan.org.uk.
CSAN Twitter: @CSANonline
Raymond Friel CSAN email: Raymond.friel@csan.org.uk
Raymond Friel personal Twitter: @friel_raymond
Raymond Friel is the CEO of Caritas Social Action Network, the agency of the Bishops’ Conference dedicated to tacking the causes of poverty and promoting justice in England and Wales. He is a former Catholic headteacher and CEO of two multi academy trusts. His next book, Formation of the Heart: the Why and How of Being a Catholic Today, will be published this spring by Redemptorist Publications. He was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List 2022 for services to education.
Saint Paul’s Pupils Enjoy Mini DASH
A group of pupils from Saint Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe took part in a recent Mini DASH meeting which is organised by the Diocese of Shrewsbury. The aim is to get together with pupils from other schools to share ideas and work on ideas for future collaboration.
Students from Saint Paul’s joined together with multiple high schools within the Shrewsbury Diocese for a Mini-Dash event. The day was spent focussed on the ecumenical theme for Creation Time: 2021: A Home For All; Renewing the Oikos of God.
The students looked at St Francis’ call for us to take care of our common home and to focus on the “cry of the poor”, who live on the streets of our cities and towns.
Our activity for the day was to create a shelter for a homeless person to show the difficulties of life on the streets as well as showing that we are compassionate towards our brothers and sisters who are in the unfortunate position of being on the streets. Trying to build a shelter showed us just how hard it is to a build shelter for ourselves and helped us to reflect on the difficulties those living on the streets face on a day to day basis.
The Mini DASH (Diocesan Association of Secondary Head teachers) meeting for the pupils takes place at the same time as the secondary head teachers of the Diocese of Shrewsbury meet together. The pupils share and discuss a wide variety of ideas and suggestions and are encouraged to take the ideas back to their own schools, passing them on and developing them.
Saint Paul’s Open Evening
Saint Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, opened its doors to parents and the community, when it held an Open Evening where parents, carers and primary school pupils were invited to see the school at work. There was a special focus on those parents who are now looking for a school for their son or daughter who will be starting school in September 2022.
they can get a real feel for how life is at Saint Paul’s.
Mr Mike Whiteside, Deputy Headteacher, said: “Thank you to all those who attended our Open Evening. The atmosphere was excellent and there was certainly a ‘buzz’ around school with all visitors giving really positive feedback.”
Mr Harrison Kilburn, Chaplain at Saint Paul’s, explained: “We loved our day and look forward to meeting up again with other schools for Mini-Dash in the near future. It was an excellent opportunity for the pupils to mix with pupils from different schools to get together and share their thoughts..”
Saint Paul’s is keen to encourage all those in the local community to come to visit its premises and learn about how the school is developing both academically and in its extra-curricular activities such as sport, music and drama.
The Open Evening provided a window into the school allowing parents to make an informed choice about their child’s future school.
Whilst the Open Evening has now been and gone, parents are invited to bring their families to look round the school and speak to current students and staff so that
Mr Alex Hren, Head Teacher, said: “Our Open Evening allowed prospective parents and pupils the opportunity to meet with staff and students as well as viewing our facilities and participating in experiments and workshops. They were able to look at examples of students’ work and see how the curriculum is delivered. Staff from all areas of the school, Teaching, Pastoral, SEND and Support were available to answer a variety of queries.”
“I was delighted to welcome prospective pupils and their families to the school. I am very proud of the school, its staff, its students and their achievements.”
“The Mini DASH event not only gave pupils the chance to meet other young people from the different schools, but it also gave them the time and opportunity to reflect on the moving and inspiring words spoken by Pope Francis,” added Mr Alex Hren, Headteacher at Saint Paul’s. It’s important to meet as a Diocese, because all the people who met together are very different, but we all have one thing in common: our faith. The Mini-DASH is also a good chance to build up leadership skills and make new friends.”
A Network for Researchers in Catholic Education Event
One Day Conference 25th February 2022 Hosted at The Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education (DCU)
This one-day event, the first of its kind, will be putting the spotlight on the relationship between LGBTQ+ matters and the philosophy and theology of Catholic education.
On the whole many contemporary Catholic schools have become inclusive communities, in which there are pastorally sensitive ways of accommodating (and in some instances even celebrating) LGBTQ+ students. However, approaches framed in terms of ‘accommodation’ and ‘pastoral support’ can be limited, particularly when they are situated within philosophical and theological traditions that have (historically to the present day) marginalised LGBTQ+ people. In light of this, how can we go beyond a pastoral approach to these issues and explore how a positive engagement with LGBTQ+ matters can enrich and develop Catholic education? What insights might queer theology offer Catholic education? What would it mean to queer Catholic education?
Questions of interest to the conference include, but are not limited to, the following:
Is it possible for Catholic education to sit in harmony with the concerns of LGBTQ+ inclusive education?
What does it mean to ‘queer’ education at all? How does this sit in relation to Catholic perspectives on the purpose of Catholic education?
When it comes to LGBTQ+ issues in relation to Catholic education, what is the research agenda?
How might Catholic schools move beyond a ‘pastoral accommodation’ approach to LGBTQ+ students?
Conference confirmed keynote speakers include: Dr Seán Henry (Technological University Dublin) Dr Patricia Kieran (Mary Immaculate College)
Alongside our expert keynote speakers there will be a panel discussion and a range of short papers.
Call for papers:
We invite submissions to present short papers (15-20 minutes) on LGBTQ+ matters in relation to Catholic education. We would particularly welcome papers that explore the positive benefits that could come from being attentive to the insights of queer theology for Catholic education and schooling.
What does the evidence from research in Catholic schools indicate? Are they places of inclusion, hospitality and welcome for LGBTQ+ young people?
For informal discussion of possible papers please contact the conference organisers. Abstracts of up to 300 words should be submitted to Dr Sean Whittle (sean.whittle@stmarys.ac.uk) by 12th January 2022. Notifications of acceptance will be made by 19th January 2022.
Registration: Registration fee: €75
Concession for unwaged: €50
Conference organisers: Dr Sean Whittle (sean.whittle@stmarys.ac.uk) and Dr Seán Henry (sean.henry@tudublin.ie) This event is sponsored by the Network for Researchers in Catholic Education and Networking Education Trust.
A Festschrift
On Friday 19th November 2021 a group of friends and colleagues gathered at St Mary’s University for a Reception to launch a Festschrift in honour of Professor Gerald Grace KSG, KHS, FSES, who retired in December. Here are some reflections of the day and reviews of his book which can now be found free on the internet or in paperback form. (at £25 from Gerald Grace at hel.grace@gmail.com or crdce@stmarys.ac.uk giving your address for delivery).
Festschrift:
A book honouring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the honouree’s colleagues, former pupils, and friends. Festschriften are often titled something like Essays in Honour of... or Essays Presented to. - Source. Wikipedia
In Praise of Professor Gerald Grace
Last November a significant event took place in the Waldegrave room at St Mary’s University, to formally mark Gerald Grace’s retirement. It was an impressive gathering of Gerald’s associates, friends and family. The event is what in academic circles is known as a ‘Festschrift’. This is when a distinguished and accomplished scholar is praised for their achievements and contributions to a field of studies. Gerald Grace is the rightful recipient of a Festschrift, because he has done so much to establish the field of Catholic Education Studies. The event itself was great celebration, with an address from Cardinal Vincent Nichols, prayers led by Bishop Richard Moth, engaging talks from Professors Richard Pring, Meg Maguire and James Arthur.
To capture something of the Festschrift we invited a number of those who had gathered at St Mary’s to offer their reflections on the event and their estimation of Gerald’s contribution over the past 25 years. Here is a selection of some of the points raised.
Willie Slavin, (Retired Head and long standing colleague of Gerald Grace): I first heard Gerald Grace speak at a Catholic Headteacher conference in the mid-nineties.
That conference presentation by Gerald was a revelation and signalled for me the emergence of a speaker who has gone on to inspire thousands of Catholic teachers, worldwide. More importantly that moment, upon reflection, became a watershed in Catholic education
conference programming. Headteachers and their colleagues discovered a far richer, informative, inspiring seam of content that convincingly translated Vatican II’s challenge to leave our stifling diet of insular thinking behind and have the confidence to confront the increasingly strident secular voice in the forum of educational discourse.
Significantly, my most acute recollection of what Gerald said, he having accurately read the signs of the times, was to entreat his listeners to be attentive to Jesus’ cautionary note in his mission discourse to the twelve, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
Matthew 10:16
The Gerald I have been privileged to come to know since that first encounter most certainly took that advice to heart in his own mission to claim a place for Catholic social thinking as a lens through which educational policy should be properly, and justly, examined for its contribution to the common good. While I have no recollection of Gerald ever being overtly preachy about his faith, his innate sense of the value of others can only have emanated from a profound understanding of the sacred. His is a living faith that came from, and was nurtured by, a sense of his calling to teach. Teaching as an unfolding of divine revelation; teaching as the pursuit of truth; teaching as a transformative activity; teaching as a potential encounter with the divine.
Observing Gerald over a period of so many years cannot but lead one to conclude that he brought an inspired sense of the sacred to every encounter.
Whether the context was a fully-fledged lecture or a relatively short social encounter, Gerald’s ability to offer an affirmative attentiveness to any encounter, in my experience, compelled an engaging response on his level, surely the essence of the born teacher who had found his calling? Gerald’s invitation to join him in our common mission owed much to the Emmaus methodology. Its effect is a progressive dawning of profound proportions.
Dr Richard Wilkin, Headteacher (Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School): Defining, and capturing the essence of a distinctively ‘Catholic’ education is becoming harder, particularly with the disappearance, at least in large parts of the world, of professed religious in our schools. For those of us grappling with that quest for meaning, whether researchers, school leaders, or that hybrid that I represent, the practitioner-researcher, Gerald Grace is not just a leading light, but our pole star. If aspirant Catholic leaders ask me to recommend some reading to develop their understanding of our mission, it is to Gerald’s books that I turn first. Unusually, in a field of research that dates so quickly, Gerald’s work invariably looks forward; he has little time for nostalgia about the Church, so his speech at the St Mary’s Festschrift characteristically spoke of the future, not the past. His mind is always open, questioning, seeking evidence, modelling in himself the intellectual characteristics we seek as school leaders and as students.
Whilst never nostalgic, Gerald has an acute sense of what might be carelessly lost. The corrosive influence of the market
and the language of business, increasingly prominent in the world of Catholic school leadership, is powerfully reflected in his 2002 book, ‘Missions, Markets and Morality’. Bad things happen from good intentions, so perhaps, as Gerald himself suggested, leaders of Catholic education at national and diocesan level should read his book before exerting further pressure on Catholic schools to submerge themselves in multi-academy trusts. As Gerald himself always asks: ‘Where is the research, where is the evidence?’
Like generations of students, I will always be grateful to Gerald for his kindness and generosity as a doctoral supervisor. He is an eminent teacher but also a friend, whose cheerful example has sustained so many of us in the daily challenges of Catholic education.
Dr Marie Griffin, CEO of the Irish Catholic Education Trust (CEIST): Professor Gerald Grace, a kind and learned teacher in academia, retired last week from St Mary’s Twickenham as Professor of Catholic Education (the only such position in the UK). Professor Grace is now 85 and his work with Catholic schools across the world was a second calling for him. He was drawn to do research on Catholic education to help explain why 52 million students across the globe are choosing Catholic schools and what we can do to make them even better.
Gerald Grace is important to Catholic education for a number of reasons. The first is his insistence on empirical data as evidence for the work. To the old chestnut of a complaint, for example, that Catholic education is nothing more than indoctrination, his retort is always “Show me the evidence”. And is there any? It would appear to me that if Catholic schools are only interested in indoctrination then they are making a very bad job of it. They are interested in excellent education and there is ample evidence for that claim.
Gerald Grace’s second important contribution is his development of the concept of “spiritual capital” which he defined as “resources of faith and values derived from commitment to a religious tradition”. When he spoke to CEIST, a Trust body representing 107 schools in Ireland, he urged school leaders to ensure that they maintained that spiritual capital in their schools. It’s not an easy task but it is a worthy one. When a man of such scholarship gives his time voluntarily for
over 20 years to the calling, we are even more assured of its worth. I would urge school leaders, if you haven’t done so already, to read his book and research and to carry on the work.
Michael Holman SJ (Former Principal of Heythrop and former Headteacher): I have many reasons for being very grateful to Gerald. As I recall, we first met when I was headmaster of Wimbledon College, some 25 years ago. I was one of the many heads he interviewed at the time while researching the identity of Catholic schools and how school leaders managed, or not, to negotiate the demands of government and inspectors with their promotion of the school’s Catholic mission. This was the research which was later published as “Catholic Schools: Mission, Markets and Morality”.
I am very grateful for his interest in Jesuit education both at home and abroad. I recall the support he gave to one younger Jesuit from the developing world when he published his research in his journal. I know that support meant a good deal to the young man concerned who felt much encouraged in his own commitment to Catholic education.
Through the journal he founded, International Studies in Catholic Education, Gerald has expanded the vision of educational leaders beyond their local concerns to the experience of Catholic education internationally. This has been of importance not only in stimulating further research and in promoting the international network of Catholic education; it has also helped educational leaders like me examine and evaluate some of the assumptions on which we build our own work.
I am personally grateful for support Gerald has shown me. I well remember a lunch we had together shortly before I visited Pakistan for the first time to direct retreats for religious most of whom were working in Catholic schools. Typically, I never managed to write the article he requested on the contribution which Catholic education makes to the common good in that fragile country.
Ever since that first meeting so long ago, I have had a great respect for Gerald’s research. When Provincial of the Society of Jesus in Britain, I was pleased we were able to help fund his Centre for Research into Catholic Education. Gerald’s emphasis on the need not only to talk
about the mission of schools but to put that mission into practice, to reflect at depth on the challenges of living that mission poses, to evaluate its impact with evidence and to consider in the light of that evidence how better the mission could be implemented, was and remains of critical importance. This aspect of his research will prove, I suspect, his enduring achievement.
Peter Boylan (Retired Headteacher and long standing associate of Gerald Grace): It was a delight and a pleasure to be invited to this occasion, in celebration of the work of the retiring Professor Grace from his role as head of the Centre of Research and Development in Catholic Education (CRDCE). Gerald described his ‘Damascene conversion’ on the road from Cambridge to Durham following a conference there in 1993. He was researching his work, ‘School leadership: Beyond Education Management.’ where one can see the first effects of that revelation. It may well be the first such secular book that directly references and takes seriously the work of Catholic school leaders. My first meeting with Gerald took place at a conference of Catholic headteachers at Stoke Rochford in 1994, when he sought assistance from those gathered, to express their dilemmas of leadership that subsequently became a chapter in his book.
The voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to him in that vehicle was more opportune than he might have imagined. Some five years earlier, the Catholic secondary headteachers had appealed to Cardinal Hume for the urgent need for reform in the English Church’s policies and management structures for their Catholic schools. While successful in many ways, the particular plea for a research base in Catholic education was bypassed. Was this then a prompt from the Holy Spirit? There was little mentioned on the day and thus appreciation expressed, of the work undertaken by Gerald in establishing the CRDCE in 1997. The London Institute of Education saw the potential of the work and provided the base but no funding; this came led by the Jesuits and supported by many Religious Orders with an educational charism, which were generous in providing some £150,000 Thus enabling the first part-time administrator and saw the first publication in 1999.
Gerald happily became our first Research editor of the new ‘Networking, Catholic Education Today’ journal in September
1999, coinciding with the first publication from the Centre entitled ‘Doctoral and Masters’ Theses and Dissertations in Catholic Education in the UK and Ireland.’ He still chides me for my review of this publication when I posed the question ‘Is that all there is?’ One of the celebratory achievements would be to consider how this whole new corpus of research work has expanded. It would illustrate the influence of the Centre and Gerald himself, in the way in which this original limited field has expanded over those years.
Professor Grace’s second great idea, related to the universal extent of Catholic endeavour in the field of education, led to the International Handbook of Catholic Education in 2007, and the International Journal two years later. Once again this demonstrates the solidity of research into Catholic schooling and its development in all its forms, within a vast academic field. In celebrating Gerald’s long academic life this Festschrift and accompanying publication, was the occasion to celebrate a remarkable career always conducted, with a sense of mischief and fun, that has contributed so much to the academic field of Catholic education
Dr Maureen Glackin (Secretary of the Catholic Independent Schools’ Conference): If the gnomic statement attributed to Pablo Picasso about tradition being not wearing your grandfather’s hat, but rather begetting a child, is held to be true, then Prof. Gerald Grace is a prolific father! I am not alone in being someone whose teaching and academic career was formed and influenced by his research and thinking, so why was this? When I embarked upon my own research in Catholic education, the main sources to critically underpin my work came from either a theological or experiential context, both of which were important areas for consideration in terms of my own thinking. However, their respective theoretical and personal perspectives could only ever be sources of influence rather than part of the research story itself. What Prof. Grace’s work offered, reasonably uniquely at the time, was empirical, qualitative and quantitative research from a UK perspective, which provided an evidenced-based narrative landscape within which one could place one’s own research and thinking. In so doing, Catholic educational research, whilst keeping ‘a foot’ in the Theology
Gerald Grace’s Role in Shaping the Field of Catholic Education Studies
When an eminent scholar finally retires there is a natural tendency to over emphasise their importance. However, when it comes to Gerald Grace it is really very difficult to over-estimate his importance in the academic study of Catholic education in the UK. After his long and illustrious academic career, this is an apt time to recognise the outstanding contribution that Gerald Grace has made to the field of Catholic Education Studies.
It is important to appreciate the way in which the shape or focus of research in Catholic education has been given discernible direction by Gerald Grace. There are a number of themes in this guidance that deserve to be pointed out. The first is the importance of empirical study in relation to Catholic education. Grace’s seminal 2002 work demonstrated the importance of carefully conducted fieldwork when researching Catholic education. It is sustained empirical research which Catholic education
needs, rather than pious platitudes or uncritical descriptions. Grace has used his position of executive editor of the journal International Studies in Catholic Education (ISCE) to repeatedly publish research which is empirically robust. In bringing this sort of work to the attention of the readers of ISCE, he is providing an ongoing model of what effective research in Catholic education needs to be like. These are models which the newer generations of researchers in Catholic Education Studies are able to both emulate and build upon in their own research.
A second theme must be the significance that Grace attaches to the 1977 guidance document issued by the Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome, known as The Catholic School. Referring to this document has over the past two decades become almost a mantra for Gerald Grace. He has repeatedly described the 1977 document as the ‘foundation charter’ or universal mission statement for all
Departments of universities, took a bold step into Education departments and other related disciplinary areas.
Of course, Gerald Grace was not alone in this. His work coincided with that of other great luminaries within Catholic educational research which provided a catalyst for the development of a community of enquiry which has seen the flowering of research into all aspects of the Catholic educational experience. And so it continues today. I am currently engaged in a research project that builds upon Gerald Grace’s seminal work on spiritual capital, looking at such within the Catholic independent schools sector. And this is, perhaps, his greatest legacy: his ability to inspire and encourage the work of others.
So, returning to my opening sentence: I celebrate the tradition of evidence-led research into Catholic education for which Gerald Grace was a founding father, and I doff my hat to him and, indeed, don my own, as I seek to continue to develop that tradition.
Catholic schools. To be more precise, it is not the whole of this lengthy guidance document but rather paragraph 58 which is so central according to Grace. Within this paragraph there is a particularly inspiring sentence that declares ‘first and foremost the Church offers its educational service to the poor or those who are deprived of family help and affection or those who are far from the faith.’ There is an alignment between Catholic education and what we have come to know as the option for the poor. Grace has used both
by Dr Sean Whittle Research Associate at the CRDCE with Professor Gerald Grace
his public presentations and role as editor of ISCE to repeatedly draw attention to this sentence from the 1977 document, arguing that it represents a commitment in Catholic education to those who are poor. Permeating throughout every volume of ISCE are articles which highlight social justice, or Catholic social teaching, or liberation theology or an analysis of Catholic education in less economically developed parts of the world. This consistent editorial emphasis can be traced directly back to the importance Grace attaches to the vision embodied in this sentence in paragraph 58, and the way it demonstrates the importance of social justice and inclusion in relation to Catholic education.
Another noticeable editorial emphasis that has sought to shape Catholic Education Studies has been Grace’s care to ensure the voices of female researchers are properly recognised. Wherever possible he has tried to ensure the beginnings of gender balance in all the editions of the journal. In addition, Grace does not shy away from what some might consider to be controversial issues, such as the ordination of women as Catholic priests. In commissioning an article on this issue he wanted, as editor, to provide teachers and students in Catholic schools and universities with the opportunity to consider arguments in favour of the ordination of women, as well as those against. He wanted ISCE to be a
critical and probing arena of academic scholarship. An important part of this is the willingness and openness to be selfcritical on the part of those who advocate for Catholic education. For Grace it is a priority to avoid relying on apologetics and the defensiveness that wants to protect Catholic education against any and all critical voices, especially internal ones. What Grace wanted to bring about – and has achieved through ISCE – is a forum for genuine academic and well researched dialogue about Catholic education, including any weaknesses alongside its strengths.
Giving Honour Where It Is due
Gerald Grace deserves to be praised for his achievements in relation to Catholic education. He is responsible for much new thinking, new research and new scholarship in what is now a firmly established field of international study. Much of this is not just down to his ability as an accomplished academic with a sixty year career. Rather, it is the wider aspects of who he is as a person which have been the crucial factor in fulfilling his mission.
Gerald Grace is a person of deep faith, who strives to live out his Catholicity in an open minded way. His Catholic Christian faith which recognises the importance of ‘works’ as well as faith, chimes perfectly with his academic convictions in relation
to the sociology of education. Grace has become someone who has learnt over life how to combine compassionate socialism with academic integrity and a living faith. He has given generously of his time, in what was supposed to be years of retirement, to respond to what has been his mission in relation to Catholic education. If it were not for those intangible qualities in Grace’s personality, far less would have been achieved for Catholic education. It is Gerald Grace’s charm, kindness, joy of life and above all, commitment, which has allowed him to work so well with others, and nearly always bring out the best in them.
However, in many respects none of what Gerald Grace has achieved since 1997 would have been possible had it not been for his pre-retirement career. Gerald Grace entered the field of Catholic Education Studies as an accomplished and firmly established scholar within the Sociology and History of Education. Thus, when he approached those, such as Professor Peter Mortimore to ask for a base for the CRDCE in 1997 or the executives at Routledge in 2009 to argue for a brand new journal, he did so as a highly respected academic and colleague. Alongside his time and ability, Gerald Grace put his considerable academic reputation at the service of Catholic Education Studies. This is something for which Gerald Grace deserves much praise.
Sacred Heart Takes on the ‘Eyes of the World’ Campaign 2021
World Youth Day was launched with a virtual whole school liturgy. We learnt about the CAFOD campaign that intends to show world leaders that children all around the world are looking at their decisions regarding stewardship of our planet. We reflected on the fact that youthful characteristics such as energy, enthusiasm, drive, compassion and motivation are all key if we are to help
protect God’s beautiful creation. This initiative is called the ‘Eyes of the World’ campaign and Sacred Heart, Loughborough are proud to be a part of that.
The mission from the liturgy was twofold. Firstly, children were asked to sketch their eyes as they thought about the responsibilities that world leaders and all members of our
universal community have. Secondly, the whole school community was asked to join together on the school field to work collaboratively to form the image of an eye. Over 200 of us took on this challenge and the images taken from the drone are evidence of what we can achieve if we all work in harmony with each other.
News from CATSC
Congratulations to recent MA in Catholic School Leadership Graduates from St George’s Catholic School, Maida Vale, London who began on the Shepherding Talent
CPD Programme
Many congratulations to three outstanding students from St George’s Catholic School, Maida Vale, London W9 who graduated from the MA in Catholic School Leadership at St Mary’s University recently! Aspiring senior school leaders and currently middle school leaders, Laura, Katie and Michael originally completed a short CPD course which Professor John Lydon set-up on the school campus at the invitation of CEO, Martin Tissot, Cardinal Hume Academies Trust. Archdiocese of Westminster, when he was then Executive Headteacher of St George’s and St Thomas More Catholic School, Wood Green, London N22. Further thanks to Simon Bent, Assistant Headteacher, St Thomas More, Wood Green for coordinating the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) seminars. The Shepherding Talent CPD short course when completed provided those on completion with accredited prior learning (APL) which exempted them from one module of the MA/ PG Dip or PG Cert in Catholic School Leadership. Together with their recent PGCE M Level credits, Laura, Katie and Michael were able to complete their MA in one year.
At present, Shepherding Talent is currently being offered at St Bonventure’s Catholic School, Forest Gate, London E7 in the Diocese of Brentwood at the invitation of Headteacher Chris McCormack and Deputy Headteacher Andy Lewis. Participants from surrounding Catholic secondary and primary schools have also been invited to participate in this CPD.
In the spring semester, the Archdiocese of Southwark at the invitation of Education Officer, Sharon Doherty, has requested that Shepherding Talent be offered as CPD online for aspiring school leaders throughout the Archdiocese
Is your school interested in setting up a centre for a Shepherding Talent Short Course or PG Cert/PG Dip/MA in Catholic School Leadership?
Please contact Professor John Lydon, Professor of Catholic Education: john. lydon@stmarys.ac.uk, or Dr Caroline Healy, Course Lead: caroline.healy@ stmarys.ac.uk.
If you are an alumnus of St Mary’s University Twickenham, 20% reduced fees are applicable. If you are from Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, England, Wales or Scotland and are interested in completing the Masters/ PG Dip or PG Cert in Catholic School Leadership Programme, please get in contact.
About
the Programme Team in the MA in Catholic School Leadership:
Professor John Lydon, Professor of Catholic Education and Lead Practitioner
Prof. John Lydon holds degrees in education and theology from the Universities of Durham, Liverpool and Surrey. His doctorate focused on teaching as a vocation for lay teachers in a contemporary context. As well as teaching at the University of Notre Dame, London Global Gateway, he is the former Director of the MA in Catholic School Leadership Programme, Associate Director of the Centre for Research and Development in Catholic Education and the new Editor of the leading International Studies in Catholic Education journal, St Mary’s University, London.
Significant areas of Lydon’s scholarship and research focus on spiritual capital, Catholic school leadership, the maintenance of distinctive religious charisms and the relationship between these and competing school paradigms in the 21st century which focus on the marketisation of education and school effectiveness in the UK. He is a doctoral supervisor and mentor to postdoctoral researchers from Africa who
L to R: Dr Caroline Healy, Laura O’Sullivan, Katie Mulligan, Professor John Lydon and Michael Roche.
are enhancing their research capability in the area of Catholic education. Lydon is a sought-after speaker and regularly delivers lectures in the United States, especially at NCEA, but also Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Most recently he gave a keynote address to the Graduate School at the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, where he was appointed Visiting Professor in April 2021.
Lydon was recently appointed Multidisciplinary Expert of the CatholicInspired NGO Forum for education working in partnership with the Vatican Secretariat of State. He is a member of the Executives of the World Union of Catholic Teachers, the Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges of England & Wales and the Catholic Union of Great Britain. He is a Trustee of the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton and a Director of a Multi-Academy Trust. He is also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His key publications include:
‘Professor Gerald Grace and the concept of ‘Spiritual Capital’: reflections on its value and suggestions for its future development’. In: New Thinking, New Scholarship and New Research in Catholic Education (June 2021).
‘Salesian Accompaniment in Formal & Non-Formal Settings’ (2021) In: G. Byrne & S. Whittle (eds.) Catholic Education: Formal, Informal & Lifelong (Dublin: Veritas 2021).
Contemporary Perspectives on Catholic Education (2018, Gracewing Publishing).
The Contemporary Catholic Teacher: A Reappraisal of the Concept of Teaching as a Vocation (2011, Lambert Publishing).
‘Transmission of a Charism’, International Studies in Catholic Education (2009, TaylorFrancis).
Dr Caroline Healy, Course Lead
Dr Caroline Healy holds degrees from the Universities of Wales, Massachusetts and Brunel, London. She is Course Lead for the MA in Catholic School Leadership and is a PhD doctoral supervisor at St Mary’s University, London and also Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
She has held roles in higher education for over 25 years and has experience of teaching in the systems of the UK,
United States and Ireland and carrying out research in collaboration with a number of European countries. Caroline is the General Secretary of the Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges for England & Wales which represents the majority of Catholic schools. She is an elected member of the Council of the Catholic Union of Great Britain, to advance Catholic education in the wider public arena. She is a Trustee of the St Mary’s university charity SHOCC which promotes student and staff volunteering in schools and orphanages in Africa.
Caroline is privileged to have been invited to contribute to Professor Gerald Grace’s festschrift (2021) entitled ‘Catholic Education and a New Christian Humanism: in Honour of Grace’. In: S. Whittle (ed.) New Thinking, New Scholarship and New Research in Catholic Education (London: Routledge). She is also currently part of an exciting philanthropic-funded research project concerning the research capacitybuilding of post-doctoral researchers from Africa (CERIAN) and lead for the All Hallows Trust doctoral scholars at St Mary’s University. Her other recent publications include:
Healy, C. & J. Lydon (2021) ‘Shepherding Talent: an informal formation programme for aspiring school leaders’, Chapter 13, In: G. Byrne & S. Whittle (eds.) Irish and British Reflections on Catholic Education (Singapore: Springer).
Hast, M. & C. Healy (2018) “It’s like fiftyfifty”: using the student voice towards enhancing undergraduates’ engagement with online feedback provision, Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology, Vol. 7, No. 1, Spring 2018, pp. 139-151.
Hast, M. & C. Healy (2016) ‘Higher education marking in the electronic age: Quantitative and qualitative student insight’. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences. ISSN 1877-0428
Dr David Fincham, Former Programme Director
Dr Fincham is a former director of the MA in Catholic School Leadership and currently senior lecturer. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has an MA and PhD from the University of Surrey and a B.Ed. (Hons.)
from the University of Southampton. Between 1975 and 2006 he held senior leadership roles in Catholic schools in Surrey.
His current areas of research scholarship include Catholic School Education, Leadership & Theology; Pastoral Care, Personal and Social Education & Citizenship Education and Technology Enhanced Learning, Distance Learning & Blended Learning. His recent publications include:
‘Headteachers in Catholic schools in England: contemporary challenges. a follow-up research study: part 1’, International Studies in Catholic Education, pp1-14 online (2019) https://doi.org/10.1080/19422539.2019. 1691820
‘The United States and the United Kingdom: a special relationship’ in American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Science, Vol 2, Issue 3, pp47-53 March 2019 https://www.arjhss.com/wp-content/ uploads/2019/03/E234753.pdf
‘Implications and Challenges in studying as a Full Distance Learner on a Master’s Programme: Students’ Perspectives’ in International Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 6, No. 1; 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v6n1p34
‘The Story of an Educational Innovation: the MA in Catholic School Leadership at St Mary’s University College. Twickenham, 1997-2013. Principles, Pedagogy and Research Studies’ (with Sullivan, J. and Murphy, A.) in International Studies in Catholic Education (Spring 2015)
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1 080/19422539.2014.998497
Dr Theresa Fogell, Associate Lecturer
Theresa is currently an Associate Lecturer on the MA in Catholic School Leadership Programme and has held this role since 2010. She holds a PhD degree from University College London and a National Professional Qualification for Senior School Leaders (NCSL). She received an MSc degree in Education Management from the University of Reading.
Roles held outside the university include being a current school governor and previously a Regional Advisor for the National Association for Pastoral Care and Deputy Headteacher of a Catholic secondary school.
Current research activity is focused on equality and wellbeing in schools and Theresa’s last two conference papers were entitled ‘Personal, Social and Health Education: teacher and student perceptions’ and ‘Self-Esteem in Catholic Schools’.
Dr Chris Richardson, Associate Lecturer
Chris is currently an Associate Lecturer on the MA in Catholic School Leadership Programme and has held this role since 2010. He holds a PhD from the University of Surrey and was awarded an MPhil from the University of Southampton.
Prior to joining St Mary’s, Chris was Director of School for the Diocese of Portsmouth. He was also a Headteacher of a Catholic secondary school for over 10 years and a Deputy Headteacher. Outside of lecturing, Chris is a keen volunteer for CAFOD and has served as a Chair of a school governing body. He is also active as Chair of his parish formation team. Some of his key publications include:
Wicked Problems: Essays for Aspiring Catholic School Leaders, Don Bosco Publications, Bolton (2019)
The Theological Disposition of Lay Catholic Headteachers: Evidence from two English diocese, Saarbrücken: Lambert Academic Publishing (2012)
‘Researching Catholic Education’ in John Lydon (ed) Contemporary perspectives on Catholic Education, Gracewing, Leominster (2018)
Leadership of Service: Letting go’ The Pastoral Review, May/June 2019, pp.3134.
‘The theological disposition of lay Catholic headteachers’, International Studies in Catholic Education, 2014, Vol. 6, No. 1, 60–74.
News From The World Union Of Catholic Teachers
CATSC has been committed to the development of the World Union of Catholic Teachers since its foundation in 1951 with several former members of the Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges (CATSC) of England and Wales, appointed to its Executive including the current Treasurer Professor John Lydon. Most notably two former members, Harry Mellon and Mark Philpot assumed the role of President. The World Union of Catholic Teachers (WUCT) is a Non-Governmental Organisation which is recognised by the Holy See as the only international group to represent Catholic Teachers across the world. It therefore has the right to represent Catholic teachers at the United Nations and any of its agencies. WUCT is committed to achieving Free Universal Primary Education for all and other Human Rights for which it co-operates with other interested Groups particularly UNESCO through its Education for All (EFA) initiative.
WUCT seeks to work with other nongovernmental organisations to achieve common goals based on Catholic Social Teaching. WUCT invites local, national and international groups and organisations of Catholic teachers and educators, committed to these objectives, to become members in order to work for the advancement of human dignity and rights, the Church’s Social Teaching, and the fulfilment of the role of Catholic professional educators. Several significant developments have taken place in the past two years. WUCT is gaining in influence among the group of international NGOs, especially in terms of its support for education projects among those on the peripheries, resonating with one of Pope Francis’ key concerns. Prof. John Lydon was nominated to represent the World Union of Catholic Teachers on the NGO Liaison Committee and several other members of WUCT have been empowered to participate in recent UNESCO Conferences by virtue of their being online.
Very recently WUCT took part in a discussion around a new report entitled The State of the Global Education Crisis: A Path to Recovery which suggests
that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students is even larger than previously anticipated. The report also argues that to build more resilient education systems for the long-term, countries should consider:
i. investing in the enabling environment to unlock the potential of digital learning opportunities for all students;
ii. reinforcing the role of parents, families, and communities in children’s learning.
iii. ensuring teachers have support and access to high-quality professional development opportunities;
iv. increasing the share of education in the national budget allocation of stimulus packages. The role of parents as primary educators served by the school will be addressed in a forthcoming webinar led by the Treasurer of WUCT, Professor John Lydon.
In December 2021 WUCT held a meeting of its Executive Council and was invited to report on the current situation within the Union by the following:
• The Congregation for Catholic Education
• The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life
• The Vatican Secretariat of State.
The three members of the Executive, accompanied by WUCT’s Ecclesiastical Assistant Archbishop Dollmann of Cambrai, were received warmly in the offices of each dicastery. The meetings with the Congregation for Catholic Education and the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life focused on the nature of the General assembly which will take place in November 2022 and to which members of CATSC are invited to attend. The meeting with the Secretariat of State constituted on the stewardship of WUCT in awarding grants to projects which give young people experiencing challenging circumstances at a number of levels ‘reasons for living and hoping’, in the words of the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. The following represents the projects which have been supported by WUCT during the past year:
• Burundi - Equipes des Enseignantes –‘Formation of teachers on the values of democracy’, in collaboration with the Episcopal Commission for the apostolate of the laity
• Cameroon - Green school projectEnvironmental education for primary schools
• Chile - San Patricio College – ‘The family, a learning community’ project
• R. Congo - Equipes des Enseignantes in collaboration with the Diocese of Ouesso - Teacher training - Project: ‘Relationships in education’
• DR Congo - Adepesidi - Project: ‘Food education and security in the period of the pandemic’
• DR Congo - Bethanie - Project: ‘Training of girls on health problems and prevention of sexual diseases’
• DR Congo - Salesians - Maria Assunta Province - Project: ‘Health education of pupils during the Covid period’
• Romania - Bucharest Catholic High School – ‘Support and training in computer science for pupils at the time of the Covid’
• Romania - Oradea Diocese – ‘Enjoy Music’ project - Evangelisation of adolescents through music and theatre
• South Sudan - Comboni MissionariesProject: ‘Education for disadvantaged young people’
• Tanzania - Collegine Sisters - Migoli - Project ‘Education assistance for orphaned and poor children’.
WUCT is enabled to support these projects by the support of members such as CATSC and a grant from the Papal Foundation which trusts WUCT to administer the support which involves a rigorous project of evaluation mandated by the Secretariat of State. Most recently one of our CATSC schools applied successfully for support for a project which the school is supporting in Uganda.
The photo below was taken at the meeting of the WUCT Executive with the Congregation for Catholic Education:
From left to right: Giovanni Perrone Secretary General (Sicily), Guy Bourdeaud’hui President (Belgium), Archbishop Zani, Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, Professor John Lydon, Treasurer (CATSC England & Wales), Archbishop Dollman (Ecclesiastical Assistant).
WUCT Representation at the CatholicInspired NGO Forum
Previous issues of Networking have included articles about WUCT representation on the Catholic-Inspired NGO Forum. Professor John Lydon represents WUCT and was appointed joint-leader of the Thematic Group on Education. In 2020 we reported that he spoke of the importance of maintaining Catholic identity while being inclusive. This included promoting a holistic, quality education and the centrality of the teachers who play a crucial role in humanising education and developing inclusive societies.
Before proceeding to consider the theme of the General assembly taking place in April 2022, a brief history of the Forum may be of some interest to readers. The Forum was conceived as a place of dialogue and exchange among Catholic-Inspired NGOs, in order to offer a strengthened Christian witness at the international level. This witness is at the service of the common good of humanity, the defence of human life and dignity, as well as the promotion of global peace in a spirit of communion and generosity. The Forum invites organizations to consider the approach articulated in the papal encyclical Caritas in Veritate, namely, that new solutions are ‘to be found together in the light of an integral vision of man, reflecting the different aspects of the human person, contemplated through a lens purified by charity’ (Pope Benedict XVI, 2009: 32).
The founding Chairman of the Forum describes its genesis in the following terms:
Since 2007 when a working group of volunteers started preparing a process to examine these questions on what was to become a major gathering of some 90 international Catholic inspired Organisations with International status. The resulting Forum, which was held
in December 2007 united during three days of exchanges the representatives of the Secretariat of State, representatives of various Pontifical Councils, the representatives of the Holy See at the various intergovernmental bodies and of the major International Catholic inspired Organizations. The meeting succeeded in raising a number of positive considerations, conclusions, questions and ideas on which to build future collaboration.
The Forum has developed significantly during that time with more than 120 Catholic-Inspired NGOs now participating. The theme for Forum, 2022 will revolve around deepening fraternal bonds, thinking together creatively on the Forum’s common work and develop strategies moving forward. Specifically, this Assembly envisions an opportunity to present, exchange upon and deepen a number of policy ideas and papers stemming from work carried out in the thematic groups:
• the focus will be on specific policy actions rather than underlying analysis;
• papers will be circulated in due time before the Assembly to help prepare for further enriching discussion specifically examining the interplay of shared concerns;
In conclusion, the Thematic Group in Education works closely with the Thematic Group on the Family, led by the General Secretary of FAFCE, the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe. FAFCE invited European institutions and national governments to consider the EU demographic crisis with the same attention given to the digital and green transitions. It also invited decision-makers to recognise the family as a main driver of recovery in all its aspects, i.e., socially, economically and environmentally. Public policies will only be sustainable if families are recognised and valued as a resource of primary importance, resulting in a special attention given to the freedom of families to pursue, in the best possible conditions and without obstacles, their joyful responsibility to care for the integral development of their children and overall of their community, in a positive dialogue between generations. In January 2022, a Joint Webinar will take place led by the Thematic Groups on the Family and Education. The theme will be The Family as Primary
Educators Served by the School, the title of a paper presented by Professor Lydon at the Pontifical Lateran University in 2004. Both groups will focus on the synergies between parents and teachers in forming young people, resonating with the words of Pope Francis in his Encyclical Fratelli Tutti:
I think first of families, called to a primary and vital mission of education. Families are the first place where the values of love and fraternity, togetherness and sharing, concern and care for others are lived out and handed on (Pope Francis, 2020: 114).
New Pilot Education
Research Partnership between St Mary’s University and Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School, St Albans
This term Professor John Lydon and Dr Caroline Healy of the Institute of Education (IoE), St Mary’s University were cordially invited by Declan Linnane, Headteacher of Nicholas Breakspear School to forge a pilot Education Research Partnership. This is fully supported by the Director of the Institute of Education at St Mary’s, Professor Anna Lise Gordon.
The aim of the partnership being formed is for the purposes of furthering practice-based research and educational inquiry, for the benefit of both partners and for the wider educational field.
The purpose and activity of this pilot IoE Education Research Partnership will be to reflect and further the five research excellence pillars which underpin St Mary’s University 2021-2028 Research Strategy:
• Catholic Values and the common good
• Health and social wellbeing
• Creative industries and wellbeing
• Professional practice and social impact
• Human dignity and social justice
The partnership, being led by Daniel Mulkis, Maths Lead at Nicholas Breakspear, will focus on active research in response to specified issues and questions. Whilst the partnership is initially around developing research projects for students at Nicholas Breakspear, the intention will be to foster additional, ongoing research in the future.
Nicholas Breakspear’s students will draw on the knowledge, expertise and experience of Professor Lydon and Dr Caroline Healy and will seek to inform understanding and practices within school, St Mary’s IoE and in the wider educational community.
A possible future initiative may be the research development of practitioners at the school through short CPD courses, as Professor Lydon is Professor of Catholic Education and former Programme Director of the MA in Catholic School Leadership and Dr Caroline Healy is currently the course lead of this programme.
In the photo members of the WUCT Executive are pictured with Mgr. Cona, Councillor at the Vatican Secretariat of State
Partnership Activity
A very exciting timetable of research activities has been planned through dialogue between Nicholas Breakspear School and St Mary’s University for Spring 2022, including introducing students to research experts on key debates and topics of interest and advising students on developing a topic for their own empirical research project. Following this, a school mentor will be appointed to guide students and provide support on conducting research fieldwork and writing up the findings.
Students who express interest in being a Nicholas Breakspear School (NBS) Scholar will be selected by school staff and current indications are that there is significant interest beyond the number of places available.
On completion of the programme, there will be a formal graduation evening in June 2022 to celebrate the achievements of the successful scholars. Very best of luck to all the NBS Scholars who are about to embark on this exciting endeavour which will prepare them for university and beyond!
If you are interested in forming a similar Education Research Partnership at your school with St Mary’s University, please contact Professor John Lydon john. lydon@stmarys.ac.uk or Dr Caroline Healy, caroline.healy@stmarys.ac.uk
News from Scotland
By Barbara Coupar
“What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” (Laudato Si’ 160)
On 24th May 2015 Pope Francis signed Laudato Si’, the watershed encyclical letter that called the world’ s attention to the increasingly precarious state of our common home. The fifth anniversary of the encyclical came in the midst of another watershed moment - a global pandemic - and Laudato Si’s message is just as prophetic today as it was in 2015.
The Holy Father, through the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, announced a special Laudato Si’ Anniversary Year from 24th May 2020 - 24th May 2021, inviting the whole Church to join together to create a more caring, inclusive, peaceful and sustainable world. More information can be found at: www.LaudatoSiYear.org
One of the proposals for this year was to create seven areas of Ecological Action in; homes, dioceses, schools, universities, hospitals and health care centres, businesses and religious orders.
As a response to this call to Ecological Action the Scottish Catholic Education Service, SCIAF and Justice & Peace Scotland created Laudato Si’ Schools Scotland. This is an invitation to all schools to respond to the call to be stewards of God’s creation and aims to meet the Holy Father’s goal of creating an Ecological Education within our schools.
Laudato Si’ Schools uses the teaching of the Church to explore:
• Christian responsibility and global citizenship
• How to address inequality, poverty, prejudice and discrimination
• Learning for sustainability
• Environmental education
• Equity
• Children’s rights
• Justice and Peace
• Stewardship for creation
• Advocacy and action
• Outdoor learning
By Barbara Coupar SCES Director
24 Hours for the Climate
Danny Sweeney - Justice and Peace Scotland
For over two years we had known that COP26 was coming to Glasgow, and with it the responsibility for the church to respond faithfully to the issues being discussed, faithful to Pope Francis’ call in Laudato Si to ‘hear the cry of the earth, and the cry of the poor’. With many nations having been in lockdown for some, or all the previous 20 months concerns around the ability for people from around the world especially the global south being able to travel to Glasgow for COP26 were, sadly, well founded. This made us ask how can we make sure that those voices are heard by communities in Scotland, and how can those communities be heard around the world?
Reaching out to friends and partners, and through various conversations, zoom calls and emails, a dream began to take shape – a group of young adults facilitating 24 hours of prayer and climate stories from around the world, broadcast from a parish in the COP host city Glasgow, collecting climate stories to send to the negotiators inside the UN Blue Zone, finishing with the group processing out of the church after Mass to join the march at the centre of the “Global Day of Action for Climate Justice”. It all sounds so easy looking back!
There is a long list of collaborators who were part of making the dream a reality. I was involved for Justice and Peace Scotland as a commission of the hosting Bishops’ Conference, along with Columban Missionaries GB and USA, Jesuits in Scotland and London, the Laudato Si Movement, and many others. Delivering relied on volunteers set up with laptops and cameras in the Ignatian Spirituality Centre in Glasgow, and St Aloysius’ Church round the corner. But in reality the success of “24 Hours for the Climate” is down to the willingness of schools and communities in Scotland, the UK, and around the world to share their stories. Through the friends and partners involved using our new website (24hoursfortheclimate.org) our social media platforms, and our email lists we put out a call to the world to share with us prayers, the challenges they were facing and stories of hope where creative responses had been found to the
climate crisis. First a trickle, then a flood of responses started to arrive. We had Maasai from Kenya leading the Rosary and heard the challenges of life without green spaces from young people in the IDP camps of Myanmar. Dayenu; a Jewish climate action group from the USA shared their experience, and Glasgow Catholic Workers prayed outside Faslane Naval Base (a few miles from Glasgow) against the environmental costs of the nuclear weapons stored there and in solidarity with the peoples forced from their homes in the Marshall Islands by nuclear testing.
Schools in Scotland responded offering prayers of solidarity with the world, sharing their experiences, celebrating the journey they have started on as a Laudato Si School. St Francis Xavier parish in Falkirk brought together their schools, youth and young adult ministry to share their witness. Students from St Ninians’ reflected on each continent. I was very impressed that their video, unlike the official COP negotiations, had no fear of naming the consumption of the global north, and our reliance of fossil fuels as a debt owed to the global south.
I was also struck by the willingness to engage with the event. Enquires about joining us in Glasgow for prayer, to take part in the vigil, or to join the march flowed in. Not always easy to answer with an ever changing COVID situation, and the lingering possibility of rail strikes across the country. James, a music teacher from St Aloysius’ College joined us midafternoon to record some hymns as our guitarist was still on a train, and Callum, an RE teacher at St Augustine’s Edinburgh came over after a week at work to join the onscreen team leading reflections and sharing stories.
We’re now sharing our story; what we did and what it meant in the context of COP and the ongoing climate crisis. Students had the chance to hear the global voices of a church which doesn’t ignore the pressing issues of the climate, and the two weeks when Glasgow was the centre of the world.
Danny Sweeney is the Social Justice Coordinator of Justice and Peace Scotland, a commission of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland. Email daniel.sweeney@ justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk The website www.24hoursfortheclimate. org remains active and hosts the recording of the livestream. It will shortly host all the materials from the prayer vigil for schools to make use of.
Laudato Si Schools Jo Hughes Re Adviser SCES
The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development announced a special Laudato Si’ Anniversary Year beginning on 24th May 2020, the 5th anniversary of the signing of Laudato Si’. One of its proposals was to create 7 areas of Ecological Action, each reflecting different aspects of communities. One of these was to have a programme that would allow schools to adopt the title of Laudato Si schools, where a Catholic vision of Ecological Education could be fully integrated into the life of the whole school community.
As a response to this call to Ecological action, and given the fact that the global COP 26 conference was due to take place in Scotland, the Scottish Catholic Education Service (SCES), the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) and Justice & Peace Scotland worked together to create the Laudato Si Schools Scotland programme. This is a resourced learning and teaching programme which is designed to help and encourage schools to find their own way to respond to the call to be stewards of God’s creation and meet the Holy Father’s goal of creating an Ecological Education within Catholic schools.
Laudato Si Schools Scotland is not an award or a charter; rather, it takes the form of a resource that can support a school to make and sustain a pledge or commitment to make a change for good. It provides a framework designed to be accessible to any school, in any context, and links to learning by using the teaching of the Church to explore not only the more obvious areas of Learning for Sustainability, Stewardship for Creation and environmental education, but also associated issues such as children’s rights, global citizenship and addressing issues of inequality, poverty, prejudice and discrimination. As well as helping schools to engage directly with the encyclical, the programme also offers a distinctively Catholic way in which schools can address the key recommendations of the Education Scotland Vision 2030+ Report, and sits comfortably with the report of the One Planet Schools Working Group. In addition, all the partner agencies of training and professional development resources for teachers and leaders in
schools deciding to accept the invitation to become Laudato Si Schools.
It would seem that this is just the kind of resource that schools were looking for to help them to tap into the interest that young people have in issues relating to ecological education. Over 75% of Catholic schools in Scotland – primary and secondary - have registered, with many of them having joined in the difficult days of lockdown and restrictions before COP26 took place, and others are joining every day. In fact, such is the popularity of the programme that it is hoped that, before too long, Scotland will be the first country in the world where all its Catholic schools have signed up to be Laudato Si Schools. Having such a programme is helping schools to integrate their ecological education into their improvement plans, allowing for a long term, strategic approach and supporting monitoring and self-evaluation.
The work that Laudato Si schools are doing is truly inspiring. The programme invites them, within their communities, to “Learn, Pray, Act”, using extracts from Laudato Si and scripture as the springboard and to spark their creative ideas for bringing about “Change For Good”. They can then share these ideas with SCES who, in turn, can share examples of pupil responses to learning, and of good practice for teachers. SCES has started a virtual gallery showcasing pupil artwork and writings, including prayers, posters, displays and even pupil letters to world leaders based on their reactions to COP26 (www.sces.org.uk/ download/laudato-si/ )
Committing to Laudato Si schools is helping schools to enhance their curriculum and support and encourage pupils to make connections in their learning. Some schools have been using a model that involves having Laudato Si theme weeks, where learning and teaching is linked across all curricular areas, and pupils are able to share their learning, opinions and reactions through assemblies and through Pupil Voice exercises. Others have used it as a way to launch projects on topics ranging from biodiversity to waste reduction and how we become responsible consumers. In other schools,
different curricular areas have come together to liaise in the teaching of common topics, and have been able to look at the most advantageous way to plan the delivery and the timing of these lessons for maximum impact.
The Laudato Si Schools programme is also helping young people find a way to raise their voices and become more active in their work with other agencies and in becoming the Responsible Citizens and Effective Contributors of both the present and the future. Schools report their pupils becoming involved in in the Green Heart campaign by making green hearts, which were sent with letters to their MSPs, to encourage the Scottish Government to take a proactive stance on environmental issues. Indeed, the letter writing has extended as far as letters to the Prime Minister – and replies! Pupils are also becoming involved in their wider communities, with many schools finding ways to work with local community groups and to fund and organise tree planting and horticultural projects to benefit their local communities, as well as initiating litter picking, recycling and other activities which foster a shared responsibility for the Care of our Common Home. Some schools have taken it further and have introduced an international dimension, using established partnerships in Africa to enhance their learning through the programme.
Most importantly, all the feedback suggests that both teachers and young people are finding this to be a way in which they can put their faith into action, and can enhance their knowledge not just of the encyclical, but of the wider teaching of the Church and of Catholic Social Teaching. Pupils can see the Church actively involved in bringing about – and indeed leading – social change in the modern world – and can see how they themselves can be agents for change. Many of them talk very warmly about prayer services, masses and assemblies that they have held as part of their programme, and of the relevance of these for them as part of a full commitment to care of their common home. Everything about their reactions bodes very well for the future.
Jo Hughes RE Adviser SCES
Scotland’s First Laudato Si School
St Andrew’s Fox Covert RC Primary School
One of the great joys of life after school management is to be free to do things for fun that you used to get paid for doing. If one of those ‘things’ is being part of a venture like Networking Catholic Education Today for twenty-two years, then it gets to confession time. My colleagues at Networking and I would admit to being passionate about a vision of education embedded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and constantly refreshed by the work of the Holy Spirit.
and maybe, just maybe, reveal a ‘through the looking glass’ moment? Someone within the Scottish Catholic Education Service (SCES) obviously gave it some thought and came up with the Laudato Si School Award.
By Willie Slavin
By the time you have flipped through these pages you will be witness to the response of young people, enthused and inspired by their response to being part of a movement that is seeing their world, their environment, their futures in danger. An integral part of the vision and impetus of that movement is its embracing of the call to ‘care for our common home’’, the call of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si. A call based upon the Pope’s insistence that ‘Rather than a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise.’ (LS12)
Whatever the immediate outcome of COP 26, there is no doubt that thousands of young Catholics have been given reasons to believe. Their appearance on the streets of Glasgow in their thousands and their edited responses in this journal, are testament to a rediscovery of faith in action. They rallied, they marched, they sang, and they prayed together. They were seeing their endangered planet in a new light and were experiencing a faith that gave them reasons to hope, guidance in judgement and strength to act together.
You do not have to be a cynic to observe that this is all very well but what happens when they go back to school, and the music stops? How do you bottle this elusive ingredient and sprinkle it in the school environment?
Perhaps you could distil the wisdom of Laudato Si, use it to observe the educational process through a new lens
My curiosity and interest aroused, the trail led me to, St Andrew’s Covert RC Primary School in Edinburgh, not the first but an early adopter school in Scotland to achieve this status (it is much more than an award – if you haven’t already done so, pause and read Jo Hughes’ article on page 31 to get the full picture. The framework is impressive in its scope and ambition.) So, as you do, you look at their website, dig around other googled references and get really excited when you discover that it ticks one box after another:
• It is self-consciously Catholic on a shared campus but wide open to collaboration and mutual support;
• It confidently practises what it preaches;
• It is the not the first but an early adopter Laudato Si school – with video evidence of Archbishop Cushley joining an outdoor celebratory liturgy in the rain to prove it;
• It is committed to education outside the classroom and has a Gold Award to prove it;
• It is an urban school exploiting its environment to the full;
• It just has a standout authenticity about everything it proclaims;
• The old headteacher in me, recognises outstanding leadership when he sees it.
Stage two: catch up with a busy headteacher and persuade her that she should find time to tell me the story. No surprise that when the headteacher
Rebecca Favier did make time to talk, a fascinating, multi-faceted tale emerged and left me with an age-old dilemma, am I writing about the school or about the headteacher, where does one start and
the other finish? The answer in this case, I suspect, is that you would be hard pressed to spot the join.
Rebecca Favier is in her second headship, she, critically in my book, spent seven years as a deputy to an outstanding Catholic head who remains a friend, confidante, and mentor. I have long been an advocate of a slow cooking formation under such guidance. There was time to do a Masters in Leadership and Management with reference to servant leadership on the Emmaus model, now transforming into doctoral studies in Ethical and Emotional Leadership. Add in a time spent as a newly qualified teacher in Nagpur (India) working with other young teachers for whom she retains an abiding admiration as ‘super skilled teachers working in challenging circumstances.’ Her return to her native Edinburgh re-kindled her love for its open spaces, epitomised by Corstorphine Hill which now has iconic status in the life of St Andrew’s – as their website proclaims:
‘St Andrew’s is nestled near the top of Corstorphine Hill. We make excellent use of this wild space or the Walled Garden within it and all classes learn on our hill a minimum of once per week. As humans in this community, we shape this landscape and it shapes our learning.’
Headteacher
Rebecca Favier
On being awarded the Gold Mark from the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC):
‘The award recognises exemplary LOtC provision in schools and indicates that our school is a leader in ensuring that all pupils have access to frequent, continuous and progressive learning outside the classroom to support their learning and achievement. We are the first school in Scotland to hold this award which makes it extra special and exciting.’
‘We are committed to enabling every learner at St Andrew’s to gain the knowledge, skills and attributes needed for life in the 21st century. We enact this vision through our lived values: Nurture, Inspire, Flourish, by celebrating each achievement and through our mission to develop as a community of faith and love.’ While our conversation focussed on the headteacher’s perspective, comments from individual teachers are convincing evidence that this is a shared mission:
‘Being part of the St Andrew’s team is the best job in the world! Love all things dancing and fitness and getting outdoors in the fresh air!’
‘I am thrilled to be part of our St Andrew’s community. I am passionate about our children having the opportunity to learn beyond their classroom and strive to ensure our learners flourish in their local environment.’
‘Really excited to be part of the St Andrew’s teaching team.’
‘I am a long-standing member of the St. Andrew’s staff. I use outside spaces with enthusiasm come rain or shine!’
‘I am very proud to be part of the St. Andrews Community. I am obsessed with sport and love any opportunity to Learn Beyond the Classroom.’
‘Delighted to be a part of such a welcoming and friendly school family. I am particularly interested in expressive arts, sign language and making school inclusive for all.’
A parent eloquently testifies to ‘The values that are taught through the school are the foundation and making of our children growing up to be respectful, caring, loving, kind and everything that is important for their wellbeing and future. The school is focused on high attainment but also strives to give all the children a
fun, supportive experience at the school, giving the children memories and skills that they will carry for the rest of their lives. St Andrews is a lovely small school and I love the community feel. The headteacher and all the staff welcome the children into the school by name. The headteacher Mrs Favier and her staff connect personally with the children and have such a lovely supportive relationship.’
With this kind of witness, one just has to be intrigued by how the transition to out of classroom learning was led by a headteacher who had studied leadership and management. A quote from Education Scotland Scottish Government executive agency charged with supporting quality and improvement in Scottish education website begins to explain: ‘Leaders at all levels who are empowered, and who empower others to take ownership of their own learning (my italics), have a strong track record of ensuring the highest quality of learning and teaching.’
That this is the case at St Andrew’s is borne out by the headteacher’s admission that she started by following Education Scotland Scottish Government executive agency charged with supporting quality and improvement in Scottish education advice on pupil led school improvement. What did children need? What did they want? What do they want to be proud of? When presented with an informed out of classroom option, enthusiasm was kindled. Parents, drawn into the conversation, readily engaged. The commitment to be of service to the community and offer enabling leadership and presenting the process as fun seems to have done the trick in making it a reality. Both people and project are nurtured, given responsibility, given the tools, presented with a values led vision and, to these eyes, are inspired. The Latin word Educare from which our word education is derived, as I learnt as a student teacher, means ‘to draw out’. I cannot think of a more apt description of what I am witnessing at St Andrew’s. It feels like a school regenerating from the inside out and you do not accomplish that without a great deal of emotional intelligence and a huge commitment to building relationships.
The headteacher is well served by external support from inspiring professionals who generously gave of their expertise:
• In out of classroom learning providing knowledge, guidance and enthusiastic support of Stewart Atkinson in place
based pedagogy, defined as, start local, then the city, then Pentland Hills and only then the Munros.
• In a Local Authority Quality Improvement Officer, Janice Watson, who is unwaveringly supportive but who asks the tough questions.
• In sparring partner and fellow Catholic Head Teacher, Gill McPerson, who offers a balanced view and gentle perspective when the path becomes uncertain.
• In the Parish Priest Fr Jeremy Milne, with a PhD in ecological science who is the inspiration behind the Laudato Si award and to the development plan and its enshrined Christian values; and, the now retired revered headteacher Jackie McCarry from formative Deputy Head days who is on hand as guide, comforter and invaluable and treasured friend.
At a time when the job has never been so unrelentingly demanding, it is revealing that a headteacher who is so committed, so passionate and patently so fully engaged, when pressed, is willing to admit that it is tough and, at times, a heavy load to carry. There is never enough time, and having to make difficult decisions compassionately contribute to the stress. If you are constantly appraising yourself, you sometimes just have to live with your mistakes. In such moments of doubt, she finds solace in the Gospel story of the woman at the well. A conversation to ponder and a source of reassurance. Withdrawing to a favourite spot on the hill or out in the Pentlands, a quiet prayerful solitude revealing the sacred and inducing a prayerful response, offers the ultimate in calming and restorative antidotes. By contrast, mindfulness comes a poor second to the authenticity of an experience which sits well with Pope Francis’ teaching ‘there is a mystical meaning to be found in a leaf, in a mountain trail, in a dew drop, in a poor person’s face.’ (LS233)
If any justification for out of the classroom education is required, can anyone name another pedagogy that makes an encounter with what is inherently sacred so readily available?
Look no further for reasons to be hopeful about our endangered planet. St Andrew’s Covert RC Primary School is a reassuring sign that the Holy Spirit is still hovering over the waters (Gen. 1:2)
A flavour of what Scottish Schools are doing?
St Catherine’s Primary Barmulloch
• Class/school recycling bins are emptied daily by our Eco Committee. We have Junior Jannies who do litter picks at lunch time.
• Outdoor Learning Day in May was celebrated by each class working on their own planter – we planted in these planters and decorated them. Teachers have lessons outside daily/weekly.
• Race for Life – we have raised over £2000 for Cancer Research.
• Our P6’s are taking part in the Pope Francis Award. We had our own food bank and delivered food to our families before Christmas.
• We have non-uniform days to raise money for outdoor learning equipment.
• Our Head Teacher delivers weekly assemblies, where classes have the opportunity to attend Mass. We have our chosen Laudato Si prayers and quotes on every class altar and the altar in our foyer. We have created our Change for Good Chart.
St Patrick’s, Kilsyth
• Laudato Si introduction, assemblies and prayer service; regular updates on actions in parent newsletters
• Whole school environmental actions: recycling paper and plastic, reducing single use plastics, litter pick
• Display in school foyer with links to actions: such as P4-7 John Muir Challenge, all classes BBC Big Birdwatch, all classes Rosary in May/link to ACN
• Fundraising for SCIAF in Lent; for Strathcarron Hospice Go Yellow Day
• Linking Laudato Si to Rights Respecting Schools’ class teaching and assemblies and Eco Schools Flag actions using the tag “Our Common Home”
St Margaret’s R.C. Primary School, Dunfermline
We have a fantastic Eco-Committee in our school. We have 5 green flags and we are always looking for ways for our school to be more eco-friendly. We encourage senior pupils to take on leadership roles to learn about Climate Change. Through planting more plants, we are helping the environment and God’s creatures. We have also been learning about Renewable Energy and how this is important in protecting the environment. We have looked at how eco-friendly the country of Denmark is and how Scotland is aiming to become more eco-friendly by 2030 (Paris Climate Agreement).
We have been learning about how some people do not have some of the nice things we have. We have children who regularly take a snack or drink to a homeless person and we thank God for the love, food, and shelter that we have. Through our daily prayers and weekly Assemblies, we remember those who are not as fortunate as we are. P7 have been learning the St Columba’s High School prayer which says, ‘Look after all those who are not as fortunate as we are, Guide our Leaders to act with justice and fairness to all.’
St Paul’s Paisley
Primary 1 and 2 have both been learning about litter and the impact it has on the environment and wildlife. They have both been litter picking in the playground. Primary 2 have been busy building bug hotels and bird feeders. They have also been learning about how to respond to wildlife in danger. Primary 1 have been learning that only biodegradable peelings and leftovers should be put into the composter and they have also cleaned
waste out of it which was put in incorrectly. Primary 3 have been learning about sustainability and the environment through “The Lorax” topic. They have researched what is changing in the world and what they can do to help. They have been recycling waste and materials that we sue for learning. They have been taking care of the school by litter picking and exploring the eco area.
St Matthews Academy, Saltcoats
Annually we carry out an environmental review with staff and pupils to identify priorities for the year ahead. We have a large catchment area with 54% of our pupils coming from the most deprived areas and as such we are committed to reducing inequalities. In addition, with the school being located in a coastal town we are acutely aware of the impact of plastics polluting our sea leading to our commitment to reducing single use plastics and pupils being issued with water bottles.
As parents are the first educators of our pupils our commitment to reducing inequalities begins with the parent. We provide opportunities to parents to take an active role in our school community including providing transport to parents to enable them to take part in school events such as parents’ night, family learning clubs and workshops where parents can learn about what their children are learning in school, and how they can support them. In addition, some parents have achieved qualifications by taking lessons in the school.
In addition to reducing inequalities in our local community we are committed to reducing inequalities around the world. We are committed to fundraising for SCIAF and Aid to the Church in Need. In the 15 years of our award winning partnership with St Peters Secondary in Mzuzu in Malawi, we have supported the school in building classrooms, science labs and this year new toilet blocks, as well as providing text books, materials and science lab equipment. Due to secondary education not being a free entitlement in Malawi we have a scholarship scheme set up to pay the fees of some pupils who cannot afford them, to ensure they receive a quality education. This session we also achieved The Silver Rights Respecting Schools Award.
We place importance in setting our work in a context that pupils understand and see how it contributes to our school values of community, love, equality, achievement and respect. Particular curricular links are obvious in their links to Laudato Sí, for example, the climate change unit in Geography where pupils make a plant pledge, and the energy units in Science where pupils can see how their actions matter.
Our ongoing commitment to offering a free breakfast club every morning from 8:15 to 8:45 am ensures that no one in our school starts the day hungry. We continue to support the work of Mary’s Meals, which enables children across the world to access food and education.
Last session a group of pupils did some work to find out about water, sanitation and hygiene conditions in developing countries and the knock-on effects these can have on people’s health and wellbeing, by twinning one of our school toilets with a toilet in a poorer country through toilettwinning.org. The aim of this work was to improve access to clean water, good sanitation, hygiene and education for those in poorer conditions and for us to appreciate the things we take for granted in the UK and be able to compare our situation to that of those in the developing world.
This year we achieved our 5th Eco Schools Green Flag award for our work and commitment to learning for sustainability.
St. Margaret’s Academy, Livingston
• Fund Raising
• Building schools in Malawi
• Connecting Classrooms project with Bangladesh on Climate Change
• Eco Group
• Rights Respecting Schools
• Encouraging Walking/ Cycling to school
• Recycling
• Course linked with environmental issues (energy/waste/ disasters masters)
• Skills centre (Poly Tunnel for horticulture)
• Celebrate Earth day
• Entered Sky The Edit Competition
• Entered Earth Shot Prize
• Cross Curricular Projects
• Courses embedded in most subject area (in process of compiling a detailed overview)
St Margaret’s relationship with Malawi started probably about 2009 when we became interested in the work of Mary’s Meals. As a school we started raising money to build a Mary’s Meals kitchen
for Malombera Primary School. We then raised enough for a second one at Mpira primary school.
St Margaret’s first trip to Malawi went out in June 2013 a group of 24 S5/6 pupils and staff. We stayed in Nanchengwa Lodge on Lake Malawi – AMAZING. We worked in the community in local village, Mdala Chikowa on a community project, building a classroom for the local Nursery School and a water tower for the village. A Safari stay, a visit to an orphanage and a visit to Malombera primary school to see Mary’s Meals in action were included in the trip. In June 2015 a smaller group went to Malawi, 16 pupils and staff, – Ebola was in the news and this put some off. We stayed at Nanchengwa again and worked with a local organisation CISER on a classroom for a secondary school, to become Rainbow Hope. We worked with the CISER Youth group which was brilliant for our pupils as they were the same age – had the same interests, hopes and dreams and got on really well. We visited a local primary school, the Open Arms orphanage in Mangochi and stayed at Mvuu Camp for a safari. We went to celebrate Mass at the local Catholic Church and were so warmly welcomed – something that is true of everywhere you go in Malawi, no prejudgement just taken for who we are. We have kept up our contact with Rainbow Hope Secondary, funding the build of another classroom and buying textbooks for the Malawi curriculum.
St. Margaret’s Academy has become an International school via the British Council scheme. We have received a grant to conduct a Connecting Classroom Project with two schools in Bangladesh. An Eco Group has been set up and we are litter picking to clean up our school environment. We are in contact with our two schools regularly and plan to carry out a reciprocal visit once it is safe to do so. This is in line with looking after our Common Home and students are willing to help. In doing so, this will make them aware of the impact that dropping litter has on the whole Community. The Sustainable Development Goal 13 is Climate Action and we have projects going on with two schools in Bangladesh via the Connecting Classrooms scheme. More bins will also be spread over our outside space in key areas where litter is being dropped.
Our school has submitted an entry into the Sky-The Edit completion and we are awaiting news of how well we have performed. S3 students created a
reportage on the importance of Climate Change, our own Eco Warriors.
In addition to this, our school has also signed up for the Earth Shot prize. Prince William has set up a prize each year, for the next 10 years for our young people to think of sustainable ideas or products that can massively reduce our Carbon Footprint. Our Eco Group have already thought of a few good ideas, including using a crate for shopping that you transfer from car to trolley to ensure that no plastic bags are used when shopping. Also, using bars of soap for washing hair and body to reduce the amount of plastic waste.
St Luke’s High School, Barrhead
• Recycling – weekly rota for recycling paper
• BGE pupils have been taking part in a series of lessons to explore the Sustainable Development Goals. All pupils will vote on which goals their year group would like to focus on. Pupils will then plan a project focussing on these goals and how they can ensure they meet them as a year group
• Compost- composter created out of disused pallets to reduce food waste in H.E.
• Allotment project- A large grass area of the school grounds is being converted into an area which will be used for outdoor learning. So far pupils have created a wildflower garden, planted trees and have created planters to grow vegetables.
• Connecting classrooms projectPartnership created between St Luke’s High School, St Mark’s Primary school and Groupe Scolaire Kamina in Rwanda. Pupils are involved in projects to explore the Sustainable Development Goals. Pupils are currently exploring Goals number 4- Quality Education, and will share information and resources between all schools involved.
• Eco- schools- We have renewed our green flag
• S3 pupils have undertaken litter picks in the local community
• Wider achievement group- creation of sensory garden
• Social Enterprise group ‘Flourish’- design and creation of new memorial garden
• Forest School- Pupils have been working towards their John Muir award
• The school holds a bronze award for UNICEF Rights Respecting School and has created an action plan to work towards achieving the Silver award
S2-S3 Check in - Pupils celebrated
outdoor classroom day by potting up their pumpkin, courgette and pea seedlings. All plants have been grown from seed in the polytunnel and we are looking forward to watching them develop
Connecting Classrooms Project - We are really excited to have formed a partnership with a school in Rwanda. The partnership will be a great way for pupils to connect with peers in another country and help them to develop a deeper understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals. We have received funding from the British Council to support our project. The first goal we are going to explore is goal number 4 on Quality Education. Pupils will develop a deeper understanding on the goal and share their ideas on what quality education is. Pupils from all schools will share their experience and education and also any barrier to education. Teachers will also take part in CLPL activities and share resources. We hope this will be a sustainable partnership which will grow over the next few years.
In Religious Education, we have liaised with Science to provide opportunities to learn about the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals which prioritise tackling global inequality and climate change.
Kilgraston School
• Laudato’ Si added to the annual school plan.
• Actively promoting recycling across the whole school.
• Assemblies and events to promote vintage clothing and reduce use of ‘fast fashion’.
• An enthusiastic and active ecocommittee has been formed, with links to the local community.
• A pupil came up with the initiative of ‘no idling’ in the school car parks and designed signage to raise awareness for all vehicles in the car parks.
• Regular assemblies in junior years and senior years to raise awareness about a variety of environmental issues and activists.
• Registered with the Woodland Trust for a school starter pack, with the aim of planting more trees in our school grounds. Woodland Trust will visit to advise on best locations for various tree species.
• Children donated fruits etc. from their own gardens that would otherwise have gone to waste and the Head teacher made chutneys and pickles from them, which were then shared with staff.
• A pupil in junior years wrote to the Prime Minister about environmental issues and received a reply.
• Pupils and staff took part in the Green Hearts campaign (more details on the politicians’ page).
• Fundraising to plant an orchard (more details below).
• Junior Years pupils did some fundraising (they raised £400) by selling reusable items, as well as items they had personally made using recycled and sustainable materials.
• With the funds, they have bought trees to plant in school, with the dual aim of improving the environment and using the fruit from the trees in our school kitchens.
Reflection and Climate Emergency Education
Mark Booker - Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
The world’s leaders and delegates from around the world have come and gone from Glasgow. At the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, we work tirelessly to bring people together to address some of the world’s injustices. That’s why we invest so much in helping those affected by climate change and educating young people about this crucial issue.
COP26 was a unique opportunity for SCIAF. Our goals were to educate and inspire action while the important conference was on our doorstep. Through a series of events, teaching resources and meetings, we were able to connect pupils, schools and education professionals to the important issues of climate justice.
We were also able to bring some of our international partners to Scotland to take part in the conference and speak directly to decision-makers. Ten of our partners who help deliver SCIAF’s projects in Malawi, Zambia and Colombia not only attended the conference and met with decisionmakers, but met with teachers and pupils. We are very grateful for their support.
There is no doubt that the worst effects of climate change are being felt now by people in the poorest countries who have done little or nothing to cause this crisis. SCIAF’s partners shared how their communities are suffering from floods, droughts and subsequent food insecurity.
In the months leading up to COP26, we developed a series of education resources for teachers of primary and secondary schools. This included Climate Justice reflections, games
and activities. These were brought to life with visits from our partners to schools.
Bertha Magomero from Malawi spoke to pupils at John Paul Academy in Glasgow and St Ninian’s High, Kirkintilloch. She told us that communities back home in Malawi were waiting on rain to begin the growing season. “Every year now, the rains come later and it’s disastrous for our farmers. In my country we’re trying our best.” It was incredible to allow young people in Glasgow to engage directly with those facing the consequences of the climate emergency.
Our partners also had to face questions. Pupils from St Andrew’s and St Bride’s High School in East Kilbride travelled to SCIAF’s offices to interview our partners from Malawi. The Climate Emergency Newsroom was a collaboration between the University of Glasgow and South Lanarkshire Council’s Education Resources team which saw sixth year pupils from South Lanarkshire’s secondary schools produce their own climate newsroom and blog.
Finally, the Global Day of Action March saw tens of thousands of people come together in Glasgow and with SCIAF’s support, a number of schools across Scotland were represented. Ayaat Hassan, a pupil from Notre Dame High School, Glasgow, spoke for many at the March when she said: “As young people living in Britain, we have a huge responsibility as one of the biggest polluters in the world and we’ll be one of the least affected. We have a responsibility to help protect others.”
While COP26 may be over, SCIAF’s work on the climate emergency continues in schools.
Our Lenten resources for primary and secondary schools will be available shortly and focus on the effects of climate change and the impact on hunger. This includes the provision of classroom activities and prayer resources so that schools can learn, pray and act.
We hope to bring the stories of the people we help from around the world to classrooms across Scotland and the UK.
For both primary and secondary schools, our resources will include information this year about Malawi, including a quiz and further information about our work there. The secondary notes then focus on the curriculum section, looking at the early Church in the Book of Acts: how we can follow their example and serve the global Church. The primary notes focus on various teachings of Christ as we strive to build God’s Kingdom here on earth.
Our prayer resources include more traditional ways to reflect like the Stations of the Cross, daily reflections and prayers to read but also creative ways to pray, like a prayer walk encouraging young people to look for God in creation.
We hope to be present in schools this Lent as much as possible, leading assemblies and class lessons. If you are interested at all in how SCIAF can help educate young people about the climate, please visit: www.sciaf.org.uk/resources
St Benedicts Update
120th Anniversary Tree Planting
St Benedict’s has planted 120 trees in celebration of the School’s 120th anniversary.
The wild cherry trees, which were provided by the Woodland Trust, have been planted on the School’s site, and also at Holy Family Catholic Primary in Acton, in recognition of St Benedict’s strong partnership with the school.
St Benedict’s Chair of governors, Joe Berger planted the first tree at the School’s Perivale sports grounds, at a short ceremony attended by the Headmaster, Andrew Johnson, the Junior School Headmaster, Rob Simmons and students
from St Benedict’s Eco Society. All the remaining trees were then planted by the Combined Cadet Corps – at Perivale and on the St Benedict’s site.
St Benedict’s parents have also donated almost £700 to Restore our Planet’s ‘Trillion Trees’ protect, which is helping to restore and protect the world’s forests.
The Headmaster said: “I am delighted that we are celebrating this landmark in our history with an environmental project. We hope that these trees will flourish, along with St Benedict’s, over the next 120 years as we continue to educate young people for a sustainable future.”
Lord Patten meets St Benedict’s scholars
Lord Patten of Barnes, alumnus and Patron of St Benedict’s, presented this year’s Patten Scholarship awards to pupils at the school on November 22nd.
Lord Patten attends the Academic Scholars’ Evening at St Benedict’s each year. He is Chancellor of Oxford University, a crossbench member of the House of Lords,
the last British Governor of Hong Kong and a Conservative politician until 2011. Lord Patten said he was delighted that St Benedict’s enjoys a “well-deserved reputation for academic excellence” and that, in addition to giving young people the opportunity to pursue and develop their interests and talents, it also continues to provide a moral education, helping them to be good people who contribute to society: “We are going to need a generation of well-educated, morally sensitive, determined young people”, he said, to address the many difficult challenges we all face.
Lord Patten spoke about the considerable and lasting influence teachers can have on their students, and the vital role they play in an individual’s formation. He recalled his grandparents, who had been teachers in the most deprived areas of Manchester, striving to change children’s lives and prospects for the better. He also contrasted his St Benedict’s History teacher – a Christian socialist - with the Marxist atheist historian Christopher Hill, who interviewed, and later taught him at Oxford, adding that, while Christopher Hill had been an outstanding historian and teacher, “He didn’t make me a Marxist atheist.” Referring to the current debate around free speech on university campuses, Lord Patten said that it was
“important to appreciate the difference between an argument and a quarrel.”
Three of this year’s five Patten scholars also spoke, thanking Lord Patten for his generous support and interest in their academic interests. They each described how St Benedict’s had encouraged them to read widely, to be intellectually curious and open to learning about a wide range of subjects, praising St Benedict’s varied programme of talks and the many additional opportunities for debate and academic exploration.
This year’s award for the most successful scholar went to Niall Wynne (Year 13), who intends to read Physics at university next year and has been researching Airborne Wind Energy, working alongside a consultancy that focuses on sustainable projects and environmental strategies. Niall said: “What does it mean to be a scholar? Many people would say it is to be hard working and intelligent, but I think what is most important is curiosity; the willingness to explore something with no goal other than the pursuit of knowledge.”
Finally, the Headmaster, Andrew Johnson, introduced the new Lower 6th academic scholars to Lord Patten, who congratulated them all on their academic success.
By James Spencer, Communications and Partnerships Manager for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
Catholic Schools Caring for our Common Home
One of the most striking elements of the publics’ response to the climate crisis has been the role young people have played. Not only have we seen young people take leadership roles within this new environmental movement, we have also seen children become the main evangelists for change.
This was particularly striking in the run up to COP26, with Catholic schools up and down the country leading the way in campaigning for a better world as well as changing their own behaviours and practices to become better stewards of God’s creation.
In this article I would like to draw on the examples of two particular Catholic schools.
St Mary’s Catholic School, Swanage, Dorset
St Mary’s Catholic school has put Laudato Si’ at the heart of its curriculum, carrying out a wide variety of environmental activities that give children the chance to see how social action can make a difference throughout the whole community.
Between 2017-2019, St Mary’s looked at how to reduce single-use plastic in the school and in the local community. The pupils delivered a local advocacy project over two years which included:
• Writing to businesses that supplied items to the school to ask them to reduce single-use plastic and asking parents to avoid purchasing items using single-use plastic.
• Writing to local businesses, the Bishop, the Queen, the town council and others to ask about their environmental policy and singled use plastic. The school received many positive replies, including from Buckingham Palace.
• Visiting local shops and businesses to audit their use of single-use plastic,
talking to shoppers and the general public about the environment, and offering certificates designed by the pupils to businesses they felt deserved recognition. They also asked members of the public what they thought and found that they agreed unanimously that it should be reduced. Following this, the Green Team wrote to the supermarkets to ask if this is possible.
• Setting up a table outside the supermarket and gathering a petition of over 500 signatures calling for an end to single-use plastic.
• Undertaking a climate march with posters designed by the pupils, reading out poems written by the children.
St Mary’s was also winner of the Plastic Free Schools award in June 2019. Members of the school Green Team have also joined a new Sustainable Swanage Youth Group run by the Town Council. In recognition of St Mary’s status as a Plastic-Free School, some of the Green Team were invited in January 2020 to present awards to local businesses as part of Swanage’s application to become a Plastic-Free Town (which it now is).
Since beginning this project and embedding social action and Laudato Si’ into the school curriculum, Headteacher Maria Gadston has noticed increased confidence and improved public speaking skills in those students that have taken part. She has also noted changes in attitudes to recycling and other activities in the homes of the pupils and the wider community. This work ‘has really excited and enthused the children’, who have ‘been enabled to see that they have a voice and can make a difference to the world around them’.
St Peter’s RC High School, Manchester
St Peter’s Roman Catholic High School in Manchester has been very busy in response to Laudato Si’. Beginning with only seven students but now having 100 (approximately 10% of the entire school), St Peter’s ‘Eco Schools Committee’ has been working hard to cut their school’s carbon footprint and to engage with the wider community on ways to join the fight for the environment.
Started through the Chaplaincy Gift Team, the Eco Committee runs in partnership with sustainability education consultant James Ridgway and the school’s lay chaplain. They hold their meetings in the school chapel, and while they are sure to keep things grounded in Laudato Si’ and care for creation, the students have not been content to simply sit down and discuss these issues. While students appreciated the opportunity to learn more, they have demanded action, determined ‘to do something to help save the environment’.
The students’ activities have included planting trees, building ‘bug hotels’, energy monitoring, switch-off fortnights, litter picks and more, and through these efforts they have managed to cut St Peter’s carbon footprint in half! In 2018 the Eco Committee invited Manchester Environmental Education Network (MEEN) to work with them and the two have since collaborated to engage a wider audience on environmental issues. The St Peter’s Eco Committee was later invited to talk about climate change with younger pupils from St Richard’s Primary School. The team gave a presentation to convey the basic science, then ran a selection of games before working together on action planning for their schools.
The Eco Committee has also made trips to the University of Manchester, delivering presentations to students and meeting with trainee teachers to discuss methods of teaching climate change. James Ridgway noted with pride the transformation he had seen in ‘some of our shyest students’, as in a matter of months with the Eco Committee, they gained the confidence necessary to give presentations in a university environment and to speak with complete strangers about the issues they cared about. One of James’ proudest moments was when the students’ efforts were honored with the Spirit of Manchester Award.
This work has not been without its challenges and whilst the Pandemic may have slowed things down a little for the students at St Peter’s they will be plenty busy in the coming year!
News Roundup
Message to Catholic Schools for Education Sunday 2021
Bishop Marcus Stock, Bishop of Leeds and Chair of the Catholic Education Service, expresses heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to teachers for the vocation and mission they exercise in the community of the Church in his message for Education Sunday 2021 below: Over the last eighteen months we have seen an upheaval affecting everyone in our society, the like of which has not been witnessed since the end of the Second World War. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed not only aspects of how we live our lives but has given us a chance to reflect on the fragility and preciousness of human life, on human solidarity, and the capacity to show love and support to our neighbours.
Like many other front-line workers, teachers, school leaders, and support staff have exemplified this love throughout the pandemic, going above and beyond to support the young people in their care. It is only right therefore that on Education Sunday, we take this opportunity to offer prayers of thanksgiving for all who work in our Catholic schools and colleges, and to express our gratitude for their outstanding dedication and professionalism, especially during the pandemic.
Throughout the challenges they have faced in two national lockdowns, two sets of exam cohorts, and a managed return to schooling, the staff of all our schools have exemplified what it means to follow the command of Our Lord Jesus Christ to love our neighbour. On behalf of the Catholic Education Service, I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to them and my appreciation for the vocation and mission they exercise in the community of the Church.
Manchester Catholic school students launch Diversity Council
Students from Saint Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester have announced the launch of the school’s new Diversity Council.
In a statement they say: “As a school, Saint Paul’s is proud of its richly diverse community and we celebrate the talents, aspirations and individuality of every member of our community. Our commitment to social justice, being actively anti-racist, diversity and inclusion and the eradication of inequalities has a platform, in our Diversity Council, for discussion and debate and a process to review, challenge and change.
“The purpose of the Diversity Council is to work collaboratively to advocate and support diversity education in our school community and curriculum, to encourage opportunities for students, staff, and family to grow in their own understanding of diversity, and to promote equality of opportunity for all to be contributing community members.
The students formed the council this term, with the aim to promote an environment of open debate and discussion about current social issues and a forum through which students can feed their ideas to back to teachers.”
Basilica in Year 11, Chair of the Diversity Council, speaks about the significance of understanding and acceptance of every gender, race, culture and religion: “as a council, it is important for us to understand and reflect the world that we’ll be going into following our time at Saint Paul’s.”
Zac in Year 10, Vice Chair of the Diversity Council, describes what diversity means
By Willie Slavin
Basilica and Zac
to him, “to me, diversity is, diversity of thought, acceptance and tolerance of everyone and everyone’s opinions. We will do our very best to challenge inequality and promote diversity.”
Mr Paul Harrington, Assistant Headteacher, explained: “At Saint Paul’s, we are proud of the diversity of our students and staff and committed to promoting a positive and diverse culture in which all are valued and supported to fulfil their potential, irrespective of their age, disability, race, religion, belief, sex or sexual orientation.”
Saint Paul’s Catholic High Schoolwww.st-paulshigh.net/
Glasgow: Primary school children inspired by COP26
With the COP26 world climate summit taking place on their doorstep, one class from St Nicholas’ Primary School in Bearsden, near Glasgow, have found a real inspiration to study more about the environment.
Pupils from Class 4 have been focusing on the topic of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle since August. Class teacher Miss McDougall said: “They’ve have learned about the importance of reducing waste, reusing where possible and recycling materials that they can no longer use. The children have also used their initiative and are collecting and recycling plastic bottles that would have otherwise ended up as waste. I am immensely proud of the hard work and dedication the children have applied to this learning. They are an inspiration to others and I am positively re-assured that our next generation are going to take care of our beautiful planet.”
When asked what they were learning about children answered: “Our topic this term
has been Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We have learned about the importance of recycling and the impact that waste is having on our environment.
“We have learned about landfill sites and the implications that these have on society. We have been looking at ways that we can prevent rubbish, particularly plastic, entering our waters. After learning all about the dangers of rubbish in our oceans we have even started collecting and recycling plastic bottles that are used in our dinner hall.”
The children were then asked about what they enjoyed learning about. Some responses are as follows:
“I enjoyed learning about the danger litter presents to animals and the ways we can help prevent more animals from being hurt.” “I have enjoyed learning about COP 26. It has been really interesting and I am excited to find out what the world leaders agree on.”
“I enjoyed learning about fish and other ocean animals and how the plastic in our oceans is affecting them. Our oceans are becoming polluted and this needs to stop!”
(Visit ICN’s Facebook page to see more pictures.) St Nicholas Primary Schoolwww.st-nicholas.e-dunbarton.sch.uk/
Gateshead pupils ‘Go Green’ to support communities fighting climate crisis
Pupils from St Joseph’s RC Junior school in Birtley, Gateshead, are raising funds to support women and men risking their lives to protect the planet.
Leading up to the COP26 climate talks in November, CAFOD is challenging individuals, schools and parishes across England and Wales to fight the climate crisis by undertaking a climate-related fundraiser such as cycling, going vegetarian or plastic-free to support communities in the Amazon who are putting their lives on the line to defend the rainforest - and the vital role it plays in our world’s ecosystem. A year 6 pupil from St Joseph’s RC Junior School shared what inspired him to take part in the ‘Go Green’ challenge - and why standing in solidarity with communities on the frontline is important: “There are lots of people losing their homes and lives because of climate change. We must do something about it.”
Adding why it’s important for young people to campaign against the climate crisis, he said: “I feel like young people need to know what’s happening around the world. They need to get involved and act together to fight against climate change. Bush fires are destroying places where people live, and when those children grow up, they won’t have anything and won’t be able to take charge. We need to fight for them too.”
Sharing how quickly decisions must be made to put a stop to the climate crisis, a year 4 pupil from school sends this message to world leaders: “You need to do what’s best for everyone, not just your area. This is everyone’s problem!”
More than 100 pupils and teachers have fundraised for the climate crisis appeal by arranging a green themed non-uniform day, writing Go Green pledges and letters to world leaders ahead of COP26. They then rallied the wider community to look after the environment through artistic displays on the school fence; and held Go Green assemblies to explore ways in which communities can live a greener life, to support the men and women guarding our ecosystems.
Year 4 teacher Rachel Prior said: “At St Joseph’s we have always been enthusiastic supporters of CAFOD.
“This year in particular, the Go Green theme has really grabbed our attention. The COP26 conference has focused our thoughts on climate change and protecting the environment.”
Cafod’s Award
12 parishes, one school and Newman University have completed Cafod’s Live Simply Award. A further 30 have signed up.
Our objective is for 100% parish and school enrolment by the end of 2021, and we expect that the environmental audits of the full parish, as mentioned in point 8 of the Statement of Principles, would be part of the preparation for the award.
Our objective is for every school and parish to have a climate emergency dedicated sponsor and/or group by Dec 31st 2021.
Manchester schools inspired by Shakespeare
Year 10 GCSE Performing Arts pupils from Saint Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe took part in the MANCEP (Manchester Catholic Education Partnership) Shakespeare Festival. The Festival involves local Catholic High Schools and Loreto and Xaverian College and was held in the Ellis and Kennedy Theatre at Loreto College. Saint Paul’s brought an abridged version of Shakespeare’s play ‘Midsummers Night’s Dream’ to life with their wonderfully inspired performance directed by their teacher Mrs Kathryn Slater.
The aim of the festival is to further develop the relationships with other Manchester Catholic high schools and sixth form colleges, engage pupils through an active way of learning and expand the young learners’ knowledge within the performing arts field. In preparing and performing the plays participants also learn about Shakespeare’s language, themes and characters.
“I was very proud of the amazing performance by our pupils,” said Mr Alex Hren, Headteacher at Saint Paul’s. “The event was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the talent of young people and to extend the partnership that we have within MANCEP. Having had great feedback from Loreto College, I firmly believe that our pupils can aspire to do great things and are a credit to the staff that teach them.”
St Columba’s student wins youth triathlon titles
Antonia Jubb, 16, a student at St Columba’s College in St Albans, won the British Youth Triathlon Grand Final and the overall British Triathlon Super Series on Saturday 11 September. She continued her winning streak in Jersey a week later, where she was crowned Youth Super League Triathlon Champion.
Antonia, who is a Sixth Form student at St Columba’s College in St Albans, trains 16 hours a week alongside her A Level studies at school.
Stephen Murphy, Head of PE at St Columba’s College, said: “To excel in an endurance event takes time and dedication in the least, but for Antonia to dedicate herself across three disciplines is phenomenal. Mixing her academic studies with this elite level training and performance just demonstrates what a dedicated and determined young woman she is, and clearly shows she will be ready for the professional ranks as she gets older.”
Antonia said: “I’m over the moon, especially with all the obstacles over the past 18 months, from injuries to Covid-19 restrictions. It’s amazing to be able to come out and take the national title and let all the hard work be rewarded.”
Leeds Trinity University partners with CoE on training for senior teachers
Leeds Trinity University has been announced as the official delivery partner for the Church of England’s National Professional Qualifications (NPQ) in Senior Leadership and Leading Teaching. Launching in February 2022, the two NPQs are accredited by the Department for Education and form part of a nationally recognised set of qualifications for schoolteachers and leaders at all levels, enhancing their expertise in high quality teaching practice and leadership. The NPQ in Senior Leadership provides teachers with the training and support required to become senior leaders with cross-school responsibilities, and the NPQ in Leading Teaching is aimed at teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading teaching in a subject, year group, key stage or phase. As a Church of England delivery partner, Leeds Trinity will be responsible for delivering high-quality sessions via academic teaching staff in the Institute of Childhood and Education. The University will also lead on recruitment, selection, assessment, and onboarding of local participants and contribute to regional and national programme development and reviews.
Catherine Bell, Academic Partnership Lead at Leeds Trinity University, said: “We are delighted to be working with such a highquality partner to deliver these exciting new qualifications. Our shared values which put robust evidence-based practice and teacher excellence at the core, will help support the professional development of teachers and school leaders of the future.”
Emily Norman, Head of Networks and Partnerships at the Church of England, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Leeds Trinity University to deliver the new National Professional Qualification programmes. These programmes are rooted in high-quality research, and are built on the collaboration of Catholic, Church of England and community providers in the UK. Working with Leeds Trinity will really enhance our offer through its understanding of the local context and partnership working with schools, colleges and trusts across Yorkshire.”
By Willie Slavin
Is Catholicism Reformable?
By Michael M Winter
Publisher: Upfront
ISBN:978178456774
Book&Media Review
indicate, has a comprehensive understanding of the Church in action and a breadth of scholarship that allows him to build the case for reform convincingly and incisively.
In what is in reality a quest to envision the Church of the future, what better place to begin than with an extensive examination of Church history? Is this not a Church that has ridden many a storm and overcome many a crisis and, indeed, is this not just the way it is? This is hardly the first time the Church has had to face a challenge to its future existence.
of the Roman Curia and their deleterious effect on the governance of the Church, is to a degree devalued by an almost prurient emphasis on the part played by ‘an unhealthy network of deviant homosexuality in the Vatican.’ To the best of my knowledge there is no established causal link between child abuse and homosexuality.
Michael Winter was ordained priest for the Catholic diocese of Southwark in 1955. He worked for nine years as curate and parish priest in a variety of parishes. Later he pursued further studies in theology at the universities of London, Cambridge, and Fribourg (Switzerland), where he was awarded the Doctorate in Theology in 1977. He resigned from the clergy in 1986 and turned to university teaching, and writing.
Like many members of the Church, my attention was immediately caught by the title of this book and the promise it held of a forensic examination of the case for reform. The evidence presented is wide ranging, insightful and informative and, in a real sense, leaves no stone unturned. There is no doubting that Michael Winter, as his credentials
However, when it comes to examine the present day Church there seems to be an overwhelming choice of topics to be scrutinised, of which a first chapter devoted to adolescents abandoning the Mass has the appearance of a symptom of decline rather than a cause. The second chapter dealing with Catholicism’s Lost Opportunities suggests that there is a history of failure by the institution in spite of the heroic individual efforts to witness to a gospel of service to a suffering humanity.
Chapter 3 on De-Clericalising the Clergy has much to be admired in its exposition of the historical development of the priestly ministry. Thus far, so good. It is, however, in his consideration of the sexual abuse of children by clergy and in his subsequent denunciation of clericalism that he writes in the most excoriating terms. In his mind, these two phenomena are intrinsically linked and, for that reason, identify this particular era as requiring the most radical reform.
While displaying a profound knowledge and understanding of the heart of the Church, his concerns and ire, aroused by the machinations
While not many people would disagree with his demand for reform, this perceived lack of balance creates an unease that the case is being further devalued by such overstatement. And yet, one can find genuine evidence of balance and some real gems which are all but lost in a book that is crying out for some rigorous attention by a skilled literary editor.
When it does get to identifying the critical element of the reform process in its final Epilogue chapter, a lucidity emerges, which can be available only to the reader who perseveres through some rather glutinous text. This reader is tempted to recommend, not entirely frivolously, the concluding chapter but that would be to overlook the wealth of knowledge and understanding of a Church that is all the better for having scholars like Michael M Winter who generously offers his (long) lived experience and loving critique of an institution that, warts and all, is still capable of fulfilling its mission of genuine service to the world.
Willie Slavin
New Thinking, New Scholarship and New Research into Catholic Education Responses to the Work of Prof. Gerald Grace
By Dr Sean Whittle
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN:9781032001050
This book is a celebration of the lifework and legacy of the recently retired leader of Catholic educational research, Professor Gerald Grace. It contains twenty chapters from an impressive list of contributors constituting many of the great and the good of Catholic educational research which, for me, makes this book a party to which I am very happy to be invited!
The book itself is a study of two halves: the first half contains ten chapters authored by British based academics whose work has been informed by that of Grace, with the second half containing a further ten penned by international contributors who consider his infl uence from a broader UK and international basis. In his foreword, Cardinal Vincent Nichols emphasises the importance of partnerships in Catholic education – this book certainly honours such collaborations and through the skilled stewardship of the editor, Sean Whittle, presents us with a veritable smorgasbord of insights and opinion which give us a real sense of Gerald Grace the person and the professor.
Thematically the book focuses on three main areas: an appreciation, analysis and critique of Grace’s concept of ‘spiritual capital’; a consideration of his leading role in the genesis of Catholic educational research as an empirical, ‘distinctive, academic and policy-related field’ (Arthur, p15) and his legacy as a mentor and champion of similarly inspired research and researchers both home and abroad. As such, particularly with reference to the first of these themes, ‘spiritual capital’, there is a tendency for some repetition of key concepts and definitions in certain chapters which take this seminal aspect of Grace’s work as their focus. However, notwithstanding this, each chapter offers an individual insight into how Grace has formed and informed scholarship within contemporary Catholic education either as ‘co-conspirator’ – in the case of renowned educationalists Walsh, Pring, Arthur and Sullivan – or as a generous mentor and inspiration as with Miller, and Punnachet, Sritkarul and Supavai from Thailand.
Some of the best chapters focus on a specific aspect of Grace’s work, allowing for more critical analysis of his scholarship and a reasoned critique of his place in the canon of Catholic educational research: in this context the contributions from Moog, Maguire and Rossiter are particularly fine exemplars. And these provide a counterpoint to the more descriptive chapters which recall instances where Grace’s interventions as scholar, mentor or critical friend have encouraged new scholarship in the field to flourish as evinced by Miller and Lydon and Whittle.
What does the book reveal about Grace himself? That he was an early trailblazer in pioneering empirical research into Catholic education is well documented as is the fact that this scholarship was driven by a passion for the mission of Catholic education, and its call to serve the poor and marginalised. It is interesting that more than one contributor points out that in our contemporary context this should also be understood to embrace those who are poor in spirit and marginalised from faith. However, what is perhaps less well known,
but potentially his most significant contribution to the scholarship of Catholic education, is his generosity of spirit in nurturing new thinking and new research, nationally and internationally through his supervision of doctoral students and most particularly through the journal he founded and edited, International Studies in Catholic Education. The fruits of these relationships are represented in the book with contributions from Thailand, The Philippines and Chile as well as France, Malta, Australia, Ireland and Scotland, and this global network of Catholic educational researchers is powerful witness to Grace’s living legacy.
Eminently readable, the book’s structure allows you to ‘dip in and out’ of it at ease and the myriad voices offer unique, personalised insights into Grace’s work. However, do not be fooled by this. New Thinking, New Scholarship and New Research into Catholic Education earns its place as a significant scholarly text for anyone engaged in Catholic educational research. And like all good books, it leaves the door open to further research and questioning. It is interesting to note that in a book that celebrates his retirement, we discover that the ‘spiritual capital’ work for which Grace will be most remembered was initiated after his ‘first retirement’! As a pioneer of lifelong learning he is quite clearly a model to aspire to, but this book graces a man of scholarship, passion, humour and wisdom and is a fitting testimony to a Iife well lived... in glorious retirement!
An added bonus is that normally this sort of edited academic book retails for an extortionately high price: however, thanks to the generosity of St Mary’s University CRDCE the whole volume is available online free of charge.
To access the book simply visit: https://www. taylorfrancis.com/books/oaedit/10.4324/9781003171553/ new-thinking-new-scholarship-newresearch-catholic-education-seanwhittle
Dr Maureen Glackin
Books that Might be of Interest...
Comfort in Bereavement, The Christian Hope
By William Purcell
Publisher: Upfront
ISBN:978178456774
Comfort in Bereavement, The Christian Hope,
By
William Purcell.
‘I hope this book will help many. It has helped me.’ - ROSEMARY HARTILL, in her Foreword That we shall all eventually die is the one certain thing in life. The Christian hope is that death is not so much an end, as a beginning. There are two reasons why Christians need to be clear as to what their faith has to say about death. The first is so that they may be a comfort and help to others whom death and bereavement have touched. The second is that they must themselves be able to look death clearly in the face, fortified and sustained by Christian hope. The author is concerned, however, not only with the Christian hope of the world to come, but with the practical concerns arising out of dying, death and bereavement. Published Sept 2006. Please Note this book is a print on demand publication, dispatch time approximately 7-10 working days.
A Catholic Prayer Book
By Rev Amette Ley
Publisher: Catholic Truth Society
ISBN:9781860829277
A Catholic Prayer Book. Christian prayer is always an encounter with God. Drawing from a rich treasury of prayer spanning the Old Testament, the Fathers of the Church and the great saints of the Middle Ages, down to more recent times, this newly edited collection will help those seeking a fuller prayer life. Often too unsure to know how to pray for ourselves, the Holy Spirit helps us in our prayer as we bring our needs before the Father. It contains a wide variety of prayers to accompany us through the day, with well known Catholic devotions, suited to both private and shared settings.
33 Day Consecration to Jesus Through Mary
By St Louis Marie de Monfort
Publisher: Catholic Truth Society
ISBN:9781784690328
33 Day Consecration to Jesus Through Mary. Inspired by St Louis Marie de Monfort, Compiled by John Pridmore and Niall Slattery. This describes how anyone, of any age or background, may consecrate their heart to Jesus, through Mary, using the celebrated
method of St Louis de Montfort. Progressing through four successive themes over 33 days, and by way of daily scripture, guidance from St Louis’s writings, sayings from the saints, reflections, resolutions and prayer, we are led to personal conversion and consecration of our heart and will to those of Jesus through his mother Mary.
Bedtime Prayers
By Antonia Woodward
Publisher: Lion Hudson
ISBN:9780745979229
A charming bedtime prayer book for young children full of simple, easy to learn prayers to say before going to sleep. The collection includes prayers of praise and thanks for the day and the things they have, prayers about family and friends, for those who are ill and animals and pets, and blessings for those they love, for a safe night and a new day ahead. Delightful illustrations by Antonia Woodward make this prayer book perfect for a treasured moment to share with young children at the end of each day as part of a bedtime routine.
MISSION TOGETHER
During Advent, we asked schools across England and Wales to sing with Mission Together. The response has kept us rejoicing throughout Advent!
This year, Mission Together (Missio’s children’s branch) created some singalong carols for schools and children to use in liturgies, assemblies and more. And over Advent we invited schools to share their joyful singing with us, to spread a little Advent hope.
And we weren’t disappointed! Despite the busy schedule teachers always have in December, and the added difficulties of COVID-19 restrictions and absences, some wonderful schools still managed to pull out all the stops and send us some beautiful singing.
A huge thank you to all the schools who got involved. Here are some of the fantastic videos we received…
St Chad’s Primary in Birmingham Archdiocese sent us two gorgeous recordings – we loved their version of Go, Tell it On the Mountain.
Thank you, St Chad’s – we can’t stop singing along!
My personal encounter with Mary through the Rosary
Praying the Rosary every day can help us to focus on God, instead of ourselves. As we meditate on the events in the life Jesus Christ, we focus on Him. Our prayer of Rosary becomes a prayer of recognition of who God is and what He has done for us, and for our Salvation because of His love for humanity.
When we pray the Rosary, we approach Christ through Mary – his Mother and our mother, because of her special connection with Him and with us. When we turn to her in prayer, she will immediately guide us to Christ.
The Rosary is one of the great defences given to us believers as a remedy against severe trials, temptations and hardships of life. Moreover, to battle against every evil that we face in our day-to-day lives.
A closeness to Mary through life
My father is the one who inspired me to pray Rosary every day. From my early childhood, I remember him sitting outside the house, facing towards the Church every evening to pray the Rosary.
My mother passed away in 2003, and after this my connection to Mary, our Mother, became even more important. When I was in formation, every day I used to pray to Mother Mary ‘You are my Mother; please lead me to the altar of your Son as a Priest’.
That was my prayer and intention before I recited my Rosary to Mother Mary. I repeated it every day until my ordination. And because of her grace and blessings, today I am a Priest. I trust and believe that praying Rosary every day gives me peace and happiness. It brings me closer to God and keeps my spiritual life alive.
The gift of the Rosary
Praying the Rosary every day provides me with the spiritual energy, courage and confidence to stand firm in my priestly life. It gives me peace and happiness and success in my life. To be honest, knowing that whatever I ask Mother Mary while reciting the Rosary will be heard, makes me so peaceful and happy.
My challenge to you
My personal request to you, and to all Catholic communities and families is this: Unite in praying the Rosary everyday to encounter God more closely in your lives. Through Mary to Jesus.
Yours in Christ Fr Michael Mandagiri MHM
Putting education first in Papua New Guinea
Gerard Gough
LIKE many countries in the continent of Oceania, Papua New Guinea is not immune to environmental crises both natural and man-made.
In 2018, an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale left 270,000 people— nearly half of them children—needing humanitarian assistance. Around 65 per cent of the country’s schools had to close for a prolonged period as a result of the damage caused.
Giorgio Bernadelli, of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) has no hesitation in highlighting the exploitation of the land and the depletion of natural resources in the area which predated the earthquake.
“The environmental balance of the Pacific has suffered a serious degradation in the last decade due to pollution and poor governance of the territory,” he said. “It is one of the places where our global economy most easily finds an abundance of the raw materials we need—gold, silver, copper, minerals in general. Papua New Guinea is a very rich land from this point of view, and it is a land where there are also new frontiers of exploitation.
“One of the most serious problems today is that of sand mining,” he explained. “There are entire areas of the Papua New Guinea coast that risk being eroded precisely because of the exploitation of this material for export. And there are also projects for seabed mining, for example for the exploitation of resources under the sea, on the seabed.”
When the environment comes under threat, human beings do too, something Pope Francis noted in his encyclical, Laudato Si, when he said: “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.” (Paragraph 139)
Environmental problems often lead to societal problems such as violence throughout the country and also an increase in poverty, especially in rural areas. Education is pivotal in combatting both, but it remains an ongoing challenge with Papua New Guinea registering an illiteracy rate of more than 35 per cent.
“Education is important to form good citizens and to achieve this, greater investment is needed in young people,” Dr Uke Kombre, the Education Secretary said. “We need to mobilise and consolidate all the departments supporting education to be able to strengthen future generations of the country. Whoever has children always wants the best for them, we do not just want them to survive, but to grow and make a proactive contribution to society.”
A saintly example
In terms of education, one of the shining lights that is specific to Papua New Guinea is Blessed Peter To Rot who was martyred for his faith by the occupying Japanese forces during the Second World War for defending the sacrament of marriage. 2020 marked the 25th anniversary of his Beatification by Pope Saint John Paul II and the 75th anniversary of his martyrdom.
In a recent homily Archbishop Rochus Josef Tatamai of Rabaul spoke of Blessed Peter To Rot becoming a ‘second-generation Christian’ after his parents landed on the island of Matupit in 1882 and praised him as someone who was a ‘family man, a Catechist, teacher and martyr.’
“He left behind many great examples of obedience,” Archbishop Tatamai said. “He led an exemplary family life, was an excellent teacher, catechist, man of prayer, respect and faith. He was born in a period of lockdown during the Second World War, when even the restrictions on the activities of the Church persisted, but he persevered in his pastoral work of teaching and Catechesis.”
Sisters supporting schools
Following in the educational footsteps of Blessed Peter To Rot is 87-year-old Sister Mary Claude Gadd (above centre)—a Sister of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SSCJ)—who hails from San Antonio, Texas in the USA, but who has lived in Papua New Guinea for 36 years. During that time, she has been responsible for developing child protection programmes, as well as parenting programmes, but the programme most recently founded by the energetic sister is perhaps her most impressive to date and one that this year, Missio Scotland, is proud to give its support to.
“I developed a Universal Inclusive Early Childhood Programme (IECD), so that every child in rural and remote rural areas may have a chance to start out in life with the hope of a brighter future,” Sr Mary Claude said. “Private Early Childhood Education has always been available in the urban areas for children whose parents could afford it. We piloted the IECD programme with UNICEF Papua New Guinea and it has been an immense success for us.”
Currently, there are 258 IECD centres. Each is connected to one of the 31 parishes in the area, with many of those having as many as 58 satellite smaller churches/Christian communities. The IECD centres take in children at the age of three and boast some 300 teachers, who are given further training while in post.
“Thus far, the government doesn’t financially contribute in any way to this programme,” Sr Mary Claude said. “It is all community and parish sponsored. Our partnership agreement with UNICEF ended almost two years ago and now we are on our own completely.”
This year though, Missio Scotland, through its support for Sr Mary Claude and her fellow sisters in Papua New Guinea, aims to show that they are not on their own completely and that they can rely on their brothers and sisters in Scotland as part of the universal Church.
Sr Mary Claude explained exactly what the most pressing need and where Missio Scotland’s funds will be directed.
“What we need help with right now is suitable library material for little children. We encourage the children to learn English and they love it. It’s the first language of Papua New Guinea closely followed by Tok Pisin and Motu, but there are very little local publications that can speak to a child about their own culture and so on.
“A local author has recently published a set of books that would be most beneficial to this end and we would greatly appreciate if we could try and get a set of them for each of our centres. I am in touch with the author of these books and she tells me that they can enlarge them to A4 size so that the teacher can read to the children and show them the pictures at the same time. A package of 10 A4 sized books will cost £72 (which includes transport and tax) and as I said, we’re looking to try and get a set for each of our centres.
“We are most grateful for any way in which Missio Scotland might be able to help us purchase these books. May God continue to bless you, keep you well and safe.”
During the anniversary celebrations of Blessed Peter To Rot last year, Fidelis Aran, president of the parish committee of St Joseph’s in Boroko, said of him: “He was an apostle who responded to the call of Jesus, for the faithful of Papua New Guinea and the whole world as a lay missionary. To Rot was a seed and a sower of the Catholic Christian Faith in this land and is today an example of faith for the universal Church for the whole world.”
Let us also respond to the call of Jesus for the faith of Papua New Guinea in our own small, but nonetheless important, way by donating to Missio Scotland this month so as to support education in the country and show that we too are examples of faith for the universal Church.
