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Volume 21, Issue 2, Spring Term 2020

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Young Climate Warriors - See page 32

CATHOLIC INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS CONFERENCE

CATHOLIC INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS CONFERENCE

CATHOLIC INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS CONFERENCE

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

We are bowled over by your efforts Primary and secondary schools always make amazing efforts to support our work. Last Lent was no exception. Together you raised more than £100,000. Thank you!

The Lent resources featured Rabiul and his parents, Mahinur and Khalek, in Bangladesh. We are so sorry to have to share the news that Rabiul died of a fever a few months later. Mahinur asked if you would please pray for Rabiul’s soul to rest in peace. Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.

Mahinur, Rabiul and Khalek

Thanks to your fundraising, the family had been part of a new project in southern Bangladesh helping communities adapt to the changing climate and earn a living. Mahinur and Khalek will continue to be part of the project and are being supported by agriculture expert Jamal and the local Caritas team through this difficult time.

Showing injustice the red card This Lent, CAFOD’s school resources focus on people in the Amazon whose land and homes are being lost.

leader from the Brazilian Amazon, and his son Dario to find out more.

Communities are losing their land to mining activity and big farming companies. The mining contaminates land and rivers. The farming leads to large areas being cleared for cattle grazing or single crops.

The Amazon is a vast region spanning nine countries. Living there, as well as three million indigenous people, are many traditional fishing communities, small farmers and people who live from fruit and nut collecting. They have lived in harmony with the rainforest for thousands of years. Now their way of life, which protects the forest and values the land, is under threat. Their rights are being ignored. This is unjust.

If we destroy the Amazon rainforest it will affect all life on earth.

Communities like Davi’s are the last line of defence against those who seek to extract resources from the forest.

On 5 February at our office in London, pupils from CAFOD Clubs at two primary schools met with Davi Kopenawa, a Yanomami indigenous

Dangerous work People who stand up for their land rights are often threatened and sometimes killed. In the last decade more than 300 people have been killed in conflicts over the use of land and resources in the Amazon.* In the Brazilian Amazon, CAFOD supports lawyers who defend people’s right to land and to have a safe place to live.

It is dangerous work. The lawyers often receive death threats.

Despite that, thanks to their support, more than 80,000 families in the Amazon now have a safe place to build homes, grow food, and make a living.

This is good news! But many other families need their rights to be defended too. So we have been calling on schools this Lent to show injustice the red card. *Source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/11/15/brazils-amazon-and-its-defendersareunder-attack-illegal-loggers

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

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DO A FOOTBALL FUNDRAISER TO PROTECT PEOPLE

AND THEIR LAND

Defend the defenders

Charity no 1160384 and a company Illustration: limited by guarantee Pasquale Garibaldi no 09387398.

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In January, we sent to each secondary school a “Defend the defenders” pack and to primary schools a “What’s your goal?” pack. There are lots more resources on our website, including videos and assemblies, to help students understand what is happening in the Amazon, pray for the people who live there and get involved in making a difference. (cafod.org.uk/primary and cafod.org.uk/secondary)

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Every minute, an area of Amazon rainforest bigger than a football pitch is destroyed.

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After asking Davi and Dario how CAFOD has supported their community, the school pupils wanted to know how they can help too.

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What’s your goal?

Not every student wants to take part in a football match or keepieuppie challenge, but we’ve already heard from schools setting their fundraising goal and using football as the theme. Spot-the-ball competitions, quizzes, hunt the mascot, table-top finger football matches… the creative possibilities are endless!

Bishop Challoner Secondary School in Basingstoke has constructed a goal net in the library. Every time a form raises £10 they get to stick a mini football cut-out onto the net.

We would love to hear about, celebrate and share the creative ways your school has been engaging with CAFOD this Lent. Please let us know, and send photographs to schools@cafod.org.uk. Thank you!

A prayer by

Pope Fran

cis God of the p oor, help us to rescue the abandoned an d forgotten o f this earth.

Touch the he arts of those w h o look only for gain at th e expense o f the poor an the earth. d Teach us to d iscover the w orth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplatio n, to recognise that we are p rofoundly united with e very creature as we journe towards your y infinite light.

Encourage u s, we pray, in our struggle, for justice, lo ve and peac e.

Amen.

H

AL

LE N G E!

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

Bring the world into your school with global learning CPD Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning

Contact us to organise free training in your school, cluster or MAT, or book on one of our public or diocesan courses. n Inspire students with the knowledge,

skills and attitudes to be active global citizens and leaders. n Support school’s reflection on

the new Ofsted and Section 48 requirements for an ambitious curriculum.

n Enrich your curriculum through

care for our common home and engagement with the Sustainable Development Goals. n Receive ongoing support to

implement global learning and demonstrate impact in your classroom.

Choose from four inspiring courses!

“It was brilliant. A day packed with information and practical strategies. Simple and powerful ideas. Great resources.”

(Teacher in Liverpool diocese)

Free courses run by CAFOD, supported by the British Council.

Find out more at: cafod.org.uk/connectingclassrooms

Contact: schools@cafod.org.uk or call us on: 020 7733 7900

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

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Catholic Agency for Overseas Development

“YOUNG PEOPLE DEMAND CHANGE” Pope Francis

Use your free time to inspire young people to build a fairer world CAFOD is looking for volunteers who have a passion for, and experience of, working with young people. We need people who have a commitment to CAFOD’s aims and values and an interest in sharing our work in secondary schools through delivering assemblies or workshops. CAFOD will provide training and support, and expenses will be paid.

If you are interested please email youth@cafod.org.uk and we will connect you with your local CAFOD team.

Volunteering assignments will be in schools in your local diocese, and you can either work on your own or as part of a team. None of our work is possible without you, so join us and put your faith into action.

Charity no 1160384 and a company limited by guarantee no 09387398 Photo: CAFOD

2, 0, Issue

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

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contents

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

CAFOD Update .................................................................................................................... 2 - 5 Briefing Notes for Catholic Educators on Taxation and The Common Good........... 8

by Reverend David Haslam

The Network for Researchers in Catholic Education Annual Conference ............... 10

by Dr Gareth Byrne

How teacher involvement has helped shape our revisions to the new Religious Education Curriculum Directory .................................................................................. 13

by Philip Robinson

7

Catholic Education Today

Supplied to members of: The Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges.

The Catholic Independent Schools Conference.

The Birmingham Catholic Secondary Schools Partnership.

The Manchester Catholic Secondary Schools Partnership.

Through the SCES to all Catholic Schools in Scotland.

Editorial Team: Editor - John Clawson

Open hearts, Brave spirits, Visionary people ............................................................. 14

News Roundup - Willie Slavin

by Mrs Sarah Raffray

St. Edward’s RC School, Romsey, Hampshire ............................................................ 16 Discerning the mission through pilgrimage: one school’s experience of service in Lourdes..................................................................................................... 18

Patrons

Bob Beardsworth, Peter Boylan, Carmel O’Malley, Kevin Quigley, Dr. Larry McHugh, Willie Slavin, Fr John Baron

by Christopher Doel and AnnMarie Sylvester-Charles

Editorial Contributors:

News from CATSC ........................................................................................................ 20

Research: Professor Gerald Grace, CRDCE Peter Boylan

Over 150 Catholic Educators attend first ATCRE National Conference .................. 26

by Matthew Dell, Chair of ATCRE

CISC News..................................................................................................................... 28 News from Scotland .................................................................................................... 30 News Roundup ............................................................................................................. 34

by Willie Slavin

CATSC - John Nish CISC - Dr Maureen Glackin SCES - Barbara Coupar CAFOD - Lina Tabares

Editorial Office:

Networking (CET) Ltd 9 Elston Hall, Elston, Newark, Notts NG23 5NP Email: editor@networkingcet.co.uk

Cover: Young Climate Warriors - See page 32

Book & Media Review .................................................................................................. 38

by Willie Slavin

Designed by: 2co Limited 01925 654072 www.2-co.com

Are MATS and Academies a threat to the future of Catholic Education in England and Wales? ................................................................................................................... 44 The first National Conference on Academisation and Catholic Education.

by Dr Sean Whittle, Raymond Friel and Margaret Buck

Printed by: The Magazine Printing Company Published by: Networking (CET) Ltd 9 Elston Hall, Elston, Newark, Notts NG23 5NP Tel: 01636 525503 Email: editor@networkingcet.co.uk www.networkingcet.co.uk

Be a Contributor to Networking Catholic Education Today 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.

How long should articles be?

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.

What is the submission procedure?

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

How should manuscripts be submitted?

We prefer Microsoft Word files submitted via e-mail.

Try to avoid complex formatting in the article. Charts, graphs, and photos should be submitted as separate PDFs. Electronic photos should not be embedded into a Word document as this reduces their quality.

Photographs and Illustrations should be supplied electronically as high resolution TIFF (*.TIF) or JPEG (*.JPG) files). Photographs and illustrations should be sent in colour with a resolution of 300 dpi and a minimum size of 100 mm x 100 mm when printed (approx. 1200 pixels wide on-screen). Hard-copy photographs are acceptable provided they have good contrast and intensity, and are submitted as sharp, glossy copies or as 35 mm slides or as scanned high resolution digital images (eg. a 300 dpi 1800 x 1200 pixel *.JPG).

• Computer print-outs are not acceptable.

• Screen captures are not ideal as they are usually not very high quality.

Captions Each photograph or illustration should have a selfexplanatory caption. If you do not supply images, you may be asked to submit suggestions and possible sources of non-copyright material.

Who owns copyright to the article?

You do but Networking - Catholic Education Today owns copyright to our editing and the laid-out pages that appear in the magazine.

What are some hints for success?

As much as possible, talk about your experience rather than pure theory (unless discussed in advance) Use specific examples to illustrate your points. Write the way you’d talk, with a minimum of jargon. Near the beginning of the article, include a paragraph that states your intentions. Don’t be subtle about it: “This article will...” is fine.

Closing Date for Copy - Volume 21 issue 3 - Summer Term 2020 edition. Copy to Editor by 30th April 2020.

Published to schools 31st May.

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

Briefing Notes for Catholic Educators on Taxation and The Common Good Over the last few years Tax has become an increasingly important ethical and political issue, as the gap between rich and poor has widened, and the scandals of the Luxembourg Leaks, the Panama Papers and then the Papers from Paradise as well have exposed the fault lines in the global financial system.

Public services in the democracies have come under increasing strain and it more and more clear the wealthy – individuals and corporations – are not paying their share. The income of much of this wealth is hidden in tax havens.

It is particularly urgent that the issue of Tax is taught in our schools and colleges, as so many people appear uninformed about how tax works, and how it benefits the whole of society. Christians in particular seem to have a negative view of tax, perhaps partly because ‘tax collectors’ have such a poor image in the New Testament.

The main reason for that however is that the tax system of that time was deeply corrupt. There were three layers of taxation, by the occupying Romans, King Herod and his court, and the Temple authorities, all of whom wished to keep themselves in the lifestyle to which they had become accustomed. There was little if no benefit for the small landowners or landless peasants who made up much of the population, and paid the tax.

We may sense from the ministry of Jesus that he was most concerned about this latter category. These were the foodbank users of his day. They had often become landless by borrowing against their land to obtain seed for the next harvest, and when it failed their land was forfeit. Hence the large landowners grew richer, some of them were doubtless related to the High Priests, or among Herod’s retainers. The tax gatherers’ need for acceptance and salvation is illustrated by Jesus’ calling of Levi (or Matthew) in Matthew 9, and his visit to Zacchaeus in Luke 19. They wanted the

salvation he offered.

by Rev. David Haslam: David Haslam is a Methodist minister and a Founder and Chair of Church Action for Tax Justice.

He is author of ‘The Bible and Tax’, a pamphlet available with other resources including for Tax Justice Sunday from CATJ, see www.catj.org.uk

I first became aware of the enormity of this issue reading Treasure Islands by Nicholas Shaxon in 2012, and with some old friends formed what we called the Methodist Tax Justice Network. That developed useful work within the Methodist Church but then it became clear a wider group was needed, and a number of Christian bodies have now come together to form Church Action for Tax Justice (CATJ), including the Centre for Research and Development in Catholic Education. We continue to seek new members, and we would hope later to open communications with other faith communities also.

number of churches round the country marked the day and TJ Sunday for 2020 has already been decided on as June 14th.

We are well aware there are many special Sundays, including on the Environment and for Refugees in June, but we also feel all these areas of concern are related, refugees are often on the move because of environmental problems, and both occur because national governments do not have enough funds from fair taxation in their coffers to provide the basic services that their populations need. Pope Francis certainly saw the connections in Laudato Si’ and subsequent writings.

Tax has to be a serious issue for everyone with an ethical bone in their body. In the Churches, when a new social justice challenge arises, one way to focus people’s minds is to dedicate a Sunday to promote that concern. This has – and still is - being done around - for example - education, the elderly, prisoners, racial justice, refugees and fair trade. One of the founding partners of Church Action for Tax Justice (CATJ) has been the Fair Tax Mark, and when they instituted Fair Tax Week in June 2018 they encouraged CATJ to publicise the Sunday in the week as Tax Justice Sunday (TJS).

Since its launch CATJ has been consolidating its position and in March 2019 published its ‘manifesto’, Tax for the Common Good, which is available with other material on our website. Also on the website can be found our other partners and resources for Tax Justice Sunday.

These include hymns, with new ones by hymn-writer Andrew Pratt, prayers by former Methodist President Revd Dr Inderjit Bhogal, a ‘Tax Justice Prayer and Creed’ and some Bible studies.

That first TJS was somewhat minimalist, although it did achieve some national publicity. It came about soon after CATJ had been launched in the House of Lords in April 2018, by among others Most Revd Rowan Williams, Methodist President Revd Michaela Youngson, Quakers’ Recording Clerk Paul Parker and Dame Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Tax. Fair Tax Mark was there, also Tax Justice UK, and the Tax Justice Network who founded the whole movement over 20 years ago. This demonstrated this is a partnership between those Christians who see this as an essential ‘mission’ issue and the secular groups active in the field.

Tax Justice Sunday 2019 took place again as part of Fair Tax Week. A small but growing

The Tax Justice movement is now spreading internationally among the Churches. Last March I attended a small consultation in Durban, South Africa, organised by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC). It included some 25 representatives from 16 different countries and a range of Christian traditions. It was called to develop the thinking of the Ecumenical Panel on the New International Financial and Economic Architecture, (NIFEA), and to formulate a campaign to initiate at the UN session reviewing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) in July 2019, especially the one on Inequality.

During the planning meeting we were constantly reminded of the effects of the dominant global economic system, how destructive it is for the vulnerable and disadvantaged. The representatives

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

Taxation and The Common Good: Notes For Catholic Educators Comment by the R&D Editor: Professor Gerald Grace, KSG. KHS. FSES. • It is with great pleasure that we publish this article by Rev David Haslam, a Methodist Minister and the Founder and Chair of the new organisation, Church Action for Tax Justice (CATJ) • David has written these ‘Briefing Notes’ in the hope that teachers and leaders of our Catholic schools and colleges will be inspired to find creative and interesting ways of integrating tax issues into our curriculum and teaching approaches and

from the ‘Global South’ were insistent the process be called ‘Tax Justice and Reparations’, as reordering the financial system should incorporate the idea of repairing the damage done by the colonial past and the environmental destruction appearing in the present, due to the extractive and consumption drivers of Western economic growth.

Certainly for Christians, reading the raging of the Hebrew Prophets against social injustice and economic greed, and then the teachings and practice of Jesus in relation to wealth and poverty, economic justice is one of the rocks on which our faith is built.

The Durban Consultation explored the story of Zacchaeus, the little tax collector for the Romans in Luke 19, whose conscience and outcast status was clearly troubling him, and who wanted to ‘see Jesus’, hoping if he did so something radical might happen.

When Jesus saw him he said immediately he would come to Zacchaeus’s (polluted) house and when he did so Zacchaeus said he would repay those he had cheated four times over. ‘Salvation has come to this house today’, said Jesus, and so it will be for the rich if they leave the tax havens, start paying their taxes and rejoin the human race. The idea is to call for a ‘Zacchaeus Tax’ on wealth which would require say ‘1% from the 1% for the 50%’, i.e. the poorest half of the world. The WCC and WCRC, with the further support of Lutheran World Federation, launched the campaign in New York in July.

Where the Churches do have influence in the field of education they should ensure that ways of teaching young people and indeed older people about the benefits of a fair tax system are found. Otherwise

our discussion and debating events.

• Readers may remember that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales published a ground-breaking Report, entitled Taxation for the Common Good in 2004*. In his Introduction, Archbishop Peter Smith (Southwark) wrote ‘Our willingness to pay tax is a sign of our solidarity with one another and of our humanity’, He also said that, ‘The Report does not favour one political view over another, but attempts to provide an informed Christian context in which the issues can be thoughtfully considered’.

• CATJ has said in its recent publication (Feb 2019), Tax for the Common Good that ‘Tax should not be seen as a burden – it is a way of showing love for our

wealth will continue to siphon upwards into the world of ‘offshore’. A key aim of the Tax Justice movement is transparency. Wealthy companies and individuals should abide by the slogan for Fair Tax Week 2019 ‘Say what you pay with Pride’. It should be a matter of pride that the rich can say ‘We contributed £X000 (or euros, or dollars) to the Common Good last year, and we are proud to say so’. After all, although wealth quite often requires hard work, it can also be a matter of luck, being born into the right family, or settling on the right product just when a potential competitor goes bust.

CATJ (pronounced ‘catch’) argues for a public register for the foundations, companies and trusts which have been set up in the ‘tax havens’, many of them under UK control such as the British Overseas Territories and the ‘Crown Dependencies’ – Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Last year the UK Government was forced by parliamentary arithmetic to concede that these havens should set up such registers by the end of 2020, but is now saying this can’t be done until 2023. This gives the wealthy three more years to hide their funds, and find new ways round regulations which would bring them towards a more acceptable situation. It is also important not to ignore other nations who have bad reputations as tax havens – in Europe this includes Luxembourg, Switzerland and the Netherlands. For the UK the heart of the problem lies in the City of London.

Ultimately the Tax Justice movement believes the world needs to move towards a more unified international taxation system.

Pressures have been brought to bear on the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), the

9

neighbour and creating the just society which we find in the teachings of Jesus’.

CATJ is an Ecumenical Project supported by many different Church groups.

• I hope that David’s article will encourage impartial and religiously based study which will help our young people to deepen their understanding of taxation and its relation to The Common Good in today’s world. It would be interesting to receive any school / college reports about curriculum developments in this field for future publication. We would be pleased to receive such accounts and to publish them. * Note: A revised and updated version of this Report is expected to be published in 2020.

‘rich countries’ club’, to widen its base to include more input from poorer countries, but with only limited success so far. One proposal campaigners have been putting forward to both the OECD and the EU is for ‘unitary taxation’, in which transnational corporations are required to produce one consolidated account, in which they show for each country their economic activity, number of employees, investment, profit made and taxes paid. This would give the transparency we seek. Ultimately however we believe that the United Nations should be the regulatory body, through an expanded UN Tax Committee, which at present still has far less resources than the OECD although it has a more important global job to do.

The Churches, of course, have large investments; the Church Investors Group (CIG) represents Churches and Charities holding billions in shares. CATJ is urging the CIG and all Church shareholders to be more proactive in their engagement with large companies who find legal but arguably unethical means of dodging their taxes.

CATJ does not distinguish between the legalities of ‘evasion’ and ‘avoidance’. Both are means of getting out of your social and moral obligations. The Churches cannot legitimately call on the wealthy to pay their taxes if they are not willing to put their own funds behind the push for transparency and tax fairness. Church members should be saying this to their investing bodies. Tax dodging is a sin and if taxes are not paid social and public services will disintegrate and we will all bear the consequences.

Some would say we already are. We will not create a world in which we can genuinely say ‘The kingdom is coming’ unless we develop a fair and just global tax system.

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

The Network for Researchers in Catholic Education Annual Conference: A rich and dynamic gathering in Dublin The Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education (MDCCE) at Dublin City University (DCU) was delighted to host the Network for Researchers in Catholic Education 2019 annual conference. The Conference took place on October 17th and 18th October 2019 at the DCU Institute of Education, DCU St. Patrick’s Campus, Drumcondra, Dublin.

Formal, informal and lifelong The Conference entitled, Catholic Education: Formal, Informal and Lifelong, was an enormous success with over 90 delegates from the UK and Ireland. The focus on formal and informal approaches to Catholic Education with an emphasis on the lifelong nature of such ongoing education worked well for speakers and participants.

This was the first time this Conference has been convened outside the United Kingdom. Coming to Ireland provided a great opportunity for conversation between academics from both jurisdictions. The Conference organisers were particularly happy this year to be joined by so many young academics who had completed EdDs in Religious Education and Catholic Education at Dublin City University. We hope that they will continue to work with the Network for Researchers in Catholic Education into the future, helping to strengthen research in areas of mutual interest.

There was a great sense of dynamism and encouragement at the Conference with delegates moving quickly from one session to the next, and it seemed equally enthused by what they were part of at every session.

Many admitted that the Conference was an eye-opener for them, introducing them to the variety of research areas in which colleagues are engaged.

Keynote contributions Three keynotes were provided by Dr Ros Stuart-Buttle, Dr Bernadette Sweetman and Dr Gareth Byrne. Dr Sandra Cullen, Fr Dermot Mansfield and Prof Richard Pring offered full papers, and over fifty parallel papers were presented during the Conference. Great conversation and networking took place at the Conference with participants from the UK and Ireland getting to know each other personally rather than just their Twitter handles.

In her keynote speech, Dr Ros-StuartButtle from Liverpool Hope University highlighted the lifelong nature of Catholic religious education, introducing Irish participants to significant efforts in England

by Dr. Gareth Byrne, Associate Professor, Director, Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education

and Wales, and with good success, to provide ongoing religious education for adult Catholics. She presented participants at the Conference with some details from a recent review of the Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies (CCRS), offered to trainee teachers in the UK but also to adults who engage in the programme as adult religious education for themselves for their own benefit and that of their communities.

Dr Bernadette Sweetman in her keynote address introduced participants to research work she is engaged in at the Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education, DCU; into possible models for adult religious education and faith development that might respond to the needs of adults in Ireland today. Bernadette reported on initial results

Ros Stuart-Buttle, Gareth Byrne, Bernadette Sweetman

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

from the recent survey of adults in Ireland on adult religious education and faith development that she had administered at MDDCE. It seems that while many Irish adults have distanced themselves from the institutional Church, they are looking for spiritual and religious engagement and support. Dr. Sweetman reminded us to keep a focus on the importance of Catholic education for the whole Catholic community, and for members of every age.

In the final keynote, Dr Gareth Byrne, the Director of MDCCE provided the Church with an image for Catholic education, both in schools and beyond, at home, in the parish and for adults as well as young people. In his address entitled, ‘Catholic education; Breathing in and out the Spirit of God’s love’, Dr. Byrne suggested that what makes Catholic Education remarkable is that it consciously breathes in the love of God, inhales the Spirit of God’s love, and exhales wisdom, love, truth, justice, service and care - for the transformation of the world and its people. Catholic education, whether it is focused on adults or young people at any particular moment, has something transformational to say, centred on the teaching and healing presence of Jesus, and the power of God’s Holy Spirit to renew and support us in responding to the needs of all. Raymond Friel, one of the delegates from the United Kingdom, commented on the usefulness of this

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Kevin James, Sandra Cullen, Bernadette Sweetman and Gareth Byrne

contribution which provided ‘a rich and compelling conclusion reflecting on the mission of Catholic education.’

The voices of young people in Ireland An added bonus this year was the launch, at the Conference, of Religion and Education: The Voices of Young

Peter Ward, Niall Coll, Mary Mihovilovic, Maureen Glackin

People in Ireland published by Veritas (further details available at: https://www. veritasbooksonline.com/religion-and-educa tion-9781847308900-42773/).

Edited by Dr Gareth Byrne, Director of MDCCE, and Prof Leslie J. Francis, University of Warwick, this exciting publication reflects on important research conducted with young people in Ireland, North and South, illuminating their

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

experience of religion and religious education. Recording and analysing the attitudes of 13 to 19-year-olds to religion, beliefs, values and diversity, the wideranging studies presented in this volume provide insight into the contexts within which religious education takes place in Ireland today, and how it can help young people address what is significant for them spiritually and morally.

The contributing authors are Jeff Astley, Gareth Byrne, Sandra Cullen, Leslie J. Francis, Christopher Alan Lewis, Ursula McKenna, Andrew G. McGrady, Bernadette Sweetman and Kevin Williams.

Young people, parents, schools and faith communities in Ireland will find this book an invaluable resource in reflecting on how the interaction between religion and education can contribute to the fullest development of young people in Ireland today. The data gathered will also prove useful for Catholic education researchers and practitioners in England, Scotland and Wales, opening up important conversations and providing comparative material (more details are available at dcu.ie/mdcceNEWS)

Congratulations all round

Sean Whittle

Many of the delegates to the Conference noted the vibrancy of the many wonderful contributions over the two days. They thoroughly enjoyed meeting with colleagues and networking with new friends. It seems that there is an upsurge in research into the value and contribution Catholic education can make into the future.

Congratulations to the Steering Committee Dr. Sean Whittle (co-ordinator, St. Mary’s Twickenham), Professor John Sullivan (Liverpool Hope), Professor Stephen McKinney (Glasgow) Dr Ros Stuart-Buttle (Liverpool Hope), Dr John Lydon (St. Mary’s Twickenham), Dr Maureen Glacken (Catholic Independent Schools’ Conference, UK), and Dr Gareth Byrne (convenor, MDCCE).

Thank you also to Susan Dwyer, conference administrator for the wonderful work in ensuring the smooth running of this significant event for DCU. A reflection on the conference dinner

How teacher involvement has helped shape our revisions to the new Religious Education Curriculum Directory In a previous article I wrote for this publication, I talked about how, for the first time, the Catholic Education Service was involving RE teachers in the development of the new Religious Education Curriculum Directory.

This was a long overdue move and has proved really successful not just in the scale of interest from RE teachers and Heads of RE but also in the collective wisdom we received which has helped us refine and, in some cases, change our approach.

First, it is fair to say we were really impressed with the number of responses we received to our teacher survey. After sending it out in April last year we received representations from nearly a quarter of all Catholic schools in the country. In total, there were almost 800 responses from individual teachers from 512 different schools – including a good mix of primaries and secondaries.

We started this process with anecdotal evidence that different schools were looking for different things from the RECD. Typically primary schools want a directory that provided clarity and detail, whereas secondary schools wanted a directory that provided flexibility and freedom.

The first benefit of the survey is that it clarified this distinct difference in demand.

No longer was this anecdotal: it was clear from the data that there two significant camps that we were going to have to cater for. It was going to be a tough square to circle but at least we were clear with what teachers were asking for.

To build on the result from the survey, we met with teachers again in the summer at four face to face consultations at the CREDO events and tested some of the emerging ideas about structure with them and received some very helpful positive criticism.

The first of these indicated that the proposed model we shared in the summer would end up being much too prescriptive: it would have been too long to implement and probably too long to finish in the timescale available. We needed to find a way to be clear without being too prescriptive; providing clarity but with space to breathe around that central prescription.

The second was that the four-cornered model we presented, which was based around the four constitutions of the second Vatican council, could too easily have led to an understanding of Catholicism being stuck in silos, without making the necessary connections between beliefs and worship and between worship and a life of discipleship.

The final comment was that a narrative structure to a curriculum is helpful both for staff and pupils. This was an insight that came out of the work of the cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham who says in his book “Why don’t Students like School”: ‘The human mind seems exquisitely tuned to understand and remember stories--so much so that psychologists sometimes refer to stories as “psychologically privileged”’.

So the importance of being able to present the curriculum in a story structure was proposed, an idea that was further supported by the Catholic theologian Gerard Loughlin who states in his book “Telling God’s Story” that ‘Christian faith … is sustained through and as commitment to a story... [T]heology is … is first and last the following of a story: the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ…[its foundation is] the community that tells the story by which it is told.’ And so we realised that school life is already based around a story that the Catholic community tells itself every year through its cycle of sacramental worship.

As a result, we have radically shifted our ideas about structure away from a fourfold undifferentiated model, to a six sliced spiral that ensures that there are

by Philip Robinson RE Adviser to the Catholic Education Service

progression statements in each year of schooling that are built around a narrative structure – essentially around the liturgical year. We now believe that this structure will provide both clarity and flexibility that many teachers are looking for.

A massive part of why we are so keen to have teachers’ involvement in this is to make sure that what we (the CES) are proposing is both practical and viable in the classroom. Therefore, as well as consulting with RE teachers we have been testing and re-testing our ideas and structures. Our latest plan has been tested with teachers – mostly recently at the Association of Teachers of Catholic Religious Education (ATCRE) conference and was received really positively.

Moving forward we now have a standing group of teachers both primary and secondary who will be working with us to populate the new structure. The CES will be meeting with them often, both in person and virtually over the coming months to continue to refine and test the emerging shape to ensure it assists them in delivering the highest quality Catholic Religious Education.

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

Open hearts.

Brave spirits.

Visionary people.

In an age where we are taught to distrust strangers, where schools regularly receive nasty alerts of real life dangers to children, it is important to remember that there is also a place for pushing at open doors and knocking on closed ones. All too often schools tell parents “your child just needs some confidence” as if such a trait is to be bought, or plugged in via a charging device. Courage must come first in my experience. Self-belief is generated by a sense of obstacles overcome. Real education helps children learn the profound sense of self which comes from facing down something which seemed fearful.

Ever since joining St Augustine’s Priory as Headteacher, I have been fascinated by the founding story of the school. We began in 1634 when to be Catholic was dangerous and when to educate your child in that tradition meant tremendous sacrifice and risk. Many of our oldest Catholic schools began in this world of recusancy – to be a Catholic incurred financial cost at best and risk of torture or death at worst. To educate your child, you had to dispatch them on boats across the channel. Dangerous journeys, falsified names and identities, the distinct possibility of never seeing your child again – all stories we might recognise today in the tales of those trying to seek freedom in the UK. How far we have come. Have we forgotten how lucky we are to enjoy such freedom of expression? When did we

become so mean spirited as a nation in our willingness to share this precious right?

When did we decide to close our doors to those in need?

The nuns who founded our school left Paris in 1911. Laicisation laws in France meant that the religious freedom, which they had found in France were being eroded. They returned to England, to Ealing, because here they could continue to practise their religion, wear religious habits and educate girls in the Catholic tradition. The women left a spirit of bravery, which we still cherish – they built our school during World War I when all good sense would have said to lie low.

They left a beautiful school in Neuilly, a gracious Parisian suburb. Two years ago, whilst in Paris, I knocked on the door of the school, which is still there. It is still a Catholic, girls, independent school. I had no proof of identity, just some dodgy French, but they took me in, showed me around and proclaimed me a friend. Since then, and with a rapidity which shows the immediate affinity we found, we have enjoyed a number of exchanges and our choir has joined theirs for a Christmas concert in their beautiful chapel. I travelled out with former pupils and other members of staff as a new way to share this lovely story with our wider community. As a Catholic school we proclaim the importance of relationships and we ask, ‘Who is my neighbour?’

Today, across the world, Christians are arguably the most persecuted religious believers. 80% according to a report published in 2019. Which is why, when the

Mrs Sarah Raffray has been Headteacher of St Augustine’s Priory, the Catholic independent day school for girls in Ealing since August 2012, having joined St Augustine’s from St Mary’s School, Shaftesbury, where she was Deputy Head. Mrs Raffray has always worked in Catholic schools and is committed to excellence in education.

National Secular Society argues for the closure of Faith Schools and when news coverage takes pot shots at Christians, my very well developed sense of humour deserts me. No-one in their right minds justifies the clerical abuse of children.

No-one sensible sanctions the extremes of some unregistered Faith Schools. But the right to religious freedom is inalienable. As a Catholic school we set out a bold agenda – we want to prepare students to transform the place they are in and grow to a maturity of confidence which means that they can transform the world for the better. We are driven by a belief in the Common Good –a visionary, game-changing approach to education which tests all kinds of assumptions. Commitment to the Common Good means an explicit teaching on how to weigh up ethical decision making – from the kind of clothes you buy to whether or not to buy at all. It is about what Catholic social justice calls teaching a preferential option for the poor. It is also about seeing the individual as someone precious, made in the image of God and so it is about ensuring that the way our students live their lives becomes a search for what it is they are meant to do uniquely, and how to ensure they respect others too. Everything we do is about ensuring that our students live lives which give life. We teach them to stand up for what is right.

Red Wednesday, held annually in November, has become a day where we light up national landmark buildings in red.

We honour those who cannot express their religious freedom. We pause and reflect on the Turkish bookseller who jumped out of the window to avoid arrest and certain death for daring to sell Christian books.

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

We think of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka in April 2019 where nearly 260 people died in attacks on three churches packed with worshippers.

To be secular is not neutral. It comes with a whole set of unexamined values and ways of proceeding. The radical secular agenda would deconstruct the vision and values of those who treasure religious freedom.

That freedom is the envy of countries world-wide. In 1605 Guy Fawkes hoped to light up the Houses of Parliament and failed. Thank goodness he failed. Any kind of violence in the furtherance of one set of beliefs over another is against the spirit of tolerance and pragmatism which characterises the British. How pleasing then that that the Houses of Parliament are lit in red lights on Red Wednesday. How far we have come. Let’s keep travelling to that place where real understanding underpins debate about what it is to be religious, and why for so many people it is a rich and beautiful thing. Aid to the Church in Need reminds us that we can remember the significance of this one day every day.

Last year, on Red Wednesday, we launched the Emmaus Catholic Schools’ Partnership comprising The Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School, St Augustine’s Priory, St Benedict’s School and the Sacred Heart High School. We journey together in faith. This partnership celebrates the distinctive nature

of Catholic schools. We launched the partnership on Red Wednesday because we are passionate about the unique and beautiful way in which Catholic schools work. We work together celebrating the importance of religious freedom as a fundamental human right.

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

St Edward’s RC School, Romsey Hampshire

By Stephen Whelan Head of RS and History St Edwards RC School

St Edward’s is a Catholic Boys School in southern Hampshire, situated near the New Forest and Salisbury. We are designated an SEMH School, one that exists to help pupils who experience learning problems associated with their Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties. We are part of the Clifton Diocese and have worked very closely with CAFOD over a number of years to promote various projects here at home, in Africa and in Columbia. Inspired by the vision of Pope Francis, we are trying to build a community in which the values of Catholic Social teaching enrich every aspect of life in our school.

We are currently working closely with a Partnership group of schools both in our diocese and in the Masaka District of Uganda.

1. In 2018, we responded to Pope Francis’ ‘Share the Journey’ challenge by covering over 1,300 miles with three individual walks and by also taking part in the Round the Island yacht race flying a Share the Journey banner and carrying the Lampedusa Cross on board.

On one specific day, the whole school, staff and boys, walked 11 miles carrying the Lampedusa Cross and 3 banners.

In total, we walked just over 1300 miles, 5% of the first global total set by Pope Francis.

2. In the last academic year, we raised over £3,000 through a staff social event plus the proceeds of our Christmas Carol Concert ‘markets’ to build three fresh water wells in the area surrounding the Notre Dame High School in Masaka County, Uganda. This is a school we have been supporting for the last 9 years now through the Kisoboka Trust, a Southampton based Catholic charity.

3. During the last academic year, we ran a ‘Mission and Ethos’ INSET morning where we invited staff to reflect on what it means to be part of a Catholic school and to identify the varied roles they are already playing in it. We used the 8 principles of Catholic Social Teaching as the medium of discussion, thus embedding the principles in our collective consciousness. In RS , I did the same with all teaching groups, inviting a similarly fruitful response from our pupil group.

4. In 2018, our Governors agreed to support the young people of the Magdalena Medio barrio in Columbia, through CAFOD’s ‘Hands-On Project.

We are currently helping finance their education project designed to combat urban violence. This term we will be learning about the problems faced by the young people of Columbia in trying to combat urban violence.

5. Last Christmas, our staff Charitable Causes Focus Group pledged to support the Salisbury branch of the Trussell Trust. Students, parents and staff brought in groceries, toiletries and Christmas gifts which were placed in 3 large hampers to be given in hampers to those in need locally. This Christmas we were able to do the same and aim to continue to support the Trussell Trust in the years to come.

6. In January 2019, I was given the opportunity to help our Senior managers develop various aspects of the School’s Mission, Ethos and Chaplaincy. We were able to get 9 schools in the Emmaus Hub to agree to work together with CAFOD on their ‘Connecting Classrooms through Global Learning’ initiative. Together we brought the Notre Dame School in Uganda into our development partnership group and

we began sharing curriculum initiatives that meshed with the Notre Dame Development Plan in relation to their own environmental concerns.

7. We are enjoying a closer development relationship with a number of schools in our Diocese and it is bearing fruit.

One of our Care Team delivered a 1st Aid Training course to St John’s staff in Trowbridge and immediately donated his fee to our Charities Focus Group to help fund the work we are doing in Africa.

8. As a result, Susan Kambalu at CAFOD, Romero House, asked if I would use the Emmaus Group to pilot CAFOD’s CPD course on CCGL, which we did at St Mary’s Independent School in Shaftesbury last Summer. I am now working with the British Council to seek funding for curriculum resources and for future reciprocal visits to Masaka County, Uganda.

9. In order for our partnership group to help address the environmental aspects of our own and the Notre Dame Development Plans, in the spirit of Laudato Si, we have begun to finance a tree planting programme in the Notre Dame school’s grounds. I invited Mr Paul Laird, the Project Manager of the International Tree Foundation to a meeting at St Edwards. On the strength of that, he was able to organise a meeting at Notre Dame of Teresa Gitonga (ITF Kenya) and Matthias Wakulira of the Masaka and District Land Care Chapter ( an agro-forestry charity in Uganda). The result of that meeting led to a tree planting programme of medicinal and fruit trees. Funds raised during this Christmas’ Carol Concert markets, where artefacts made by our pupils are sold to guests and staff, are going to be used to help finance this project further.

flowers and their function.

But nothing can compare to identifying all of the new and wonderful parts of

real plants and getting an up close view Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020 17 of them under a microscope.

Thermal Decomposition of Metal Carbonates

10. This summer we took a Laudato Si banner to the top of Glastonbury Tor to show solidarity with our church’s championing of environmental issues and have agreed to work closely with Liz Baldwin of CAFOD, Bristol to share resources with CAFOD in the diocese.

11. At school, we have begun a sustained tree planting programme of an entire meadow on-site with over 800 trees by Easter 2020, using trees given freely by the Woodlands Trust. Over the next few years, we will reforest a large area of land. This started with an Environmental Enrichment Day in November where every pupil and member of staff at St Edward’s planted several hedgerow and open woodland trees. This will involve classroom work based on Laudato Si as well as invitations being given to our Partnership schools to come across to help. We have also set aside a small area of land to create an oak tree nursery that will teach our boys some basic agro-forestry skills as well keeping environmental concerns uppermost in their minds. To date, every pupil in the school has planted over a dozen acorns and we await the results this spring!

12. In October of last year we were invited

by CAFOD to submit an application for the ‘Live Simply’ Award. We are currently evaluating the various elements of our environmental targets, anticipating our assessment day later this term which will be run by representatives of CAFOD, Bristol.

Creating samples and using the full range of our microscopes made the lesson very engaging.

As part of our chemistry curriculum we

Participator Level almost immediately. have been studying chemical reactions.

Firstly, we needed to identify the variety of ways in which The Award, which originated inreactions the occur. With this newly acquired skill, we learned to what changes Portsmouth Diocese, understand identifies and take place within the chemicals. celebrates the ways in which the Our pupils respond well to a hands on, environment and show great principles of Catholicpractical Social Teaching skill and maturity when conducting The Swimming Gala 2019 wa experiments with potentially dangerous can be identified at the Strategic, with the pupils who took par equipment. Fortunately, our bespoke A total of 28 thrilling and har facilities allow maximum supervision Curricular and Practical levels in our and safety which enable our pupils to were carried out with fantas thrive in a practical learning community. The Award’s highly inspiring sportsmanship and commitm environment. each of the pupils. co-ordinator, Mr Mugeni Sumba, asked Here you can see our year 9 pupils thermally decomposing metal if we would pilot it in carbonates the Clifton Diocese Every swimming discipline w to discover how long it took for the compounds to decompose. This represented – front crawl, ba as an ambassador school.

At this data is recorded, presented and our breast stroke and butterfly a conclusions are then decided. moment, as a result of our promoting their recent training to the te A busy, focussed and fun experience. pulsating sporting The Enrichment Day event. Th the Award in our Development Well done boys! Group, Focus Group new races were introduced there are 3 schools in the Clifton which were the noodle race Curriculum st-edwards.hants.co.uk - Page 0 Nicholson race; bringing with them, sm Diocese applying for Shaun their Participator Head of Science laughter from the younger p Level. It identifies and celebrates the Boots ‘n’ Cats – Beatboxing comes to St Edward’s There were several pupils w ways in which the principles of Catholic On one day in November 2019, musical artist and all-round multi-media mastermind Ricky Tart visited St Edward’s School to deliver a series of exciting workshops about beatboxing. more than one gold medal, b Social Teaching can be identified at the on the for To musical effect, pupils from the wider school learned to imitate thewas soundsa of winner drums and cymbals using day only their voices, mouths, tongues and lips. Pupils also learned to mix samples of their work and operate an electronic looper. a competitive environment a Strategic, Curricular and Practical levels These workshops empowered pupils of all abilities by allowing them to practise using their voices in unusual ways way at St Edward’s, the last and to step outside their comfort zones by performing in front of their peers. in our community. got the biggest cheer!

The Big Sp 2019

Thanks to popular demand, Ricky will be back soon to deliver workshops on poetry writing and film-making.

14. Finally, we are now planning a joint Liturgy with some of our partner schools to celebrate the life and work of Father Rutilio Grande, the Jesuit martyred in El Salvador in 1977, who inspired St Oscar Romero to undertake the journey that led to his own martyrdom in 1980.

None of the above would have been possible were it not for the warm and sustained support of our boys, staff, Management team, Governors and, particularly, of our Acting Head Teacher, Mr Jim Fenemore. We have enjoyed close personal support from Mrs Susan Kambalu from CAFOD and from several schools within the Emmaus Hub in the diocese.

The action in the pool was a by the vibrant sounds of DJ T Enrichment Day Focus Group poolside. With the atmosphe jubilant around the pool, eve Flower Dissection in Science who didn’t take part st-edwards.hants.co.uk - Page 08 were ad Beatboxing Workshops in touch to the event. Dotted a English area were posters that had b by the pupils in their art less The Big Splash 2019 helped bring colour to the ar Tom Chatwin Head of English

Staff were over the moon at and positive displays being by everyone who took part i event. With the help of staff who put themselves forward participate, this event is goin strength to strength.

Craig Vigar

Sport Btec Teacher and Ev

st-edwards.hants.co.uk - Page

13. Finally, we were invited by Susan Kambalu in Romero House to consider applying for the Oscar Romero Award and were delighted to have achieved

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

‘Discerning the mission through pilgrimage: one school’s experience of service in Lourdes’ AnnMarie Sylvester-Charles and Christopher Doel

The Convent Jesus and Mary Language College is located in a diverse and busy part of north west London. Our school community attracts students from an ethnically diverse geographical area, ranging from Ealing, Acton, Shepherds Bush and, more locally, Harlesden and Willesden. Our school is often remarked upon as being a haven of peace, where the Ignatian charism of our Foundress, St Claudine Thevenet, is active and a key component of the mechanics of our day-to-day life.

Our school comprises nine hundred and fifty girls from forty-five different ethnic backgrounds. Just over half our school student population are baptised Catholic, whereas the remainder are either from other Christian faiths (approximately 40%), Muslim (approximately 2%) or no declared faith. The Convent has been undertaking a pilgrimage to Lourdes for over 20 years; our school is the longest serving school in the Diocese of Westminster to continually undertake the pilgrimage annually. This annual pilgrimage is embedded into the faith life and fabric of the school.

A pilgrimage is a journey to a sacred place.

A pilgrimage can often be a deeply spiritual journey. Some pilgrimages are associated with specific kinds of devotion. People of all faiths make pilgrimages, often to a shrine or place of significance, as part of a universal longing for spiritual enlightenment and for a deeper understanding of their beliefs. However, we must remember and appreciate that going on a pilgrimage is not exclusively for the religious or people of faith. Today, people make pilgrimages for all kinds of reasons.

Our students at the Convent of Jesus and Mary Language College in Willesden are, by nature, amazing young women with immense generosity of spirit and high levels of social awareness. As evidence of this, each year a group of sixth form students travel with the Diocese of Westminster to undertake the role of Red Caps to Lourdes.

We were the staff that were awarded the honour to accompany our young people on the pilgrimage in the summer of 2019.

Students taking part in our annual pilgrimage are primarily from year 12.

Their suitability as ambassadors for our school is assessed and their commitment to fundraising is considered. The students organise fundraising events throughout the year linked to the values and charism of our Foundress, St Claudine Thevenet.

We aim to raise a proportion of the cost of attendance so that our students and staff have the opportunity to make this pilgrimage and assist those from our community who are in need of our care and help.

The mission to identify student volunteers to undertake this act of service begins early in the academic year. Students who had been on the pilgrimage the previous year were invited to share their experiences both verbally and through the extensive photographic record they had kept. It was significant that all these students, now in their final year of school, commented on what an impact their time in Lourdes had made to their lives. This presentation had a significant impact on the next group of students to sign up.

The year 12 candidates then had time to ask questions of both staff and students who attended in order to help them to discern whether they wished to apply and be considered for a place. The students were informed that a certain financial commitment would need to be made from them, supported by their families. The rest of the monies would be raised through a team effort of fund-raising.

Christopher Doel is a teacher and member of the senior leadership team at the Convent of Jesus and Mary Language College. He is a teacher of history, but also teaches geography.

Annmarie Sylvester-Charles is currently Chaplain and teacher of RE at the Convent of Jesus & Mary Language College.

Fifteen Year 12 students made the commitment to apply; they were from dif-ferent religions and a minority were of no specified faith. Regardless of their faith background they saw this pilgrimage as a great opportunity to spend time with the thousands of pilgrims and visitors to Lourdes and to experience its unique atmosphere of healing and worship. One of the values of our school is ‘Love of Jesus and Mary’, so volunteering their own summer holiday time to give aid to an Assisted Pilgrim enabled them to both live their faith and love thy neighbour. It was wonderful that so many young people wanted to be involved in our community of faith in action this way.

The next few months of fundraising required imagination, creativity and determination to raise our target of £5,500. We held cake sales; raffles at Christmas, Valentine’s and Easter; an Easter Egg Hunt for the year 7 students on a Friday after school; the selling of sweet treats as refreshments when we had our drama productions, at Sports Day and our Summer Fair. Students made appeals to their parish communities and there was a very entertaining Race Night one Saturday evening organised by the parents of one of our volunteers.

Behind the scenes we had regular logistics meetings with attendance expected by both students and the staff. Paperwork was arranged for all who were travelling. The young people that were unable to attend supported their peers by participating and advertising the fundraising events.

Indeed, the whole sixth form got behind the fundraising effort with enormous

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020 enthusiasm, enabling us to reach our challenging target.

A mass at the Grotto

The Diocese of Westminster was extremely supportive and training was planned for June. On that day our students met their fellow Red-Caps, young people from a range of schools, colleges and other organisations who had also volunteered; friendships began to formulate.

Our teamwork and efforts all came to fruition when we left St Pancras Station heading to Lourdes via Paris on 20 July 2019. The journey was a long one, but one in which we had time to help those who needed our assistance, as well as think about the pilgrimage ahead.

Our Red Caps start their mission in London

When we arrived in Lourdes, we were welcomed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Bishop Nicholas Hudson, who reinforced the girls’ conviction that they had made the right decision to be part of this lifechanging, worthwhile mission.

The week was busy and it included working for the Lourdes authorities in an official capacity, taking part in processions and carrying banners and candles in the Procession, participating in Liturgies, Services and Masses; helping with the offertory and at communion, and assisting the bishops and priests during the Anointing of the Sick.

In addition, our students assisted the pilgrims by pushing wheelchairs or supporting those who were able to walk. They even had time to socialise with the sick. The week was a busy one; each day brought

The best way to illustrate the significant effect the pilgrimage had on our young ladies is to hear their voices through this article; here are some of their accounts: It was a fantastic experience to broaden my understanding of how we can follow Jesus by helping others. I also loved meeting lots of cool likeminded friends.

Lourdes was a life changing experience and I loved every single minute of it. It was very rewarding.

a different experience. Some may say tiring; others not so, but each of our young people would agree that the people they encountered and the experiences shared were rewarding and extraordinary.

Our students were true ambassadors for our school and they undertook their role as Red Caps with seriousness and humility. They worked hard to ensure that their Assisted Pilgrim was cared for and experienced the true benefits of a Pilgrimage. Their gifts and talents shone through and they took it all in their stride.

Indeed, the pilgrimage to Lourdes was an incredible experience, it was a busy, joyful and life-changing pilgrimage. Our students clearly lived out the mis-sion of service throughout the week.

Our Red Caps return safely to London after a fulfilling week Our Red Caps safely in Lourdes on day one and a welcome meal

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Our Red Caps at work in Lourdes

The pilgrimage and the planning process was a very enriching experience! Physically demanding but gratifying.

Lourdes was the best trip I had ever gone on, which is why I have decided to go again in 2019.

I was inspired and touched by the people I met and the activities we undertook as Red Caps.

I would recommend taking part in the pilgrimage to anyone and everyone!

Lourdes was the best experience ever; this is because I met friends for life and was also able to spend time with my pilgrim while I connected with God. It was a life changing experience, which nourished my spiritual life. Lourdes has made my faith stronger, and it has impacted my life in many ways.

Lourdes was an amazing experience but also an emotional one. This was the first time I had attended a trip such as this one, and I can honestly say that I had a wonderful, enriching time meeting new people, and also helping three different pilgrims. I will never forget that week in Lourdes; it will always have a place in my heart.

Lourdes was the best trip I have ever attended at since my time at the Convent. I had time to be away from my daily struggles, which allowed me to put things into perspective. I was able to spiritually connect with God and reflect on my life in general.

I made friends with people who came along with us, and I have learnt to see the world differently.

I now appreciate things in life more; especially the small things that can make a big difference.

These words are testament to the power of a pilgrimage for the young people. Living out the values of St Claudine, such as Service and Love of Jesus, certainly shone through all of the young people involved in any way with this pilgrimage. Significantly, two of the students from the 2019 pilgrimage to Lourdes have already applied to attend in July 2020.

As staff we feel truly blessed to have spent the time with our students; we returned to London spiritually refreshed. The students returned invigorated and changed by their experiences. They will share their stories about how serving their neighbour has made an impact on their lives and will continue as children of St Claudine, walking in her footsteps to educate and to serve, and to share their knowledge with other students.

This is summed up in our School’s motto ‘In God’s Grace, we excel and lead.’

20 Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

News from CATSC Professor John Lydon, CATSC Treasurer, acted as Moderator for the Forum of International Catholic-inspired NGOs in Rome which is supported by the Holy See’s Secretariat of State John acted as the Moderator at the Fourth Forum of International Lay Catholic inspired Organisations, which was held at Villa Aurelia, Rome, 4-7th December 2019. He was representing the major international Catholic NGO, the World Union of Catholic Teachers (WUCT) which advocates for Catholic teachers across the globe and has consultative status with UNESCO. The theme of the Forum 2019 was Towards a More Inclusive Society which is aimed at leaving no one behind and a commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for achievement by 2030.

This theme was inspired by Pope Francis’ words ‘the light of the Gospel is the guide for anyone who places him/herself at the service of a civilization of love, where the Beatitudes have a special resonance, where there is true inclusion of the least’. In a world with emerging issues of ever greater complexity including climate change, poverty, marginalisation and exclusion, people around the world are experiencing a new sense of vulnerability, as well as a deeper quest for morality and responsibility.

In a landscape of many international NGOs, Catholic organisations present in civil society seek to be an active partner contributing to the many efforts to defend human rights and promote social justice in a continuously evolving process.

A ‘person-centred vision’ is at the heart of activity to be able to contribute to the common good, in contrast to the predominately profit-oriented vision of the

Dr John Lydon meets Pope Francis at the Apostolic Palace as part of a Private Audience

world. This aims for the full recognition and respect of all human beings and the promotion of the integral development and well-being of all. These translate into three innovative approaches by Catholic NGOs: i) There is an understanding that present social and economic structures are still inadequate to meet the needs of global populations; ii) There is a perceived convergence with the goals of intergovernmental bodies, which were created to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights; iii) There is the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church and its promotion of a person-centred vision and the value of the community.

Dr John Lydon Moderating for the EnglishSpeaking Delegates above at the Forum

Five major person-centred tools are also being used to promote a civilisation of care and inclusion. These include: i)

The upholding of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; ii) The further development of international collaboration; iii) Striving to serve the common good in building new global pathways; iv) The principle of subsidiarity to ensure broader inclusion, while distributing power; v) The adequate appreciation of the human person as a social being.

In the area of education, Catholic schools and universities have been emblematic of inclusion for all, to promote human development and flourishing. John 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. However, the formation of teachers themselves is

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CATSC Executive Attends the World Union of Catholic Teachers Council of Presidents Meeting 2019 in Brussels increasingly complex in a rapidly changing educational landscape and society due to secularisation and relativism. There are also challenges from poverty, financial constraints and those experiencing war are particularly vulnerable. In moderating the discussions across all themes, John was able to report on the wide range of advocacy put forward by NGOs including the Daughters of Charity, a Vincentian Congregation represented at the United Nations in Geneva. On their behalf, Sister Catherine Prendergast spoke of the lack of recognition of homeless young people, resonating with the concerns of our Centre for Research for the Education of Marginalised Children and Young Adults here at St Mary’s, fitting in the context of the rich Vincentian heritage of St Mary’s University.

To overcome these challenges a number of recommendations were adopted going forward including the importance of open dialogue, using innovative approaches to university teacher formation, ongoing professional development, peer support in building inclusive societies and the need for families and schools to work together.

Finally, to support Catholic educational institutions in maintaining their unique character at the service of dialogue, peace and the realisation of integral human development for all.

The Forum was chaired by Johan Ketelers, former Secretary General of the Genevabased International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) and Director General of Caritas International, and has established Catholic centres in Geneva, Rome, Strasbourg and Paris. The Forum is the enlarged successor to the Conference of International Catholic Organisations setup after the First World War. The Vatican Secretariat of State was represented by Cardinal Parolin, the Secretary of State, who delivered a keynote address and presided at the closing celebration of the Eucharist. The Forum closed with a private audience for all Forum delegates with His Holiness Pope Francis in the Apostolic Palace.

Dr John Lydon acting as moderator and reporting at the Catholic-Inspired NGO Forum 2019, Rome

World Union of Catholic Teachers Annual Council of Presidents Delegates, Brussels, 2019 with Ecceslesastical Advisor Archbishop of Cambrai, Vincent Dollman (centre)

The annual Council of Presidents of the World Union of Catholic Teachers (WUCT) was held recently in Brussels (15-17 November 2019), thanks to the cordial and generous hospitality of the colleagues of the COV: Bert Verhaegen, President and Marianne Coopman, Secretary General, Christelijk Onderwijzersverbond (COV), Belgium which is the the association of Catholic teachers in Flanders. The Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges (CATSC) of England and Wales was represented by its President John P. Nish, Treasurer Prof. John Lydon and Secretary General, Dr Caroline Healy.

The Council of Presidents’ theme had a challenging aspect: are the educational paths oriented towards freedom or violence? It seems natural that freedom education should be a priority for every educational institution and for every teacher, but we realise that there are often different conceptions of freedom and gaps between set goals and reality, between ‘saying and doing’. Council of Presidents delegates discussed the importance of teaching styles, subject content choices, intra and extra-curricular relationships, the student-teacher relationship, the explicit and implicit curriculum, the use of discipline and the activities carried out which are necessary to reflect on the ethical foundations and educational objectives of Catholic education. It is necessary to have points of attention and discernment: delegates agreed that attention must be paid to dead-end paths or insidious paths; to those who disorient and do not allow critical thought to mature. In the field of pedagogy, questions were raised about the vision of life that guides educational institutions, individual

teachers, families and the media. It was concluded that there is still a need to know the values that permeate the cultural environment of students and teachers.

Furthermore, the contemporary societal values, typically characterised by sovereign identities or choices often generate forms of education that promote selfish and violent choices that fuel tensions and conflicts in many countries.

However, according to the pedagogy of the Gospel, education is a journey of hope and commitment. It is about knowing the past and the present to explore future perspectives and prepare for a better tomorrow. Without hope, there is no project: one remains bewildered, mired in the fog or in the swamps of selfreferentiality, paralysed by the feeling of powerlessness and vain complaints. Pope France in his Address to the Congregation for Catholic Education said: education is at the service of an integral humanism and the Church, the Educating Mother, and always looks to the new generations in the perspective of the formation of the human person, both for his ultimate goal, and for the good of the various societies, where humans are members and in which, as adults, they will have tasks to perform (9th February 2017).

These issues were discussed during the Council of Presidents, which was prepared in different parts of the world on the basis of an Instrumentum laboris. The Council of Presidents also offered the opportunity to reflect on the different forms of exchange and solidarity between the members of the World Union of Catholic Teachers (WUCT).

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The participants were drawn from many different countries (Argentina, Belgium, Burundi, Congo, England, France, Germany, India, Italy, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Romania, Scotland and Wales), and participated in rich debates, supported by the experiences of their Catholic teacher associations and institutions in which they work (schools and universities) and their expert interventions. The participants also reflected on situations of extreme poverty and daily conflicts in some of the countries they were representing. They expressed the need for the WUCT to stimulate more solidarity among Christian teachers around the world. Among the various testimonies, the most significant were those that present good practices in favour of peace education, in some countries challenged by serious conflicts and oppressed by poverty, such as Burundi (Equipes des Enseignantes du Burundi) ; the Republic of Congo (EECO, Equipes des Enseignantes du Congo), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Lubumbashi University, Salesians Schools), Cameroon (IAPDA, Association internationale en Action pour la Paix et le Développement en Afrique) and India (Association of Montfort Schools).

The work of the Council of Presidents, coordinated by the WUCT President, Guy Bourdeaud’hui, Treasurer Professor John Lydon and by the Ecclesiastical Advisor, His Grace Vincent Dollmann, Archbishop of Cambrai, was enriched by the participation of the Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium, His Excellency Most Rev. Msgr Augustine Kasujja, and by His Grace, Luc Van Looy, Bishop of Ghent and President of Caritas Europe. The Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, Cardinal Versaldi, expressed in his message to the delegates “his sincere gratitude for the work done by the Union”, encouraging the Union to move forward, thanks also to the presence of the young people. The cultural experience offered by the Belgium hosts, COV, was very interesting, as it consisted of a visit to the European Parliament and of the city and a seminar on the role of Parliament and the controversial ‘Brexit’ of the United Kingdom.

L to R: Very Rev. Fr Alberto Kabuge, SDB, Provincial of the Salesians, Democratic Repubic of Congo, His Grace Vincent Dollman, Ecceslesastical Assistant to WUCT and Archbishop of Cambrai and His Excellency Monsignor Augustine Kasujja, Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium concelebrating Mass at the WUCT Council of Presidents in Belgium, November 2019.

The World Union of Catholic Teachers is an association of Catholic teachers working in Catholic and community schools in various parts of the world since its foundation in 1951. The Council of Presidents concluded its work by planning the journey of the next Council of Presidents in 2020, characterised by participation in the initiative promoted

by Pope Francis, whose theme will be ‘reconstructing the Global Educational Pact’, in order to:

L to R: Giovanni Perrone, Secretary General, Guy Bourdeaud’hui, President, His Grace Vincent Dollman, Archbishop of Cambrai & Ecceslesastical Advisor and Professor John Lydon, Treasurer

renew the commitment towards the younger generations and renew the passion for a more open and inclusive education, capable of patient listening, constructive dialogue and mutual understanding... Join efforts for a broad educational alliance, necessary for the formation of mature people, able to overcome fragmentation and opposition and to rebuild the web of relationships for a more fraternal humanity.

In regard to this, the various member institutions of WUCT, which includes the Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges of England and Wales will organise working groups and other initiatives for reflection on the subject and the preparation of a joint document.

Next year, November 2020, the General Assembly of WUCT will take place in Rome

WUCT President Guy Bourdeaud’hui presents gifts to excellent Council of Presidents hosts and organisers Bert Verhaegen, President and Marianne Coopman, Secretary General, Christelijk Onderwijzersverbond (COV), Belgium (the Catholic teachers association of Belgium)

for the renewal of the Executive Committee, the verification of the activities carried out and the planning of the next four-year period.

Council of Presidents delegates enjoying an excursion to the European Parliament in Brussels

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Members of the Catholic Association of Teachers Schools and Colleges Executive visit Our Lady Immaculate Primary School Bryn, Wigan in the Archdiocese of Liverpool At the beginning of the Autumn Term, 3rd September 2019, the school year got off to a wonderful beginning with a special in-service training and formation afternoon.

Prof. Lydon CATSC Executive member based at St Mary’s University, London, was warmly welcomed to lead the day, together with Dr Caroline Healy, CATSC General Secretary, by Headteacher Mrs Rachel Keating of Our Lady Immaculate Primary School in Bryn, Wigan, Lancashire, which is part of the Archdiocese of Liverpool. All teaching staff, teaching support staff and school governors participated in the day and the parish priest based at the Church next to the school, Rev. John Gorman.

The theme of the day concerned the ‘Catholic Life’ of schools which involved exploring aspects of Catholic education in more detail. Prof. Lydon, who is Director of the MA in Catholic School Leadership at St Mary’s University, delivered a keynote presentation which covered the Catholic school tradition and heritage and the primacy of the Church’s mission to the poor, what is distinctive and unique to Catholic schools and what are the key challenges and opportunities for Catholic schools in 2019.

Key take-home messages from Prof. Lydon’s presentation concerned the centrality of teachers and school leaders as authentic witnesses to the Catholic faith in regard to delivering the curriculum, no matter what the content, which has been much discussed in recent times with Ofsted’s New Inspection Framework 2019 focused on the intent, implementation and impact of the curriculum. He continued to state that the formation of teachers was essential for delivering an outstanding Catholic curriculum, and first and foremost, making schools Christ-centred by teachers modelling Jesus’ ministry through invitation and initiative, inclusion, presence, building community and challenge. This keeps schools loyal to the mission of the Catholic Church to make Jesus Christ known to all in their lives. He poignantly quoted Pope Francis ‘we need to remember that all ….teaching ultimately has to be reflected in the teacher’s way of life, which awakens the assent of the heart by its nearness, love and witness’ (Evangelii Gaudium, 2013: 42). He also outlined the importance of servant leadership, going the extra mile to

serve the disadvantaged and vulnerable and delivering excellence in all aspects of a holistic vision of the curriculum, including opportunities for extra-curricula activities and being ever-present during them. Then ‘in this setting [the Catholic school] the pupil experiences his dignity as a person before he knows its definition’ (Congregation for Catholic Education, 1977, The Catholic School: 55).

Overall, the presentation provided the whole school staff and school governors with a most informative summary of the history, principles and ethos underpinning Catholic education and outlined the key Church documents on Catholic education, as well as contemporary leading scholars and researchers in the international field of Catholic education. Discussion on the empowering nature of servant and Christcentred leadership, was very well-received, as many said they had not really explored the theological foundations of Catholic education previously and they found it really useful and effective in filling in the gaps in their formation in this area.

Earlier in the day, Prof. Lydon led similar formation at another in-service morning held at St Joseph’s Primary School, Reddish, near Stockport, Greater Manchester, based in the Diocese of Salford, at the invitation of Executive Headteacher Mrs Ruth Vayro and Vice-President, the Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges (CATSC).

This was a joint in-service day with the whole staff of two schools that she leads: St Joseph’s, Reddish and St Ambrose’s in

Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, making a total of over 150 in attendance.

The whole day was very valuable in allowing school staff and governors time out to discern, pray and get to know each other more, as well as providing them with the opportunity to strengthen their vocation.

There was a genuine sense of a Catholic education community celebrating its unique identity. This will help to ensure that the Church’s greatest asset, the students, will be future citizens of society, to continue to live faith-filled lives, reach their potential and make a positive impact in an ever-changing world.

Prof. Lydon is Director of the MA in Catholic School Leadership programme at St Mary’s University. He is also Deputy Director of the Centre for Research and Development in Catholic Education (CRDCE) and the Assistant Editor of the journal International Studies in Catholic Education. John was recently promoted to multi-disciplinary expert and moderator on Catholic education at the United Nations Catholic-inspired NGO Forum which works in partnership with the Vatican Secretariat of State. He is also an Executive member of the Association of Catholic Teachers, Schools and Colleges (CATSC) for England and Wales and the World Union of Catholic Teachers. He will next present a paper at the National Catholic Education of America Conference in Baltimore in April 2020. John is editor, and author, of the recent publication Contemporary Catholic Education published by Gracewing.

Left to Right: Mrs Rachel Keating, Headteacher, Our Lady Immaculate Primary School, Bryn, Wigan with Prof. John Lydon, CATSC Executive & Director MA in Catholic School Leadership, St Mary’s University London, Rev. John Gorman, Parish Priest Our Lady Immaculate Church, Bryn, Wigan and Dr Caroline Healy, CATSC Executive, Senior Lecturer, St Mary’s University, London.

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CATSC Executive Members Attend Network for Researchers in Catholic Education Annual Conference 2019 in Dublin CATSC was well represented at the Annual Conference for the Network for Researchers in Catholic Education which was hosted by the Director of the Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education, Professor Gareth Byrne. This centre is located in Dublin City University’s Institute of Education on the St Patrick’s Drumcondra campus.

Professor John Lydon, CATSC Treasurer, Dr Caroline Healy, General Secretary and Dr Mary Mihovilovic, CATSC Research & Development, all presented papers at the conference.

The conference theme was Catholic Education: Formal, Informal and Lifelong and coordinated by Dr Sean Whittle, Visiting Research Fellow at St Mary’s University.

The conference was opened by Dairmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland who also led the delegates in prayer.

There were three keynote speakers: Dr Ros Stuart-Buttle, Director of the Centre for Christian Education and Pastoral Theology, Liverpool Hope University who reflected on adult learning and theological education and drew on her research concerning the Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies (CCRS) Twenty Five Years On: one size fits all? Then Dr Bernadette Sweetman, a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education, Dublin City University gave a lecture on ‘Religious Education and Faith Development in Ireland’. Professor Gareth Byrne spoke about Catholic education in Ireland today entitling his lecture ‘Breathing In and Out the Spirit of God’s Love Today’. What all three papers had in common was the urgent need for high quality religious education and formation for adults that is suitable for contemporary needs, is sophisticated and bridges the gap in faith formation that is left when students finish school.

Full papers were presented by Emeritus Professor of the University of Oxford, Richard Pring, on ‘Challenges for Religious Education in an Increasingly Secular Society’; Rev. Dermot Mansfield SJ provided a timely lecture on ‘Newman, Dublin and Catholic Education’ to mark St John Henry Newman’s canonisation in October 2019 and finally Sandra Cullen, Assistant Professor of Religious Education at Dublin City University gave a paper on ‘Talking About God: a neglected dimension of the RE Classroom’. In the many parallel papers, the conference provided a platform for

the discussion of practical approaches to address the challenges for the development of religious education and adult formation in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Prof. John Lydon, CATSC Treasurer/ St Mary’s University and Very Rev. James Gerard Briody SDB, Provincial of the Salesians of Don Bosco in the UK, spoke on ‘Salesian Accompaniment in Formal and Non-Formal Settings’. This was a very wellreceived presentation on accompaniment based on St John Bosco’s educational vision. This paper considered the extent to which the model of presence and encounter can be used between teachers/pastoral workers and students in a contemporary context. This takes a ground-breaking approach to working with young people, as previously spiritual accompaniment was reserved for those in religious life. Lydon delivered another joint paper with Dr Caroline Healy, General Secretary of CATSC on ‘Shepherding Talent – an informal formation programme for aspiring school leaders’. This is a pre-MA programme for those who want greater formation in preparation for middle and senior school leadership roles. The programme has six seminars and is a taster prior to the MA in Catholic School Leadership and can provide exemption for one module of the MA in Catholic School Leadership programme or alternatively can be a stand-alone Continuous Professional Development Programme. The programme ran in two schools last year St Thomas More, Wood Green, London and St George’s Catholic High School, Maida Vale, London at the request of Executive Headteacher Martin Tissot.

Mrs Louise McGowan, Headteacher, Convent of Jesus and Mary Language College, North London provided a talk on her doctoral research ‘The Grace of Faith, Reparation and Healing Wounds: an authoethnographic inquiry of academy and faith leadership’. Mr Chris Doel, Director of the Research School at the Convent of Jesus and Mary Language College gave a presentation on The Centre for Research in Catholic Education based at the high school.

Former MA in Catholic School Leadership students of Prof. Lydon’s, also attended the conference to present on their recent MA dissertation research. Therese Ferry, Director of the Catechetical Centre in the Diocese of Derry, Northern Ireland spoke on ‘Let Everything you do be done in Love: a model for diocesan Catechetical Support for Schools’. Deputy Director of the Catechetical Centre in the Diocese of Derry, Mary O’Boyle delivered a paper on her MA research into ‘Maintaining and Nurturing the Mercy Charism in a Post-Primary Setting’.

A number of Prof. Lydon’s colleagues at St Mary’s University also presented papers.

Visiting Professor, Brendan Carmody, S.J., gave a paper on Religious Education in Irish Secondary Schools’. Dr Paddy Walsh, Centre for Research and Development in Catholic Education (CRDCE) at St Mary’s University directed by Emeritus Prof. Gerald Grace, discussed ‘Discourses in the Practice of Education’. Dr David Fincham, Senior Lecturer, MA in Catholic School Leadership, gave a paper entitled ‘Towards the Renewal of Spiritual Capital: a contemporary

A further CATSC colleague responsible for Research & Development, Dr Mary Mihovilovic gave a talk on her doctoral research ‘Non-Catholic Teachers in Catholic Schools: the hidden majority’.

Former CATSC Executive member, W.P. Boylan gave a lecture on the ‘The Emergence of a pattern of Catholic Secondary Education for Boys: 1850-1914’.

Prof. John Lydon’s colleagues, who he is currently working in partnership with, also delivered short papers at the conference.

Left to Right attending and delivering papers at the NfRCE Conference 2019, Dublin: Professor Anthony Towey, Dr Sean Whittle, Dr Simon Uttley, Prof. John Lydon, Dr David Fincham, Dr Caroline Healy, Dr Mary Mihovilovic, Rev Prof. Brendan Carmody.

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challenge for headteachers in Catholic schools in England. Visiting Research Fellow, St Mary’s University, Sean Whittle delivered a lecture on ‘Revising the Curriculum Directory in Catholic Schools in England and Wales – what needs to happen? Prof. Anthony Towey, Director of the Aquinas Centre, St Mary’s University also participated in the conference. Simon Uttley who is a fellow lecturer of Lydon’s at the University of Notre Dame’s London Gateway Programme gave a paper entitled ‘‘Who is My Neighbour’’ Catholic School-to-School Collaboration in a Climate of High Stakes Accountability and Financial Austerity’. Emeritus Prof.

John Sullivan, a former colleague of Lydon’s on the MA in Catholic School Leadership provided a most useful workshop on preparing research for publication.

The conference was sponsoring by NETCET who publish the journal Networking: Catholic Education Today. A most cordial drinks reception was provided and free copies of the journal were given out by NETCET Board member Willie Slavin. The next Network for Researchers in Catholic Education (NfRCE) conference later this year on Thursday 24th – Friday 25th September 2020 will be jointly organised in partnership with the Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges (CATSC). Papers and workshops will be invited on the theme of ‘teaching as a vocation’. Do you agree or disagree that teaching is a vocation remains a current concept in the minds of teachers in Catholic schools – we look forward to engaging in this debate with you!

Please contact Prof. Lydon: john.lydon@ stmarys.ac.uk or Dr Sean Whittle: s.whittle@ heythrop.ac.uk for further information.

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Deepening Partnership between the Director of Diocese of Arundel & Brighton Education Service Marie Ryan and Prof. John Lydon, CATSC Executive and St Mary’s University, Twickenham, Recently Announced

Left to Right: Deputy Director, Diocese of Arundel and Brighton Education Service Mrs Bernadette Connor, Michael George, who is working with the diocese to support aspiring school leaders, Prof. John Lydon, St Mary’s University, London and Mrs Sarah Feist, Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, Diocesan Lead for Religious Education and Catholic School Inspection.

On 8th November 2019, Professor John Lydon, CATSC Executive Member and Director of the MA in Catholic School Leadership, St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London, was delighted to be invited and warmly welcomed to the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton Diocesan Education Service based at the St Philip Howard Centre in Crawley, West Sussex, for an aspiring school leaders Continuous Professional Development Day. This day was delivered together with colleagues in the Arundel and Brighton Diocesan Education Service: Director Marie Ryan, Deputy Director Bernadette Connor and Lead for Religious Education and Catholic School Inspection, Sarah Feist.

This was part of an ongoing partnership between the diocese and St Mary’s University, Twickenham which is now deepening. The following formal partnership was recently announced by the Diocesan Education Service Director Marie Ryan. She said: ‘I am delighted to tell you that Trustees have generously agreed to part-fund the cost of undertaking a Masters in Catholic School Leadership at St Mary’s University. Trustees will reimburse one third of fees upon completion. This is a wonderful opportunity for middle and senior leaders to develop spiritually and professionally, in recognition of the critical ministry undertaken by Catholic school leaders. I hope that Trustees’ generosity and vision will encourage more staff from diocesan schools to apply for the course. If you would like to discuss this opportunity or would like further information, please do not

hesitate to contact me. If you are a headteacher who would like to consider basing a course in your school or college and believe you can attract a group of 10 to 12 from your own community and neighbouring Catholic schools, please contact: john.lydon@stmarys.ac.uk’.

Director Marie Ryan continued to add: ‘Many staff will already have Masters level credits attached to their PGCEs. Please note that, in many instances, these M-level credits can be used as accredited prior learning and can count towards an MA in Catholic School Leadership. As many of you know, we are delighted to be offering Masters level credits currently on our diocesan Middle Leaders Programme in conjunction with St Mary’s University. We are very proud to be the first diocese in our region to have established this.

We are equally proud that the diocesan programme is accredited as a standalone module within the MA in Catholic School Leadership degree, meaning that participants can gain 30 M-level credits upon submission of assessed work… if you would like further information on our accredited Middle Leaders’ programme, please do not hesitate to contact me’ (quoted from the Director’s Letter, Diocese of Arundel and Brighton Education Service Newsletter, Alpha Beta, January 2020, p.1).

Richard Moth, Bishop of Arundel and Brighton and Chair of the Board of Trustees at St Mary’s University, Twickenham is most supportive of this deepening partnership.

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Over 150 Catholic Educators attend first ATCRE National Conference On Saturday 8th February 2020, it was standing room only in the Waldegrave Drawing Room at St Mary’s University for the much anticipated ATCRE first national conference.

The Association of Teachers of Catholic Religious Education was formed in March 2018 with the support of the Catholic Education Service (CES) and is now an associate member of the National Board of Religious Inspectors and Advisers (NBRIA).

The mission of the organisation was to provide a national representation and support specifically for teachers of Catholic religious education.

Already ATCRE have begun to live out their wider mission as they will be leading the teacher consultations on the new Religious Education Curriculum Directory during Spring 2020. They will continue to work with the Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC) and National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) to provide a voice for Catholic RE teachers.

We asked a few people who attended the conference to share their view of the day, or some of their highlights: The inaugural ATCRE conference was a long awaited and welcome opportunity for teachers of Religious Education, academics and others from across the country and beyond, to be nourished and empowered by stimulating keynote speakers, to share new ideas and good practice in a rich variety of workshops and be exposed to current curriculum research and how it relates to Catholic Religious Education.

The tone of the day was set by Mary Myatt, who challenged colleagues to have a sense of humility around the curriculum and privilege thinking over task completion. She urged delegates to continue to ensure that the Religious Education curriculum provides stretch and challenge for all students, a message reinforced by Bishop Alan Williams SM, who reflected on the deployment of

models and images to make the complex accessible. Michael Merrick gave an impassioned presentation around a Catholic curriculum model leaving delegates with much food for thought and Philip Robinson, provided a comprehensive update on the Religious Education Curriculum Directory revision, with ATCRE leading on the teacher consultation aspect of this.

The conference concluded on a high note and delegates left confident in the knowledge that this was just the beginning of something that will continue to gather momentum and grow over time. These few hours renewed and strengthened delegates in their commitment to their critical roles in supporting the mission of the Church in Catholic education.

Catherine Bryan - Assistant Director (Education), Catholic Education Service -------------The inaugural ACTRE conference was answering a prayer I have had since qualifying as an RE teacher six years ago.

I have always valued the opportunity to network and share ideas with colleagues.

However, the conferences and meetings I have attended outside the Diocesan training have always focused on RE in nonfaith schools. Whilst I have always come away from them with ideas, I knew that they didn’t quite fit the Catholic context I work in.

Within a minute of grabbing a coffee in the Waldgrave meeting room I found myself in a conversation with primary colleagues and secondary colleagues discussing how we were marking the Year of the Word; over lunch I was speaking to colleagues from Bristol and learning what they do for Core RE; and then I was sitting in a room where the keynote speaker was calling us to see the curriculum in a Catholic school through a Catholic lens. The unspoken understanding between all gathered about the challenges, the joys and areas of growth within Catholic education meant that even though many of us in the room were ‘strangers’ we were truly united with a

(Matthew Dell, Chair of ATCRE)

I was delighted that the hard work of the executive team paid off. We delivered a varied and stimulating day to nourish RE teachers. For the first national conference it showed that we can easily overcome a silo mentality of school and diocese, and in the spirit of cooperation, share as a family of Catholic educators.

common calling to live out our vocation in Catholic schools. On the train back to Waterloo a group who had been at the conference spent the entire journey talking about the Catholic Mission and Curriculum, much to the confusion of our fellow passengers!

ATCRE provided me with a conference experience that spoke to the core of my school and department context.

It challenged me. It inspired me. It encouraged me. It rekindled my hope (and enthusiasm) but most importantly it reminded me of why I choose to work in Catholic education.

Emma Westbury - Head of RE, Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School -------------The ATCRE Conference left me with a profound sense of unity which stemmed from attending a day with a large number of other Catholic educators, sharing the same ambition. It was entirely refreshing to receive input, not only about the need for excellent education, but the moral responsibility we have to form our pupils in their faith. Mary Myatt reminded us that mediocre was not an option when teaching authentic RE, Fr Eamonn referred us to the example of Pope Francis in being credible leaders, and Michael Merrick implored us to ‘treasure knowledge and preserve the jewels of Catholic culture’. As Catholic educators in all capacities, we must stand together, encourage one another and work to carry out the mission of providing outstanding, intellectually stimulating and spiritually sound education for our pupils.

What an uplifting start to the year!

In particular, Michael Merrick enthused the delegates at the ATCRE Conference 2020 with an inspiring talk on the need for teaching the truths of the Catholic faith.

He stated that as RE teachers in Catholic schools, we have a duty to ensure that pupils, regardless of their personal faith, leave school with a thorough understanding of Catholicism. Merrick argued that we shouldn’t have a situation in which pupils in our care are unaware of key Catholic teachings and symbolism, such as the importance of Lent or why Catholics receive ash crosses on Ash Wednesday. There is a depth and beauty to the Catholic faith of which we should be proud. Merrick stated that in an increasingly secular culture it is vital that RE teachers in Catholic schools are effectively communicating this to pupils, in order to ‘treasure knowledge and preserve the jewels of Catholic culture’.

Helen Bridges, Secretary ATCRE -------------We all treasure certain things, not necessarily for their material value. We may have been given a piece of jewelry by someone we deeply care about and so the jewel becomes a constant reminder of the relationship we have with them. In this way one could describe the seminar on CAFOD delivered by Susan Kambalu. A little jewel that has become a constant reminder about our relationship with the world, a relationship which cannot be forgotten or diminished.

During the seminar we were reminded about the pressing issues that still exist in the world: lack of clean water, sanitation, food, education, refugees, … all well underpinned with current statistics and delivered in an interactive way. The session included a discussion about our responsibility for the world, especially the poor, which grows from the philosophical concept of interconnection. For Catholics, the interconnectivity stems from the relationship that God, the Creator, has with his creation. We are all his children and are all called to look after one another. As

teachers, we are called to bring the whole world into our classrooms and from our classrooms we interact with the world.

Peter Hornak - ATCRE Executive Committee -------------Philip Robinson, RE Adviser for the CES, gave the final keynote of the day. A whistle stop tour of the story so far regarding the revision of the curriculum directory.

The current suggested framework shared is seeking to provide content that is sequential throughout the year from EYFS up to KS5 but that is progressively more complex year on year. The revised document will have sought consultation with diocesan advisers, academics, school teachers and pupils and will be in place for September 2021.

The whole ATCRE Executive are delighted about the conference. It has exceeded even our highest hopes and expectations.

It has confirmed our conviction that there is a real need for an RE subject association specifically for those who teach it in Catholic schools.

Julia Cunningham, Vice-Chair of ATCRE Philip Robinson with the final keynote of the day

For me, this conference was only possible, and so successful, as a result of social media and the “new democracy” offered by the internet. We have actively worked with Diocese education teams, and we have welcomed every member of these teams as a member. However when compiling feedback, not one person found out about ATCRE, or the national conference, via this route. Nearly half of the attendees attended, as they had joined the membership and got emails directly.

Around 40% found out via social media, and then the final 10% from personal invite from the hard working executive committee.

We currently have nearly 800 RE teachers on our email list, not just Heads of RE, but those spending the most time in the classroom living out that important vocation to teach Catholic RE. ATCRE seem to have found a way to provide a space to share, to communicate and to work together beyond the boundaries that may have limited Catholic RE in the past. There is an exciting future ahead, and we want to continue to reach out to more teachers. This conference was just the start!

Andy Lewis - Communications Officer, ATCRE

Contact the ATCRE Chair with any questions: chair.atcre@gmail.com Join our free membership via: www.atcre.co.uk Like us on Facebook: https://www. facebook.com/atcre.ew Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/atcre_ew

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CISC NEWS

by Dr Maureen Glackin

Conference 2020 ‘The Pearl of Great Price’ Well…that was the week that was! What a wonderful embrace we all felt from Glasgow and what a tremendous generosity of spirit we all shared as we journeyed together for our thirtieth CISC conference. Our theme, ‘The Pearl of Great Price’ was chosen to reflect the passion, commitment and service you bring to your schools, giving all you have to bring the beauty of their charisms to all through encounter with God intellectually, morally and spiritually. And indeed, this trinity of encounter was at the heart of the conference invitation to you all and was most ably realised by our keynotes, workshops and liturgies.

Dame Alison Peacock set the tone, focusing our minds and hearts on the pupils we serve. She invited us to have the humility to allow children to surprise us and challenged us to move from being fixed and certain about pupils’ outcomes to a position of ‘transformability’. Her warmth ensured a personal response and engagement which moved many and underlined the value and significance of education and its potential to transform the lives of pupils and staff alike.

Professor Sir Harry Burns inspired and educated us – are you wearing a tie reading this?!! – on the critical significance of the home and family in the early years of a child’s life in terms of their potential to be healthy and happy in adulthood.

Presenting data but rooting it in reality engaged us and challenged us as we reflected upon our own experiences. He concluded his keynote with the words of Terry Waite: ‘At the end of the day love and compassion will win’. Amen to that.

Both of our keynote speakers were unafraid to place themselves, their personalities, their hearts at the core of their engagement with us and it is this that remains and sustains us in our own work. Their authentic presence will resonate for some time to come.

Keynote – Dame Alison Peacock

Keynote – Professor Sir Harry Burns

Pupils of St Aloysius’ College leading morning prayer This intermingling of the professional and personal was further enhanced by our sponsors, exhibitors and workshop leads. Each workshop sought to provide insight and support on key areas of concern to our schools. Richard Hester from School Leaders’ Training explored good governance, particularly with reference to the relationship between the Chair and the Head and the identity and ethos of a Catholic school. Tina Campbell, the National Safeguarding Co-ordinator for the Scottish Catholic Safeguarding Service,

Catholic Independent Schools’ Conference 17 Rossiters Hill, Frome, Somerset BA11 4AL T: 07949 394925

Pupils of Kilgraston joined us for a celebratory Mass on Friday morning highlighted the review process as a model for good practice. Barbara Coupar head of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, led on inclusion, revealing it as an area that is rooted in the Church’s vision of what it means to be in relationship with God and others. Ten Ten Resources outlined their ‘Life to the Full’ RSE programme which will support schools in fulfilling the new statutory curriculum whilst remaining consistent to Church teaching. As such, each workshop highlighted the dual nature of the CISC school experience – Catholic schools within statutory settings – and sought to investigate how these can be brought together to realise the very best that education can offer. Our supporting sponsors, Powerful Allies, exemplify this, working, as they do, with a number of schools to reduce their carbon footprint the context for which in Catholic schools emanates from Laudato Sii. The significance of this synthesis within the broader landscape of the independent sector was ably navigated for us by our headline sponsors Moore Kingston Smith and Stone King in their ever-popular workshop which always allows for a free-flowing Q and A. The manner in which CISC schools make a unique and distinctive contribution to this landscape was wonderfully elucidated

by Katie and Carolyn from Reed Brand as they presented feedback on our CISC and the Common Good survey. They revealed how CISC schools are engaged in a wide variety of works of service not because it is the ‘right’ thing to do but because we are charged to do so by our very foundation and existence. Revealing these stories and

celebrating all you do was truly our pearl of great price!

Conference is also an important time for CISC as an organisation. It is the single largest gathering of our headteachers and therefore affords an opportunity for discussion and consideration of how CISC can best meet and serve the needs of its members moving forward. Colleagues’ engagement as we began the process of reimagining and revisioning our future strategy evinced its significance, and the outcomes of this initial discussion will form the basis for a continuing conversation throughout the year and a launch of our new strategic plan at Conference 2021. We also thanked Antonia Beary for her support and leadership over the last six years, as she stepped down as Chair, and welcomed Antony Hudson as the new Chair of CISC. My thanks to them both and to the Committee for their work with and on behalf of CISC – their stewardship and friendship is invaluable.

Of course, conference is never just one thing but a composite of a range of experiences of which our exhibitors and delegates form a key part – temporally and spiritually and one of the delights of the CISC conference experience is the opportunity for prayer and reflection, both individually and as a community. In this, our host school St Aloysius with Kilgraston School provided moments of grace, tranquility and beauty as pupils and colleagues led us in dialogue with God. Particularly moving was the serenity brought forth from Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It is hard to imagine such a moment of tranquility in the midst of a busy conference but it is something that

will remain with me for a long time. The Conference mass in the Memorial Chapel of Glasgow University was a contrasting yet equally spirit-filled experience. Archbishop Tartaglia, our principal celebrant, led us in a stirring, personal yet stately celebration with readings from Kilgraston School pupils and music led by the Schola Cantorum and the wonderful brass fanfares of St Aloysius’ College. It was a fitting finale to our conference and my thanks to Dorothy McGinty, Paul Allaker from Kilgraston and most particularly to Matthew Bartlett, Monica Harper and Tony McBride from St Aloysius for realising our liturgies with such presence and grace and for their generosity of spirit throughout the year in planning for conference with us.

Thanks must also go to one who never seeks it but without whom the CISC Conference experience would be much the poorer and that, of course, is Paula Hawkins. Paula, ably abetted by Michelle, ensured that all needs were catered for throughout our conference but of course this was the culmination of months of detailed planning on her part.

Her forensic eye for detail, coupled with her personal warmth and humour make her a singular colleague to work with and I cannot thank her enough for her support, wisdom and kindness in making sure that our conference was a pleasurable experience for us all from start to finish. You are a pearl Paula.

Needless to say, we’ve already started planning for Conference 2021, so see you next year in…?

Venue to be announced!

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News from Scotland Faith and Freedom: The Old College of Scalan

By Caitlin MacInnes S3

Third Year RERC pupils at Sgoil Lionacleit, Benbecula were busy recently with a research project. Their remit was to investigate the Catholic faith today; the barriers to practising it here and elsewhere and then to look back at our Scottish history regarding freedom to practise the faith. The Learning Intentions were to make the young people aware that our faith has survived challenges in the past and in recent times and to value the freedom to practise it that we have here in the islands. Father Michael MacDonald judged the presentations and chose the one created by Caitlyn MacInnes who is from Eriskay. Well done to Caitlyn and also to the whole class for their good work!

law contributed to this by making it almost impossible to be a Catholic.

Laws included: no Catholic should own or inherit land; no Catholic could be a teacher or be educated; priests and those who harboured them were to be banished and if they returned they could be punished by death. Priests were often forced into hiding, moving from safe house to safe house, sleeping in woods or caves or hillsides, and services were held after dark.

Christian Persecution in the modern world In other parts of the world, the situation is very different. Pope Benedict XVI said that Christians are the most persecuted group in the contemporary world.

There are 10 particular countries for Christian Persecution: 1 - North Korea 2 - Afghanistan 3 - Somalia 4 - Sudan 5 - Libya 6 - Eritrea 7 - Iraq 8 - Pakistan 9 - Iran 10 - Yemen

Life in Scalan was cheerful, although the seminarians and their teachers were often crowded together, hidden away and forced to practise their faith in secret.

Now, we remember Scalan as an important link in our Catholic Faith.

A Fearless Faith: The Secret Seminary of Scalan – Even when the Catholic faith was outlawed, people still needed priests, so priests were trained in secret. One of the most famous seminaries set up to do this was at Scalan, – the one we’re talking about now.

This ‘secret seminary’ was founded in Scalan in the Braes of Glenlivet in 1716.

Codes were used to write letters so that their practice wouldn’t be found. Scalan was “the shop”, Rome was “old town” or “Hamburg”, a priest was a “labourer” and students were “prentices”.

The Catholic Church in Scotland Three quarters of a million Catholics live in Scotland today but in the 1700s there were fewer than 20,000 and they were mostly in the Highlands.

After the Protestant Reformation the Catholic Faithhad almost died out. The

The College

Law Document

Our Faith today Where we live in the Western Isles it is very easy to practise our faith; there is a very widespread collection of churches.

Lack of motivation is the only thing that prevents people from going to church.

We can go to church without a feeling of judgement or prejudice here in the islands.

Masses in Scalan were commonly held in a barn and always at night.

During the time of Scalan, Alexander Geddes and George James Gordon studied in Scalan.

Floor Plan of the Scalan Seminary

The Annual Pilgrimage Mass takes place of the first Sunday of July at 4:00pm.

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SCIAF’s guide to COP 2020

In the winter of 2020, tens of thousands of politicians, diplomats, scientists and activists will descend on Glasgow all saying they want to solve the Climate Crisis. We have to make them mean it. Ben Wilson, Policy Officer at SCIAF, writes about why Alliance members, allies and civil society more widely, must mobilise now to ensure effective participation in next year’s historic Climate Conference.

Recently, as a country, we have taken crucial steps to tackle the Climate Emergency.

Scotland’s new Climate Change Bill, which was passed at the end of September last year, makes good progress in key areas. It sets a strong target to reduce our emissions.

Delivering these will require changes to our way of life for the better, and involve building a cleaner, healthier and fairer Scotland.

During the process of the Bill, political commitment to addressing climate change has dramatically increased as a result of the growing mass movement of people including young people around the world, calling for more urgent action to address climate change. This proves that people power works. We need to commit the same energy and commitment to making our voices heard in Glasgow later this year.. The UK has been officially confirmed to be the host of COP 26 in 2020, with Glasgow as the host city. COP 26 is the 26th “Conference of Parties” under the United Nations Framework for the Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In short – it is a huge international climate conference, the biggest conference of its kind that the UK will ever have hosted, and the biggest opportunity for mass civil society mobilisation for global justice since the G8 came to Gleneagles in 2005.

It was at COP 21 in 2015 that the landmark Paris Agreement was reached, which commits countries to take action to ensure that global average temperature increases are kept “well below” 2C and to “pursue efforts” towards limiting global warming to 1.5C. In October 2018, the official scientific body which advises the UNFCCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a landmark report that shows the devastating impact of exceeding 1.5C of global warming, and that we could reach this level as soon as 2030. That report showed the world that the real target countries must not exceed is 1.5C, and the consequences of missing that target are millions more people exposed to heatwaves, droughts and annihilation of natural resources upon which they rely.

meet to thrash out agreements and cobble together commitments for action. This technical theatre is shaped by some of the richest countries who insist on being centre stage while side-stepping their responsibilities. At the same time the poorest countries in the world, who’ve done least to cause the crisis, cry out for justice as their people suffer most.

Around the central circus of the negotiations, a carnival of civil society groups, including trade unions, faith communities, youth groups, NGOs and peoples’ movements will congregate, to submerge the negotiators in their cries for action. COP coming to Glasgow is a huge opportunity for SCIAF to carry the voices of our supporters and partners to the summit and breathe fire into the carnival.

However, whilst every country of the world is now a signatory to the Paris Agreement, current national pledges for action are wholly inadequate in meeting this goal.

Based on what countries have currently pledged to do to reduce emissions, the world is on a trajectory towards 3.5C of global warming, and the consequences of that would be cataclysmic.

COP 26 will be the most important COP since Paris. Indeed, this COP will be one of the first tests of the Paris Agreement, as it marks the 5-year point when countries must submit new and increased “Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)” which state their intended ratcheting up of domestic contributions to global efforts.

This is a tremendous opportunity for Scotland to show the world our concern for the climate crisis, to engage and inform the Scottish public about this emergency, and show that it cannot be treated as a fringe issue any longer.

Every COP involves technical, often tedious negotiations, when thousands of negotiators, politicians and policy makers

Glasgow Climate Strike If you want to get involved and make your voice heard at COP 26, get in touch with Ben, who chairs the international group at Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS).

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Young Climate Warriors Pope Francis, in his 2015 encyclical, ‘Laudato Si’ - subtitled ‘ Care for our Common Home’- makes clear that looking after our environment requires “not a to-do list, but a change of heart”.1 Sarah Tobin, of Young Climate Warriors, discusses how some schools and families are using fun weekly challenges as a way to cut carbon emissions and explores some of the deeper changes we need to make if we are to respond adequately to the current environmental crisis.

Every day, it seems, we learn more about how rapid environmental change, and in particular climate change, is affecting families, communities and ecosystems around the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that unless we limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty are likely to worsen for several hundred million people and we risk the irreversible loss of coral reefs and other marine and coastal ecosystems.2 Pope Francis, in ‘Laudato Si’, makes an urgent appeal to “every person living on this planet” to work together to tackle this environmental crisis, and many Catholic schools across the UK have been leaders in their communities in responding to this appeal. 3 One way in which some schools have responded is by encouraging their pupils to take part in a charitable initiative, Young Climate Warriors. Set up in February 2019, Young Climate Warriors’ aim is to provide a platform to engage with children about

climate change and empower them, with the necessary skills and knowledge, to take positive action to reduce their own carbon emissions.

community action and work together; and that taking time to pause and pay attention to the wonders of the world around us can itself drive meaningful change.

Children are invited to take on weekly challenges that are simple, age-appropriate and fun. Aimed primarily at children in school Years 3 to 8, these challenges provide food for thought for all ages and they are a great way to take conversations begun in class into the home. Past challenges have included variants of – hiding the cling-film, reducing water usage, trying pulses instead of red meat, ‘storing’ carbon by planting a tree, walking more, using less toilet roll and becoming a light zapper!

So, for example, to give a sense of interconnection, when challenged to rummage into the deepest, darkest corners of their wardrobes, to find an old t-shirt or top to mend or pass on to someone else, the Young Climate Warriors were provided with a short video clip showing that most cotton is grown in hot, dry places like India and producing just one new cotton t-shirt takes around 2,700 litres of water – the same as you would drink in three years.

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, in Henley on Thames, has been taking part in the initiative since it was launched, displaying the challenges on the school notice board and sending them home in the weekly newsletter. Their pupils are enthusiastic. One Year 6 eco-council pupil commented, “my favourite challenge was turning off lights for Earth Hour – we ended up playing board games by candlelight, it was really good fun.” Another said, “it’s good to be a Young Climate Warrior – every small thing counts towards saving the Earth.”

As well as empowering children to take concrete actions to reduce their carbon emissions, the Young Climate Warrior challenges also encourage them to think in ways that relate closely to the change of heart Pope Francis calls for in ‘Laudato Si’. These include an understanding that everything is interconnected - that our actions and decisions affect people and ecosystems around the world; that as individuals we can, and should, make a difference to help others, especially the most vulnerable; that we need to build

Young Climate Warrior challenges also help children understand how each of us can make a meaningful difference. Greta Thunberg sums this up for many children when she says “you are never too small to make a difference”.4 Pope Francis makes a similar point in ‘Laudato Si’, saying that tackling the environmental crisis requires the talents and involvement of every one of us. He likens “little daily actions,” such as reducing food waste, avoiding the use of plastic and paper and car-pooling, to St Therese of Lisieux’s little way of love. “We must not think that these efforts are not going to change the world.”5 An important part of Young Climate Warriors is to help children feel part of a big team doing something to tackle climate change, which is why they are encouraged to sign up on the website www. youngclimatewarriors.org , to receive their weekly challenge by email. By undertaking the same actions in the same week as hundreds of other children, and by ‘Hitting the Red Button’ online when they have completed the challenge, Young Climate Warriors can develop a sense of solidarity with other children who are also helping to combat climate change.

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This is an important feature for the Ursuline Preparatory School, in Wimbledon. Its student-led eco-council encourages pupils to sign up and the school includes the Young Climate Warrior challenges in its weekly newsletter to parents. Headmaster, Chris McGrath, explains how the initiative supports the school’s wider ethos: “Our school motto, ‘insieme’ (living together, all of one heart and one will), was one of St Angela Merici’s greatest desires. In this time of climate change we need this spirit of ‘insieme’ more than ever. The children here are certainly very keen to play their full part and Young Climate Warriors gives them the perfect starting point.”

As well as term-time challenges to reduce emissions, Young Climate Warriors are given holiday challenges which encourage them to pause and take time to notice the wonders of the natural world. Past holiday challenges have focused on using all our senses to explore the woods, listening out for Christmas robins and growing seeds. The importance of this attention to nature and sense of wonder has always underpinned the environmental movement.

It was summed up by Rachel Carson, author of ‘The Silent Spring’, when she wrote that “the more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.” Pope Francis makes clear that Christian responsibility for the planet begins with appreciation of the goodness of God’s creation. “From panoramic vistas to the tiniest living form, nature is a constant source of wonder and awe… a continuing revelation of the divine.”6 So far, over 40 schools, from Somerset to Scotland, have signed up to receive the free-to-use Young Climate Warriors weekly schools’ pack. This includes simple resources designed to introduce the challenges, so that children can then undertake them at home. If you would like to know more, please get in touch via the website or by emailing sarah@youngclimatewarriors.org

1 Dr Carmody Grey (Durham University), Global Caring: Living in Harmony with God’s Creation, 2019, https://vimeo. com/361141370 2 Global Warming of 1.5°C: An IPCC special report, October 2018 3 Pope Francis, Laudato Si: On Care for our Common Home, 2015, paragraph 3.

4 Greta Thunberg, speaking at the UN 24th Conference of the Parties on Climate Change, December 2018 5 Laudato Si, paragraphs 21112 and 230.

6 Laudato Si, paragraph 85, citing a Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter, 2003

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News Roundup

By Willie Slavin

Kettering students take ‘Zero Hero’ pledge to reduce effects of climate change

To celebrate the end of term, students at St Thomas More Catholic Primary in Kettering decided to join a nationwide campaign to tackle climate change and have pledged to become ‘Zero Heroes’.

Catholic RE Teachers association first national conference The first national conference of The Association of Teachers of Catholic Religious Education (ATCRE) took take place at St Mary’s University, Twickenham on Saturday 8th February 2020. It is believed that this will be the largest national event for Catholic RE teachers in England and Wales.

ATCRE will be leading the teacher consultations on the new Religious Education Curriculum Directory later in 2020. They will continue to work with the Religious Education Council of England and Wales (REC) and National Association of Teachers of RE (NATRE) to provide a voice for Catholic RE teachers.

The ‘Zero Hero’ campaign was launched last year by international development charity CAFOD to help the next generation understand how we can meet ‘net zero’ targets - which will help keep the environment in balance.

The Association of Teachers of Catholic Religious Education was formed in March 2018 with the support of the Catholic Education Service (CES) and is now an associate member of the National Board of Religious Inspectors and Advisers (NBRIA). The mission of the organisation was to provide a national representation and support specifically for teachers of Catholic religious education.

Kettering students had special lessons about climate change, the environment, and learnt about what they could do to help - and have decided to campaign about environmental issues and make positive changes in their lives to tackle climate change.

Manchester: Pupils organise ‘Coin Mile’ challenge for CAFOD

The students were visited by several education volunteers from the charity CAFOD, who held workshops from Years 3 to 6 to inform them of the effects of climate change and what they could all do to help.

During the workshop, Kate Banville, one of the education volunteers said to the pupils: “You are the future of this planet! You are the future decision-makers, and it’s your world, so you tell the adults in charge the actions you want taken.”

To get involved and start your own ‘Zero Hero’ campaign follow the link below: cafod.org.uk/ zero-hero.

Manchester school pupils have come up with an imaginative fundraising initiative - voting to collect old coins to create a ‘Coin Mile’ with all proceeds going to charity.

Last term, the pupils at The Divine Mercy RC Primary School in Manchester decided that they wanted to fundraise for the international development charity CAFOD by holding an intra-class competition to see which class could bring in the most coins for charity.

Once all the coins had been collected, the pupils then laid every single coin in their school hall to see which class had the longest trail - and would win the fundraising competition.

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

of January 2020 to become Vice-Chancellor of University Notre Dame, Australia. Mr McClaran will assume his position in April 2020.

Mr Mitchell, the Religious Education Leader at The Divine Mercy RC Primary school, said: “The children voted how to raise the money through our school council. They decided on a ‘Coin mile’ challenge to raise money for CAFOD - which was great fun and meant we could donate to charity as well. In total, we raised over £67 pounds for CAFOD.”

St Mary’s University announces new Vice-Chancellor

Speaking of the appointment, Chair of the University Board of Governors, Bishop Richard Moth, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Anthony to St Mary’s. He brings a wealth of experience of the UK and international higher education sectors which will benefit the University greatly. Anthony will help lead the university to its next stage of development, following the historic achievements under Francis Campbell’s tenure as Vice-Chancellor. We have nothing but warm wishes for Francis as he moves to his new role in Australia at the University of Notre Dame.”

Newman University announces new Vice-Chancellor

St Mary’s University Twickenham, has announced the appointment of Anthony McClaran as its new Vice-Chancellor.

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Lifelong Learning and Skills. Jackie has over 25 years of experience of higher education and has held senior management positions, having previously worked at the University of Leicester and Coventry University.

Commenting on her appointment, Professor Dunne, said: “It is an honour and privilege to be taking up the role of Vice-Chancellor at Newman University. I am delighted to be joining a successful institution with a strong heritage and values base, alongside a clear mission to offer a university experience to all who can benefit. The focus on the individual learner experience and an inclusive environment where students are nurtured and supported to succeed gives Newman a unique offer and I look forward to working with staff and students to take the University to the next stage of its development.”

Jonathan Day, Chair of Newman University’s Council, oversaw the recruitment process.

He said: “In a turbulent sector, it was not easy to find the right leader for Newman University. I am very pleased with the outcome after a lengthy search.

Luton primary school pupils pledge to become Zero Heroes Pupils at St Martin de Porres Primary School in Luton have been inspired by CAFOD’s Harvest story, and have now pledged to become ‘Zero Heroes’.

Professor Jackie Dunne

Mr McClaran joins St Mary’s from the Australian Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) where he has served as Chief Executive since 2015. Prior to moving to Australia, Mr McClaran was Chief Executive of the UK Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (200915) and Chief Executive of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) (2003-06). He has held senior roles at the University of Hull and the University of Gloucestershire. He began his career in higher education at the University of Warwick.

Mr McClaran will succeed Prof Francis Campbell. Prof Campbell, who has served as Vice-Chancellor since 2014, is stepping down from his role at St Mary’s at the end

The governing body of Newman University has appointed Professor Jackie Dunne as its next Vice-Chancellor. Professor Dunne will join Newman in March 2020, following the retirement of Professor Scott Davidson.

Professor Dunne is currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Wolverhampton, where she has had responsibility for a number of strategic areas including; Widening participation and outreach; Regional engagement and lifelong learning; Digital Strategy; Equality and Diversity; Degree Apprenticeships and the development of the Springfield Campus.

Jackie Dunne graduated in Hispanic Studies from Liverpool University and has an MA in Education and Industry from the University of Warwick, as well as being a Professor of

A few weeks ago, Peter Haddon, an Education Volunteer at CAFOD, visited all of the Key Stage 2 pupils at St Martin de Porres Primary.

Peter organised Harvest workshops for both Year 4 classes which focused on telling the story of Fabiano, a 14-year-old boy, and his life in Uganda.

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He explained how many Uganda communities have been devastated by drought, leaving children like Fabiano the job of trekking miles for water, risking their safety and hampering their chance to get an education.

Thanks to donations from parishioners across England and Wales, CAFOD has been able to help install solar-powered water pumps in rural villages, including Fabiano’s. This means that everyone can collect water quickly and safely and Fabiano and his friends can now focus on getting an education.

The Year 4s were so inspired by Peter’s workshops, that they helped to write an Assembly telling Fabiano’s story, and presented this beautifully to their parents and other Key Stage 2 children.

As well as telling Fabiano’s story, they asked parents to donate to CAFOD’s work, in addition to making contributions to the local food bank.

In addition to these series of workshops, Peter also organised a ‘Zero Hero’ assembly for all of Key Stage 2, who pledged to make changes in their lives to live more sustainably.

New Live Simply school in West London Mount Carmel Primary School in Ealing, West London, received its Livesimply award last week after a two-hour assessment organised by CAFOD. For more than a year the school of around 30 staff and 470 pupils has put into action a plan to move towards living simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor.

Basingstoke teacher training helps create global links A new programme that is championing the teaching of global issues throughout the curriculum and across continents has inspired the teachers of Basingstoke who are urging others to get involved.

Teachers at Bishop Challoner School in Basingstoke recently attended a special training day, run by development charity CAFOD, and supported by the British Council, to better understand how to integrate global issues into the curriculum and life of the school.

The course, called Everything is connected: Enrich school life through global learning, was designed to help create links between schools around the world and was a great success, with many teachers calling on others schools to take part.

Assistant Headteacher and Head of Religious Education at Bishop Challoner School, Ms Cripps, said: “The CAFOD session re-ignited our sense of mission as teachers, as a school and people of faith, to have hope in our ability to transform this world for the better and inspire the next generation to do the same.”

CAFOD’s new free CPD is an opportunity to inspire the Catholic life of the school and put faith into action through embedding global learning into Catholic schools in the UK.

Catholic and Jewish schools in joint charity day In November, 75 Children from Catholic and Jewish schools gathered for a day of interfaith encounter and charity. The students worked together at the parish hall of Sacred Heart and Mary Immaculate parish in Mill Hill to assemble 400 ‘Vinnie Packs’.

The day celebrated the twin occasions of Mitzvah Day and World Day of the Poor, which both fell on Sunday 17th of November.

Mitzvah Day is a day in the Jewish Calendar set aside for good works, known as ‘Mitzvahs’.

The day was the largest schools’ event for Mitzvah Day, with pupils from St Joseph’s Hendon, St Anthony’s Schools for Girls, Bishop Challoner, Cardinal Pole, St Albert the Great, Pope Paul Catholic Primary School, Jewish Free School, Sacks Morasha and Etz Chaim attending.

Vinnie Packs is an initiative of the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP). The packs contain items of winter essentials for the homeless.

The SVP distributes these packs to anybody who needs them across the UK. Siobhan Garibaldi from the SVP was instrumental in the success of the day, providing the materials and engaging the pupils. Some of the packs from this ‘Mitzvah Day’ are to be distributed to the North London Synagogue Asylum Seeker Drop-In. Pupils wrote heartfelt notes to be included in the packs with words of compassion and encouragement: “Dear receiver, this pack is complete with lots of stuff to keep you warm.

I hope that you wake up feeling refreshed and with many people around you. Let the angels help you. - A person who cares.”

The school grounds are also used for growing vegetables and fruit which are then consumed in the school. Groups of children have regular trips around the school grounds, appreciating the natural world and discussing how to care for it.

‘Solidarity with the poor’ has prompted a regular school collection of non-perishable food for the Ealing Food bank and there is outreach to the local charity Acton Homeless Concern and The Passage in Central London.

A hive of activity in Mill Hill as children from nine schools put Vinnie Packs together

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Champion girls ... jumping for joy Four students from Sacred Heart Catholic College, Crosby, Liverpool, were among the medals as they took part in a Trampolining event.

Iris Mason (9R), Amelie Scott (7H) and Daisy Hesketh (8E) came 1st in the Schools Trampoline Competition in Newcastle, whilst Georgia Smith (inset, 9R) came 3rd in the Individual tournament.

The four travelled to the north east, along with PE’s Mrs Vine, for the event and were delighted at their successes.

Speaking upon their return to Liverpool, Amelie and Daisy said: “In the last competition, we came 1st as a team and qualified for the Newcastle competition.

It was a four hour drive and we got a hotel and stayed the night.

The next day we went to the competition feeling quite nervous after seeing all the other 31 older girls in Year 9. But we won and qualified for the finals in Southampton.

Once we found out we had won, the three of us were over the moon.”

Mrs Vine was full of praise for the girls, adding: “Iris, Amelie, Daisy and Georgia can all feel rightfully proud of their successes.

They work very hard at school, in PE and in training for these events.

They were fantastic ambassadors for Sacred Heart at this event. Congratulations to all four girls. Well done.”

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

Book&Media Review

Alive in God - A Cristian Imagination, by Timothy Radcliffe.

By Willie Slavin

from the pressures of speaking engagements. He notes in his introduction that being bedbound at last gave him the time to work on the book he had always wanted to write and to say what he’d always wanted to say. With typical self-deprecation he explains that indefinite article in the title was ‘intended to reflect my own limitations of age, wisdom, culture, sex and experience’.

This book, however, is anything but limited in its scope. Divided into four sections: Imagination, Journeying, Teaching and The Risen Life, it is a meditation on the life of Jesus interspersed with his own learning and experiences. Its span extends beyond the years when, from his base in Rome, he regularly visited Dominican communities in countries as different as Peru, Rwanda and Iraq, to include his early days as a novice and finally his return to England and his base at Blackfriars Oxford.

All too briefly, we were fortunate in the parish I attended to have an inspirational young priest whose insights into gospel passages made me want to go back and read them again. In conversations we had as to why young people were giving up on church attendance, the subject of dull sermons based on the readings of the day came up: I remember him saying, regretfully rather than judgmentally, ‘The gospel is a great song, it’s a pity about some of the singers’.

Whether in spoken or written form, the voice of the Dominican friar, Timothy Radcliffe, ‘sings the song’ in a unique and memorable way, approaching the New Testament with a freshness that has earned him respect and affection over his distinguished career. Throughout his life as a young priest, as prior of the English Province, during his nine years as Master of the Order worldwide and in his latter years as ‘just’ a friar again he has been an engaging presence and a superb communicator.

He has written his latest book, ‘Alive in God - A Cristian Imagination’ during a long recovery from cancer which had the silver lining of freeing him

Radcliffe explores, usually though powerful anecdotes, the troubled, darker aspects of the human experience and the moral challenges they present, sometimes framing them against the afflictions Jesus underwent. Paradoxically, however, for the man who was the global head of the Order of Preachers, there is absence of didacticism and a deep sensitivity towards the messiness of people’s lives. In a passage on St Augustine who argued that in communicating with students, Christian teachers should employ ‘hilaritas’, he explains that whilst there is an element of cheerfulness in the original meaning of the word, its deeper sense is linked to an energising, even ecstatic, joyfulness. We are true to the memory of Jesus by the way we use our agency to challenge injustice and exclusion, to affirm, to cherish, to heal and share that joy: this is what it means to be fully alive in God. This book takes us on a journey through a life lived to the full which Radcliffe recognises as privileged in the opportunities it has given him to travel and engage with such a huge range of human contexts.

Journey’s end is the promise of the resurrection and his meditations on time are always focused on its movement towards that final destination.

Radcliffe’s theological background, his knowledge of scripture, his descriptions of unforgettable encounters such as his time spent with Jean Vanier

or with the people he met during a visit to Algeria, his effortless transitions between orthodoxy and playfulness, and his interest in cinema, poetry and novels come together to create a work of both profound insights and sparkling prose. He draws from many and sometimes improbable sources, with references to films such as Lady Bird, Of Gods and Men, Avatar and Sherlock Holmes watched during the years of long haul flights that came with his role. His ‘Christian imagination’ is enriched by his love of good fiction and poetry: the book is peppered with extracts from writers including Seamus Heaney, Jeanette Winterson, Emily Dickinson, Abraham Verghese, Elena Ferrante, Orhan Pamuk and Hana Yanagihara.

Radcliffe’s theology is closely aligned to that of Pope Francis and inspired by his teaching.

Both men share a history of being targeted and misrepresented by Catholic traditionalists who distrust their distinctive approach to how the Church should be speaking about itself and their often innovative use of language. Yet Radcliffe is no contrarian; like Francis his faith is rooted in an orthodox understanding of dogma and truth. What also often riles their detractors is the importance they both give to orthopraxis, to mercy and social justice, whether in quiet daily acts of empathy and solidarity or in their embrace of the Christian imperative to engage with the challenges and dire results of inequality, exclusion and climate change.

Above all, this book is the work of a great teacher, one whose restless curiosity and lightly worn learning are laced with humour and astonishing insights. Chapter themes range from a meditation on the act of breathing to a brilliant lectio divina on the parable of the Prodigal Son. When I occasionally buy a book by a theologian or religious leader that has been recommended to me, I tend to read it over time and in small doses.

I devoured ‘Alive in God’ over two days, rereading passages because of their beauty, googling for more information about some of his tantalising references and often laughing out loud at his jokes.

I’ve since bought four more copies for friends and family: a great way to spread the Good News.

Review by Anthony McNamara a retired Secondary Headteacher

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

Visual Impairment caring for yourself and others by Dr John Patterson,

Religion and Education Edited by Dr Gareth Byrne & Professor Leslie J. Francis,

Redemptorist Publications: ISBN: 9 780852 315507 £4.95 Available in a Large Text format £4.95

Like many people, I interrupt my reading when the newspaper arrives. Just as I was nearing the end of this fascinating little book the Tablet arrived and demanded my immediate perusal. The perusal drew my eyes towards a feature on the former and much admired General of the Society of Jesus Fr Pedro Arrupe who is credited with the recovery of the Jesuit charism following a turbulent period in the aftermath of Vatican II. In that task, the Dominican theologian Yves Congar is noted as being an influence on Arrupe and, incidentally, a young Jorge Mario Bergoglio. SJ. Congar insisted that authentic reform is driven by pastoral concerns discerned at the edges, not ideological renewal imposed by the centre.

This, in my view sums up the essence of Dr John Patterson’s mission in the education and life enhancement of Visually Impaired (VI) young people at St Vincent’s Specialist School for Sensory Impairment in Liverpool. Every chapter of this book is testament to both the passion and compassion that forms the pastoral mindset that endlessly challenges and pushes the boundaries that society and our education system impose upon the visually impaired. As a retired teacher and headteacher, I can recall vividly how the challenge of enacting the reforms of the 1981 Education Act (which opened mainstream schooling to young people with special educational needs) offered the possibility of a professional rethink about how we taught by demanding a much more refined view of the teaching/learning process. St Vincent’s dynamic curriculum enhancement modus operandi occupies that malleable threshold.

However, to briefly reconnect with the Arrupe story; when in 1974 the Jesuits were considering the adoption of a decree “Our Mission Today: The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice”, Arrupe encouraged them “to act to discover the call to be contemplatives in action.” Throughout this engaging book the narrative is enlivened and enriched by refences to Scripture, prayer and poetry. In a telling statement of intent, John Patterson declares: “In several chapters of this book, and with love and faith at the centre, I have included a prayer to connect us all wherever we may be serving.

I encourage us as a body to use the prayers to help us direct our reflections and meditations on these chapters as we seek the Spirit’s guidance in

39

Veritas: £24.99

adapting the content for where our service is being called.” (p2) The task that he goes on to describe in some detail moves from the reality of the lives of VI young people and the lifelong challenges they face, the piercingly enlightening life stories, how the solutions that they devise are making an impact worldwide and advice on the power of how a loving and sensitive approach can make such a contribution to the well-being of a VI person.

It is barely credible that such an insightful and engaging window into this remarkable educational community can be packed into 58 pages and yet, for all its author’s undoubted commitment and experience, neither he nor I would deny a last word to a student Nicola who writes in the introduction: “Now my own sight is steadily deteriorating….I want to remain grateful for all the things that I have seen and others couldn’t. I want to let my eyes be permanently linked to my memory, so that my heart will always see when my eyes have stopped working.”

Review by Willie Slavin

Religion and Education: The Voices of Young People in Ireland is a wide-ranging collection of essays exploring the attitudes of teenagers on the island of Ireland to religion and diversity.

In this volume the authors provide a comparative analysis of what young people in Ireland have to say about religion over a period of fifty years. The results offer a fascinating insight into the religiosity and spirituality of young people in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland, and into their engagement with religious education.

By presenting and analysing this material, the authors aim to help young people, parents, schools and faith communities to reflect on how the interaction between religion and education can contribute to the fullest development of young people in Ireland today, both spiritually and morally.

About the Editors Gareth Byrne is Associate Professor of Religious Education and Director of the Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education at DCU Institute of Education.

He is published widely in the field of religious education. Among his titles with Veritas are Faith Working through Love, In the Tender Embrace of God’s Mercy, and Love One Another as I Have Loved You. Leslie J. Francis is Professor of Religions and Education and Director of the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit at the University of Warwick. Throughout his academic career, he has published leading and extensive research at the intersections between education, psychology and theology.

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

Did Jesus go to school? A Word for Lent, by Denis

By Roy Peachey

McBride and Janet Fearns.

Redemptorist Publications, 2019, Pp.149; £9.95

Redemptorist Publications ISBN 9 780825 315682 £4.95

This is an engaging, down-to-earth, original, wise and spiritual book about parents, children and education. It has something of value for all Catholic teachers and parents. The topics it touches upon are intriguingly opened up by a series of questions.

These include: why did it take three days for Mary and Joseph to find Jesus? Are parents more like gardeners or carpenters? Were Adam and Eve children? Did Jesus go to school? How did he learn? What can Jesus teach us about education today? The author, who has already given us another interesting book on how to transform Catholic education – Out of the Classroom and Into the World (Angelico Press, 2018) – blends reflections on passages from scripture (especially about the early life of Jesus), insights from spiritual reading and personal anecdotes, all related to daily experience of parenthood and being a teacher – about which vocations he offers simple yet profound advice. I was particularly struck by his observations about silence, adoption, the qualities needed by parents, the soul-extending part played in our lives by longing, the Bible (‘a pool deep enough for elephants to bathe in and shallow enough for mice to paddle in’) and time. ‘Neither love nor education can be rushed’ (p.142). Neither can discipleship.

Review by John Sullivan, Emeritus Professor (Christian Education), Liverpool Hope University

complete with prompts to reflection, all prior to opening up the Word in powerfully engaging and insightful reflection. In each session, before the final prayer there is a challenging ‘What can I do?’ question relating to the theme of the week. By way of offering a flavour of the tone of this little gem, in Week 2 focussed on Transformation, it suggests: ‘Pray for all those people who feel disfigured through lack of being loved.

Can you make someone radiant this week by something you say?’

Going straight into the Final Prayer: ‘We pray for those who feel defeated by life, who believe that life has passed them by.’

We pray for ourselves …that we might never … ignore the little people in life who hunger to be noticed and counted.’

For a book that is carefully structured to enable its readership, individually or in groups, to enter once more into the Lenten journey, any anticipation of another formulaic, overly pious traipse along a well-trodden path is instantly dispelled. Each of the six weekly sessions begins with a strikingly absorbing piece of art that draws the eye into that Sunday’s Gospel reading with a seductively inviting gentleness that characterises this valuable resource.

The structure allows the Word to be savoured then linked in prayer to a ‘listening to life’ feature

Sometimes, one is just struck by the scholarship, wisdom and cultural sensitivity of an authorship than can produce such a treasure in 47 pages and all for less than a fiver.

Highly recommended.

Review by Willie Slavin

Celebrating School Achievements Brief reports and accounts of events in schools or similar, particularly related to the distinctive nature of the mission of Catholic schools are welcomed, to celebrate and shared with our readers. Please send reports and photographs to editor@networkingcet.co.uk

Networking Let’s hear from you!

Articles More detailed accounts of school events or reflections on particular issues are also welcomed; accounts of no more than 2,000 words, with supporting photographs where possible should be sent to - editor@networkingcet.co.uk or posted to The Editor, Networking(CET)Ltd, 9 Elston Hall Elston Newark Notts NG23 5NP

We look forward to hearing from you

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Restoring the historical heritage of our woodlands - See page 14

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www.peterlang.com www.peterlang.com

Margaret Buck Margaret Buck

Renewingthe theChurch-State Church-State Renewing Partnershipfor for Partnership CatholicEducation Education Catholic Engaging with Challenge Academisation Engaging with thethe Challenge of of Academisation

Oxford, 2020. XVI, 306 pp Oxford, 2020. XVI, 306 pp hb.

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CONTENTS: In light of changes to the English national CONTENTS: In light of changes to the English national educational policy context since the Academies Foreword by the Right Reverend Marcus Stock, educational policy context since the Academies Foreword by the Right Reverend Marcus Stock, 2010, book examines relationship Bishop Bishop of Leeds Acknowledgements ActAct 2010, thisthis book examines thethe relationship of Leeds Acknowledgements between Catholic Church English ListList of Abbreviations between thethe Catholic Church andand thethe English of Abbreviations Key Terms State with regard to the provision of education Key Terms State with regard to the provision of education Introduction in diocesan Catholic schools. author in diocesan Catholic schools.

TheThe author pro-pro- Introduction - Chapter 1: Setting Scene poses why, where, partnership - Chapter 1: Setting thethe Scene poses why, where, andand howhow thisthis partnership Chapter 2: The History of the Strategic should be modified and reinforced in order - Chapter 2: The History of the Strategic should be modified and reinforced in order Partnership between Church State needs of children learning growing Partnership between Church andand State thatthat thethe needs of children learning andand growing Chapter 3: Church Teaching on Education to maturity in Catholic schools, the mission of - Chapter 3: Church Teaching on Education to maturity in Catholic schools, the mission of - Chapter 4: Four Major Contributors church common good of society - Chapter 4: Four Major Contributors thethe church andand thethe common good of society - Chapter 5: The Theological Dimension be addressed. book, which is not simply - Chapter 5: The Theological Dimension cancan be addressed.

ThisThis book, which is not simply Chapter 6: The Advent and about academisation, should be of interest to - Chapter 6: The Advent and EraEra of of about academisation, should be of interest to Academisation bishops, diocesan officers, senior leaders and Academisation bishops, diocesan officers, senior leaders and - Chapter 7: Challenging Issues in the teachers in Catholic schools academies, - Chapter 7: Challenging Issues in the teachers in Catholic schools andand academies, Relationship between Church State directors and governors of the same, as well as Relationship between Church andand State directors and governors of the same, as well as Chapter 8: Fresh Understandings and New many others with a professional or personal - Chapter 8: Fresh Understandings and New many others with a professional or personal Requirements interest in English Catholic education.

The aim Requirements interest in English Catholic education. The aim - Chapter 9: Conclusion: Towards a Preferred to put Christ at the centre children is toisput Christ at the centre andand children firstfirst - Chapter 9: Conclusion: Towards a Preferred Future when envisioning the preferred future for Future when envisioning the preferred future for Bibliography Catholic education in a post-Brexit world.

Bibliography Catholic education in a post-Brexit world.

Index Index

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

1

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6 7

10

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You can use both sets of clues to solve the puzzle: the solutions are the same. So, if you want to try the CRYPTIC puzzle, for instance, but are unsure, use the QUICK clues to help you work out the solution. Similarly, if you try the QUICK clues, use the CRYPTIC clues to help you prove the solution

9

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16 17

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CRYPTIC Across

1 Annals from one or two books (10) 8 Travel to an old city having found someone with taste (7) 9 Director introduced learners to string instrument – but not violin (5) 23 10 Pick up a sailor the French wanted first (5) 11 Vile embrocation no team applied with robustness (3,4) 12 Raise the profile of a line manager (6) QUICK Across 14 Polish detective to the fore in tripping up receiver (6) 1 Two OT books which record the early history of Israel and Judah 17 A result of the sun one gets in California and a spot in Sicily (10) (7) 8 Epicurean; connoisseur (7) 19 Judge a bishop’s Gourmet,9 9 Cello, 10 Learn, 11 Con brio, 12 Emboss, 14 IPhone, 17 Catania, 19 Abdon, 21academic Lying, following (5) Four-stringed bass instrument of the violin family (5) la.

21 Fabrication of Lully’s overture and the coda in this key (5) 10 Assimilate: detect (5) 22 15 Characters make the18 Epistles? (7) 11 With vigour (music) (3,4) 7 Holofernes, 8 Golden calf, 13 Butlins, onds, 4 Intact, 5 Lucan, 6 Salerno, Psalter,that 16 Raglan, 23 He reformed after salvo Aaron blasted (10) 12 Mould to raise against low relief (6) 21

22

14 Smart cellular handset (6) 17 Port on the eastern coast of Sicily, at the foot of Mt Etna (7) CRYPTIC Down 19 Judge of Israel 10 for eight years,11 sonanag of Hillel Pirathonite (5)minus anag of 'team', 12 em+boss, go+Ur+met, 9 CE(L+L)O, le+a+RN, of the 'embrocation' +tan+1)A,2119Mendacious; A+B+don, double-dealing 21 L(-ull)y+in+G, (5) 22 double def & pun, 23 anag.2 Nigerian with Cuban capital, but without any transport, 22 Colossians or4Ephesians, instancedef, (7) 6 Sale+RN+0, 7 Hol(o+fern)es, reaches America (5) 13 SA, 3 OS([-B+M]ond)S, in(t)act, 5fordouble 8 anag & pun, 23 Italian priest and reformer (1452-98), who fought against 3 Family group of agents adopted 007’s change of leadership P(salt)er, 16 double def & pun, 18 Veg(-A+E)n [rev], 20 D+well. immorality and corruption (10) to ‘M’ (7) 4 During performance it’s tense, all in one piece (6) QUICK Down 5 Aristo that’s disappeared is concerning one of the Gospels (5) 2 Predominantly Muslim people, and their language, living chiefly 6 Deal’s naval connection brings nothing to Allies landing here in northern Nigeria (5) (7) 3 1970s American band (7) 7 Seen in craters close to Aleppo is a type of plant, in general, found in Babylon (10) 4 Complete; whole (6) 8 Geldof clan’s upset seeing an idol shattered? (6,4) 5 Relating to St Luke (5) 13 Bar within limits, on the fringes, is just about the place to be 6 Landing beach site for the Invasion of Italy (1943) (7) when camping (7) 7 His beheading is portrayed by Donatelli, among others (10) 15 Hymn book each sailor keeps (7) 8 Image made by Aaron which has come to mean an unworthy or 16 Cardigan’s arm of leadership in the Crimean War? (6) inappropriate object of worship (6,4) 18 Strict veggie turned up replacing an A with an E supplement 13 British holiday institution since 1936 (7) to fill the void (5) 15 Book of hymns or poems associated with the OT (7) 16 Kind of sweater sleeve design: Welsh castle (6) 18 Desert area north of Sinai (5) 20 Reside; inhabit (5)

20 Expertly introduce Schubert piece live (5) You can find the solutions on page 55.

Are MATS and Academies a threat to the future of Catholic Education in England and Wales?

The first National Conference on Academisation and Catholic Education.

Woodbrooke Centre, Birmingham - 4th December 2019 The Conference was organised as a collaboration between the Networking Catholic Education Trust Ltd and the Network of Researchers in Catholic Education.

Dr Sean Whittle – Conference Organiser Sean Whittle is a Visiting Research Fellow at St Mary’s University in Twickenham. He is also a Research Associate with the CRDCE, with Professor Gerald Grace. He also held a Fellowship at Heythrop College, University of London.

Alongside these academic roles he works part-time as a secondary school RE teacher at Gumley House FCJ Catholic School in West London.

Academies and the future of Catholic Education in England The dawn of a new decade brings into focus that it is now ten years since Academies were first introduced to the educational landscape. Opinions over Catholic schools converting to Academy status have remained deeply polarised. Some dioceses (Plymouth and Nottingham) have enthusiastically embraced the policy for all their schools, others have opted for a more partial take up within the dioceses (Westminster) whilst others have remained deeply opposed (Liverpool).

In the wake of Boris Johnson’s election victory, it is clear that the Academy policy is here to stay, in all likelihood for another decade. For all of us who have a stake in Catholic education – children, parents, teachers, parishes, the CES and the bishops - the time has come to reconsider ten years on, what our collective stance towards the Academisation of our Catholic schools ought to be.

So what is it about Academisation that is causing this polarisation? Some fresh perspectives on this question were presented at the start of December, during the first ever national conference devoted to Academisation and Catholic Education.

Eighty delegates from almost every diocese across England gathered in Birmingham to engage with keynotes from serving

headteachers and academics. Although the conference was deliberately framed around a provocative question about whether or not academies are a threat to Catholic education, the responses were measured and balanced. The consensus was around there being benefits alongside some deeply held concerns about how things will unfold in the future.

What are the benefits for Catholic schools who adopt Academy status? In the early years there was an economic benefit. As an inducement, the initial wave of schools converting to Academy status were given a little extra funding, representing the top slice which was taken by Local Authorities. However, the enduring benefit of Academisation for Catholic schools has been the way it makes possible new levels of collaboration. It has been a way for Catholic schools to tackle the underachievement identified through Ofsted or league table performance. Over the past decade, Catholic Academies have worked with their other Catholic schools to tackle long term underachievement.

The creation of a Multi-Academy Trust or Company has enabled the Catholic schools who belong to it to see underachievement or issues in a ‘partner’ school as a shared concern. It is no longer the individual school’s sole problem. Creating this shared sense of enterprise is key to the success of a MAT. When Raymond Friel, the Chief Executive of Plymouth Diocese CAST, began his work in 2018 his key priority was to establish a shared vision and set of values across all 36 Catholic schools across the diocese. One of the practical benefits

of Academisation is that it has made it possible for teaching staff and school leaders to move between schools within the trust, building up capacity where it is needed. This has generated a source of highly valuable professional development, enabling teachers to take on new challenges within neighbouring Catholic schools, and help them practically prepare for senior leadership.

On a national basis Birmingham diocese has led the way on academies. As early as 2011 Birmingham was involved with the DfE in negotiating appropriate safeguards for Catholic schools as they converted to Academy status. The following year in 2012, the Painsley Collegiate became the first MAC (Multi-Academy Company) in the diocese. Since 2012 there has been a steady rate of conversion so that today 48% of the 237 diocesan schools are Academies operating in 18 separate MACs. In July 2016, the diocesan director, Fr Jonathan Veasey launched the diocesan Academy Strategy. Originally it was envisaged that by January 2018 every diocesan school would be an Academy within a MAC. In the event that proved to be over ambitious and a new timescale of 2020 has now been set. Unless Archbishop Bernard decides to compel the remaining schools to become Academies it seems clear that the latest deadline will be missed too.

Jim Foley, CEO of a Birmingham MAT and one of the presenters at the conference, questions whether it is better for the bishop and his advisers simply to say “we’re going for it” and to create a single diocesan trust

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covering all schools or if is it preferable to win hearts and minds to the Academy cause over a period of years. Perhaps there is no simple answer and this might well be a factor in the different levels of take-up of schools converting to Academies amongst different dioceses.

Academisation also has benefits for schools founded by religious congregations. At times these schools have experienced a twin set of curbs on their work, one from the Local Authority and the other from the local diocese. These schools, through the charism of the founding congregation, have a strong sense of not being ‘diocesan’ schools. Through the policy of Academisation some, such as the Faithful Companions of Jesus, have been able to create a Multi-Academy trust for all of the FCJ schools in England. This has enabled these schools to foster deeper links and a shared sense of distinct identity which embody the FCJ values.

Against these benefits, the reservations about the drive towards Academies raised

by Dr Margaret Buck and Dr Richard Wilkin also need to be noted. Both share concerns over the unintended consequences of Academisation for Catholic education. Dr Buck, in her recently published doctoral studies, persuasively argues that the new policy of Academies drives a wedge through the partnership established between the state and the leaders of the Catholic Church in the 1944 Butler Education Act. The partnership model enshrined in the legal framework of 1944 is, despite seventy years of proven success, radically changed in the implementation of the Academies legislation. Dr Buck questions if the proven benefits over time of the Voluntary Aided regulated framework will be replicated when schools become Academies. Essentially, the Catholic Church has been strengthened by a unity of purpose, provision and practice, due to that agreement in 1944 by the bishops, to support a single model of a Catholic school. The unity of the bishops has limited the opportunity for central government to divide and rule. The danger is that this unity of purpose is in serious danger in the wake of Academisation.

For Dr Buck there are two serious issues for Catholic education related to Academies. First, Academisation has set education policy squarely in the market place. It has provided a Conservativeled Department for Education with the

ideological opportunity to pursue a ‘small state’ agenda – to cut public spending, reduce the powers of local authorities, and extend the central powers of the Secretary of State. Essentially, at a stroke, neoliberal policies disconnect Catholic Academies from Local Authority maintenance, and in doing so eradicate the long-established partnership between diocese and the LA. With Academies, dioceses can no longer depend on LA support and services.

Neither can a diocese be assured of mutual relationships of vested interest, such as existed between diocesan and local authority officers, in the interests of Catholic Voluntary Aided schools that belong to both the diocesan and local authority families of schools. While it is perfectly proper to acknowledge that Catholic academies and dioceses offer positive examples of good academy practice, where a diocese elects to take on responsibility for standards, the old relationship between the diocese and the LA, as strategic partners in the provision of school places, is replaced by a new one of accountability for educational standards by the diocese to central government, as defined by secular measures. This leads to a fundamental question: in such circumstances are individual dioceses prepared to stand alone and be accountable in the public market place, in full secular gaze? Dr Buck’s second concern is the way Academisation causes fragmentation through various mechanisms: As schools have converted to Academies and LAs have been required to downsize or outsource. LAs have lost much of their historical and institutional knowledge and expertise. This stripping away of services has left significant gaps in local capacity and capability to support schools.

However, it is perhaps the legal changes that might have the greatest unintended consequences. Academies are established using English contract law, detailed in the terms and conditions of a contract between the Secretary of State and the directors of each Academy company. In reality, there is a possibility that Academisation can create ‘companies’ that are educational islands in a sea of contract law, subject to ‘climate change’ when there is a new Secretary of State or government. And, unlike the regulation of Voluntary Aided schools, these contracts can be changed without parliamentary legalisation. As Dr Buck explains, this provokes a question “are dioceses and their schools and / or Academies fully conversant as to the implications of basing educational provision

on contract law?” And, where a diocese elects to take on responsibility for standards in its academies, does it understand the implications of the potential risk of failure?

All this amounts to a potential challenge to the canonical foundations that underpin Catholic education. Whatever the criticisms laid at its door, for most of 75 years the strategic partnership between diocese and LA has served the interests of Catholic education well, by supporting individual schools, governing bodies and headteachers to do the best they can for their children.

According to Dr Wilkin, an accomplished researcher and serving headteacher, the real risks surround the unproven benefits for Academisation. In the ten years since they were introduced, there is now growing evidence from researchers that the benefits of converting to Academy status have been heavily overstated. Often any initial benefit is short lived, lasting just a few years. Wilkin comments that “I will continue to wait patiently for evidence that MATs have saved Catholic education, even on a small scale; similarly I wait to see persuasive evidence that the top slice taken from schools within a MAT has increased the number and quality of teachers, the outcomes for students or the financial situation of all schools in the MAT”.

It is possible to identify some other unintended consequences for Catholic education with the drive towards Academisation. The first surrounds a possible deterioration in the relationship Catholic schools have with neighbouring non-Catholic schools. Through belonging to a Catholic MAT, our Catholic schools may well be collaborating very closely with the other Catholic schools they are joined with. However Vatican II’s Gaudium et spes mandates the Church to see the joys, hopes and fears of all others as our own. Presumably in our commitment to educate young people, we are supposed to collaborate with all others and not just the Catholic schools we are bound to in a contract. There is an intriguing theological issue here. Within Catholic education do we stick geographically with our neighbours (as embodied in the 1944 Act and Las) or do we group our schools together as ‘Catholic’ academy chains? Should we remain true to the vision in Gaudium et Spes, or retreat back to something akin to a pre-Vatican II ‘catholic’ enclave when it comes to our Catholic schools?

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

Another unintended consequence of Academisation is that it allows Catholic schools to ignore employment law and perpetuate the alleged ‘headship’ crisis.

For the past two decades it has been asserted that not enough people are applying for senior positions in Catholic schools. In the wake of Catholic Academy chains, it has become easier to move senior leaders between schools without any need to advertise posts. Moreover, with a CEO running a cluster of schools it is possible to re-designate deputy headteachers as Heads of School, in effect reducing the need to find headteachers. It is now much harder to find traditional opportunities for headship in Catholic schools. Academisation may well have worsened or even made real a headship crisis. Sadly, it has also opened up our schools to serious concerns about unbecoming employment practices.

A related unintended consequence is the instances of people who have been crushed and treated badly through the Academisation process. Many Catholic schools have been forced to become Academies and too often committed members of staff have found it a deeply painful time. During the conference on Academies in December this issue was powerfully brought out in the keynote presentation from serving headteacher Louise McGowan, who drew on her doctoral studies. These demonstrate the devastating effects that the processes of Academisation can have on senior leaders, particularly in terms of their health and mental well-being. Whilst her data is

drawn from non-Catholic schools forced to become Academies, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence of similar exploitation within Catholic schools that have been forced to become Academies. An alarming consequence of Catholic academies has been the damage done to some of the adults who are part of these Catholic school communities.

The polarisation surrounding Academies and Catholic education brings into focus the concerns that Professor Gerald Grace has been raising for two decades over the way market forces are undermining the fundamental mission of our Catholic schools. Academisation may well be a sign that the marketisation of education has become endemic and perhaps irreversible.

It is this which is the major threat to the long-term future of Catholic education in England and Wales.

The need to reconsider the drive towards Academisation is important because this is a time of considerable change for our Catholic schools. This change is fuelled by the decisions of so many Catholic parents not to send their children to Catholic schools. The annual CES census data shows how over many years that for increasing proportions of the Catholic community, choosing a Catholic school is no longer the default position. Overall, 68% of children at Catholic schools come from Catholic families. However, there are more than enough baptised children in the UK to fill all the spaces in Catholic schools,

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it is just that these families are choosing non-Catholic schools to educate their children. The cause of this is largely rooted in the sociological changes that have occurred among the Catholic community in Britain. The drift towards the adoption of middle class values and attitudes, that the Catholic sociologist Michael HornsbySmith drew attention to four decades ago (1978) has continued apace. An important part of these values are educational assumptions that now operate amongst the parents of Catholic children. What they want is the best possible school for their children, regardless of whether or not this is a Catholic one. Unfortunately, working out which is the best school has become embroiled in the drive towards Academisation. This is because policy makers have made conversion to Academy status one of the drivers for improving school performance. Thus, in the hope of attracting more Catholic parents to choose a Catholic school, there has been a powerful pressure for Catholic schools to adopt academy status.

It may well be that the issue here is another indicator that there is a lack of consensus around what is the purpose of a Catholic school and a Catholic education. Working out the theory or philosophy of Catholic education is a very challenging task, and it is this which is needed, in order to better inform where Catholics should stand in relation to the Academisation agenda.

The Benefits and Risks of a Catholic MAT: A CEO’s perspective According to the CES 2018 Census, there are currently 2,122 Catholic schools in England. Just over a quarter – 26% - are academies. We don’t have any figures on the numbers of Catholic academies which are in multi academy trusts, but the assumption is that any new academies or schools compelled to become an academy by an Academy Order if it is judged to be in special measures will join a MAT, since the DFE/RSC’s policy is no longer to allow any single academy converters.

To become an academy, you need to find a MAT to join.

The Catholic figure is well below the national figure of 47% of schools which are academies. This is due largely to the different academy strategy pursued by the Catholic dioceses, with some still resisting and some embracing the programme.

Depending on where you sit in the debate, this is either a disadvantage, preventing any national planning and support, or a welcome drag on the wholesale rush into a programme which is a threat to the very notion of Catholic education.

Keynote Speaker1: Raymond Friel Raymond Friel Friel is currently CEO of Plymouth CAST, a multi-academy trust of 36 Catholic school in the south west of England.

Headteacher of two Catholic state secondary schools, from 2016-2018 he served as General Secretary of the Catholic Independent Schools’ Conference. He is the author of a number of books on Catholic education and spirituality.

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I would like to divide my comments into three sections: 1. A personal perspective on my involvement in a Catholic MAT 2. An attempt to define the hallmarks of Catholic education, or more specifically, the Catholic school. If as the title of this conference suggests MATs are a threat to Catholic education then what is this “Catholic education” that is being threatened? If there is a risk, then what is it that is “at risk”? To what extent can we talk about Catholic education as a recognisably coherent project in this country, given that individual bishops have so much say over policy and practice in their diocese and the national presence is largely focused on legal and political interface with the government of the day 3. A version of a SWOT analysis in which I will comment on the strengths of a Catholic MAT when it works, the weaknesses in Catholic education which effective MATs might address, the opportunities for us if we pursue the setting up of MATs and finally the threats to mission integrity posed by the MAT model For thirty years I have worked in statefunded Catholic education as a teacher, senior leader, headteacher and executive headteacher. From 2016-2018 I served as the general secretary of the Catholic Independence Schools Conference and, since July 2018 I have served as the Chief Executive Officer of Plymouth CAST, a MAT of 33 primary schools, 2 secondaries and one nursery. All the Catholic schools in Plymouth diocese are in the MAT, apart from the two joint RC/CofE secondary schools. In the academic year 2016/17 Ofsted carried out batch inspections across the Trust and placed 5 schools in special measures with 11 requiring improvement. In September 2017. The Trust’s own evaluation found that a further 11 schools were ‘not good,’ including schools previously judged as outstanding under older frameworks, so at that point 27 of the Trust’s 36 schools were not good.

In addition, the Trust self-referred to the Education and Skills Funding Agency due to its financial position and was served with a Financial Notice to Improve, which imposed a range of restrictions and monitoring on the Trust. Staff morale was low, pupil numbers were declining, results were not improving. What was at stake

was not just the education of children in Plymouth Diocese – which was and remains the absolute priority – but the reputation of the Catholic Church in England to be able to manage this new type of educational provision.

It is worth just adding at this point that in normal circumstances a MAT with this level of dysfunction would have been broken up by the Regional Schools Commissioner and the schools re-brokered into other Trusts. The reason that didn’t happen was the Memorandum of Understanding drawn up in April 2016 between the Catholic Education Service and the DFE with regards to academisation. The Church was adamant that whatever happened to its schools, their governance would always be in the control of the Catholic Church. The DFE agreed to this, presumably considering this a price worth paying to get Catholic schools into the academy system. It meant however that in the case of failure at scale, which was perhaps not envisaged in April 2016, the only option to improve a Trust was new leadership.

So what possessed me to walk into this challenge? Firstly, that braver people than me had gone in first. There were, by the summer of 2017 some key people in place who were beginning to halt the decline and begin the repair. The key roles in the Trust in this phase were Director of Education and Standards; and Chief Finance Officer.

An interim CEO was in place from another diocese. I applied to the third advert for the post of CEO – a reserved post – not because I was evangelical about academies or MATs. My 14 years in Catholic headships were all in voluntary-aided schools, so I had no experience of an academy or a MAT. In 2010, we pursued an interest in becoming an academy purely for financial gain, but a land issue meant we could not proceed. My motivation in applying to Plymouth CAST was to help a member of the family who was in trouble.

Two years on, we are seeing the recovery gain traction. As I write, only one of our schools is in special measures, not 5, and we judge 12 of our schools to be not good, not 27. A key reason for this improvement was that we were able to establish a school improvement team with leadership and management authority. Not a School Improvement Partner model when someone appeared in the school from time to time and left you with some helpful suggestions, but an improvement strategy supported by

line management authority and bespoke professional development.

The final part of the repair strategy was the recovery of the link between mission and standards. In the Catholic tradition and in canon law, schools are expected and encouraged to be as “academically distinguished” as the other schools in the area (Canon 806.2). This is not a crude competitive play for market share but arises from a deep insight in the Catholic tradition that excellence in education is humanising and an essential dimension of the church’s intention to contribute to the common good by providing capable, but not uncritical citizens, who have a heart for the poor, an eye for the obstacles to social justice and a commitment to human flourishing. At Plymouth CAST we took our time to re-animate our vision and values and we now have a compelling vision and set of shared Gospel values which have been welcomed by our schools and above all by our children and young people.

Which leads me in to the second part, an attempt to understand more fully and deeply what we mean when we say Catholic education. I would like to start at a point where we don’t often start but should do more often. Rather than beginning with the distinctive nature of the Catholic school, which could leave us open to compromises with our cultural context or colonization by the dominant contemporary discourse of psychology which is at odds with the tradition of the Church – with its emphasis on self-realisation and the autonomous self - I would like to start with the mission of the Church, since as it states in the 1977 document from the Congregation for Catholic Education, The Catholic School, in para 9, “The Catholic school forms part of the saving mission of the Church.” And if we start with the mission of the Church we have no option but to consider the mission of Christ.

For a definition of that I turn to the Second Vatican Council’s document, the Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, Ad Gentes.

There it states in para 5 that the mission of the Church “in the course of history unfolds the mission of Christ Himself, who was sent to preach the Gospel to the poor.” And so “the Church, prompted by the Holy Spirit, must walk in the same path on which Christ walked: a path of poverty and obedience, of service and self - sacrifice to the death, from which death He came forth a victor by His resurrection.” Here we have some of

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020 the keynotes of our mission: good news to the poor and service, not material gain or worldly success “over against” our rivals or the less advantaged.

The Catholic School document takes up this keynote when it states in no uncertain terms that, “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.” (58) What is good news to a portion of the human race which has grown exponentially since the time of the new testament? And what do we have to say to the poor today which they would consider to be worth hearing? Taking our cue from the words and deeds of Jesus in the gospels, we could say: you are human too, you are beloved, your state of diminishment and exclusion from community is not part of God’s plan. Jesus blessed, loved, forgave, healed and restored the poor to community and commissioned his followers to build a kingdom in which power, prestige and possessions were not a normative pursuit, but where reconciliation, compassion and justice held sway.

The Congregation for Catholic Education has provided many rich and insightful documents since 1977 which have adumbrated the principles of Catholic education, inspired by the gospel and the mission of Christ to humanity. However, there is no one side of A4 to tell us what Catholic education looks like, no tablet of stone with a magisterial definition which is binding in every jurisdiction.

What we have in the documents are themes, leitmotifs if you like, which emerge consistently throughout. Catholic education in that sense is an interpretative project, dependent on the discernment of its practitioners. What I would like to offer now, to conclude this second part, is my attempt to capture the hallmarks of Catholic education, my interpretation of the documents based on my reading of them and my application of what I believe to be their principles in various leadership roles. I offer seven hallmarks of Catholic education, or more specifically the Catholic school: 1. We do God It is the first declaration of the creed: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” In an age of receding transcendence, we affirm our faith in a loving transcendent being, who made heaven and earth and made men and women and declared them to be good. We

mediate to our children the sense of the nature of the sacred, we invite them to turn to the ‘burning bush’ of God’s presence.

This provides the anthropology and dignity which is foundational to our schools and its worship and should underpin every policy and practice in the school. It is also our driver for committing ourselves to the care of our common home and inviting our children to do likewise, although in this respect they are already ahead of us.

2. Christ at the centre Christ is the foundation of the whole educational enterprise in a Catholic school (TCS, 34). The Good News of God made flesh should be at the heart of our discourse. Our pupils, whether Catholic or not, are invited into a Christian world view and more than that, invited into an encounter with Christ in the 4 ways identified by the Catechism (ccc 1378) – in scripture, liturgy, prayer and the poor. The skill of leadership is to discern the extent and form of that encounter given the nature of the pupil cohort.

3. A Community of the Catholic Church The Catholic school is a community of the Catholic Church and as such should be linked in to local, national and international Catholic networks. It is a part of what used to be known in the Patristic age as the Great Church, the great main stream. It should be characterised by a spirituality of communion, animated by the same Holy Spirit which hovered over the deep at creation and over the disciples at Pentecost.

The community is the place which ‘holds’ and cherishes values, the Gospel values which describe a way of being and belonging which God would recognise. In a loving community, the poor and neglected should receive special attention. As one headteacher put it to me, “those who are loved at home, come to school to learn.

Those who are not, come to school to be loved.” And they do not always ask for love in the most loving way.

4. The Formation of the human person The Catholic school is committed to the formation of the whole person, a rounded education, never just the narrow pursuit of academic outcomes. It is a house of formation, of character development, where pupils are introduced to the lead virtue of prudence, they learn to see and judge/interpret the signs of the times in the light of the gospel and then to act with courage, temperance and justice. They are encouraged to discover their gift, their

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element, their contribution to the world, or as Pope Benedict XVI said in Twickenham, to discover the type of person God wants them to be.

5. A curriculum in the light of the Gospel The curriculum in a Catholic school should involve the critical transmission of a cultural legacy and knowledge – always accompanied by the ‘big questions’ the gospel schools us in – where is the power here? Is it just that this should happen?

Whose dignity is ignored here? Whose story is unheard? Who is being hurried to death?

The Catholic Church, without ever providing a concrete programme, encourages “the art of teaching in accordance with the principles of the Gospel.” What might this look like? Consider one example. A maths lesson on percentages, which you would cover at different ages at different levels of complexity. So this was a Year 9 lesson on APRs, the annual percentage rate. The teacher needs an example from real life. Consider the difference between using mortgage payments and using pay day loans. Each present a different world, a different ‘normal’. In the lesson I observed a few years ago the teacher used pay day loans to illustrate her point and was very soon teaching percentages through a lens of social justice, initiating a conversation about a single parent on a zero hours contract whose work ended on a Wednesday and who had no money to feed his or her family; so borrowed money online or from the back street and a month later owed ten times what she borrowed. For this and other examples I would refer you to the work of Professor Trevor Cooling at Canterbury which can be found in his 2010 publication, Doing God in Education. In this way the curriculum can be ‘marinated’ in the Gospel. This does not require Catholic staff, but staff who support the values of the school, which should be everybody who works there.

6. The transformation of society Our schools have a tradition of commitment to the common good. The main tradition of the Great Church has always seen its place as being in the world to make it better – to tend its fields and gardens, to care for its sick, to educate its poor. We are open to life and to the world, part of a project to build a different kind of kingdom, one constructed and sustained by ironic imagination, where the last are first, the greatest least, the rich poor. It offers Good Friday, not Black Friday; resurrection, not despair. What our pupils do when they leave us is beyond

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our control, but we can at least inspire and encourage them to use their excellence, their education, to care for the world and its most vulnerable and precarious inhabitants.

What we don’t know – and there is an urgent need for the research community to develop longitudinal studies to find out – is just how formative a Catholic education is in the life choices of adults, years after they have left us.

7. Virtuous leadership Finally, our schools need the type of leaders to make this kind of school a reality. Our leaders should be virtuous, in the sense of infused with the theological virtues of faith, hope and love. They should be encouraged to develop a prophetic imagination, which sees an alternative to the dominant consciousness of buying and selling. They should possess what professor Gerald Grace has called mission integrity, defined by him as “fidelity in practice and not just in public rhetoric to the distinctive and authentic principles of Roman Catholic education.” Or in the formulation of Professor John Sullivan, they should not only know the Gospel and proclaim the Gospel but embody the Gospel. And this deep living of the Gospel should permeate all aspects of professional practice, from financial decisions which consider the impact on the most vulnerable, to accountability with a human face and a compassionate disposition, which never loses sight of what is just.

So if that is anywhere close to defining the concept of Catholic education which we believe may be under threat by the advancing programme of academisation and MATs then let us turn now to that programme in the Catholic sector to try and determine the level of threat and also to consider any benefits.

An academy, introduced into the English education system by the Labour government in 2000 and turbo-charged by the Conservative government’s Academies Act in 2010, is a state funded school independent of local authority control, accountable directly to the Secretary of State, with certain freedoms over curriculum and pay and conditions but still subject to inspection by Ofsted and regulation on admissions, exclusions and SEND pupils.

A Multi academy trust is a single legal entity, one not for profit trust under company and charity law. And this is very important – a MAT is one organisation,

one educational provision on multiple sites, although currently schools are still inspected as individual entities but their leadership and management increasingly is being seen in the context of the Trust.

In a MAT, the Members are like the ‘owners’ of the company (although they don’t receive dividends), they can amend the foundation articles and critically they can appoint the directors. The Board of Directors is the statutory body, the employer, not the local governing body. The Board draws up a Scheme of Delegation which defines the limits of the powers of local governors. The CEO, who is also accountable to the Board, is responsible for implementing the Board’s strategic vision for education and financial sustainability. Heads are accountable to the CEO for their performance. In larger MATs, like CAST, there is a tier of school improvement managers. The heads are line managed and appraised by this tier of management. This is a significant shift in mindset for local governors and headteachers and some struggle to make the transition and for that I have much sympathy.

When I was a headteacher I was accountable to my governing body but did not feel line managed by anybody. For new heads coming into the Trust, it’s not an issue, they come in wearing the T-shirt and are signed up to being in a Trust. For more experienced heads, it can be an awkward transition, not least when they are held to account for years of unchallenged mediocrity. What needs to change is the culture of ‘my school’. A MAT is one organisation with its own vision and ethos and its own set of policies and practices.

There are decisions to be made along the spectrum from autonomy at one end to complete alignment at the other, but in my view and in my experience of the system the dial has to be closer to alignment than autonomy.

A SWOT analysis of MATs: Strengths (when a MAT works well) • Formal collaboration of Catholic education under one leadership and management: shared values and mission, common strategy, common purpose • Strategic co-ordination of sharing/ developing of good practice in local clusters, especially in mission critical activity: chaplaincy, SEND, disadvantaged • Community/family feeling at scale – joint INSET events, pupil gatherings

• School to school support, extend role and reach of effective leaders and governors – deployment • Recruitment and retention – MAT career pathways, bespoke CPD • Economies of scale, procurement – value for money for public resource • Monitoring of standards - rapid intervention, effective challenge and support Weaknesses - in some aspects of Catholic education which effective MATs could address • Dualism between curriculum and ethos – subjects in secular silos • Narrative that standards agenda is incompatible with mission agenda – Ofsted some kind of distraction from core purpose • Lack of compelling counter-cultural vision for education, reliance on statistics “over against” other schools • Culture of “our school” – even in Catholic community – not serving common good – especially in urban areas where schools are ‘in competition’ Opportunities • Catholic structure of school governance at scale – “Catholic local authority” • Catholic MAT to MAT networking nationally – signs of network developing e.g. Birmingham conference in March 2020 • S48 inspections of multi academy trusts • Development of MAT curriculum “marinated” in Gospel values • GAG-pooling: funding centrally directed to support weaker schools, restore equality of provision • Networking with other MATs – much to learn about systems and processes, fruitful partnerships Threats to the mission integrity posed by MAT model • Role of headteacher diminished - head of school • Extreme alignment – diminishment of charism, school’s tradition • Role of local governors re-defined – no longer statutory body, community support falls away • No clear evidence that academisation leads to better outcomes for children • Failure is scaled up – then what?

• Dominance of corporate business model – driven by efficiency = mission drift. Back to importance of Directors (Trustees) • Impact on most vulnerable of efficiency savings/closures = TA support, resources • Corporate accountability model = lack of

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dignity • Success reduced to academic outcomes alone – Church has longer view Concluding comments I would like to finish with a quotation from Dr Sean Ruth, an organizational psychologist who specializes in leadership development. In this comment I am very much reminded of Pope Francis when he spoke to the curia in December 2014 and told them exactly what he thought was wrong with them. Ruth states “It has been

said that an important role of any leader is to name or define reality and part of what gives people hope is the leader’s ability to accurately describe what is currently taking place. Effective leaders also have a long-term perspective and are able to point a direction that it makes sense to move towards. They do not simply fire-fight or react to events as they occur but operate with a vision of where they want to get to.”

Naming the reality of MATs in Catholic education is not straightforward, nor is

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understanding the nature of the threat.

In conclusion, I would say that the scales between thriving and threat are in the balance. If the Catholic community continues to commit to programmes of formation for leaders and system leaders then the scales may tip in favour of thriving.

If not and we continue to struggle to attract leaders who have mission integrity, then we will tip towards threat. So let us develop a long-term perspective and a direction it makes sense to move towards, a vision of where we might get to.

One researcher’s perspective on aspects of academisation in diocesan schools Introduction First, I will reflect on the question that provides the title for the conference.

Second, I will consider three features of the dual system that established Catholic voluntary-aided schools; features that have benefitted Catholic education since 1944. Third, I will identify three features that are consequential to academisation, which impact on Catholic schooling. Finally, I make some observations with respect to the future, just days before the General Election.

Reflection on the question ‘Are MACs and academies a threat to Catholic education?’ Respectfully, I recognise that the question was the motivation for the conference, but I don’t see it as a binary choice. Today, we represent the voices of a wide range of Catholic educators. Variously, we frame our individual thinking drawing on the philosophy, history, psychology, sociology, pedagogy and practice of education, as well as theology. We articulate our narratives influenced by those disciplines. We all have different stories to tell, and can gain from sharing them with others. There is a need to continuously review and evaluate Catholic education at a national and diocesan level. However, processes should not harden opinions or move away from the centre ground, where communication can be of great value. This conference is an

example of bringing professionals together to promote understanding between those who are convinced by, opposed to, unsure about, or pragmatic regarding academisation. We have an opportunity to share our experiences of academy policy in action, and identify evidence of positive and negative features. Such evidence can ground the dialogue to dismantle barriers and illuminate issues if a unifying vision of Catholic education is to translate into reality post 2019.

The foundations of state-funded Catholic education are rooted in a history of principled pragmatism stretching back to the 1870 Education Act. Because of the gift of Faith, we know and understand that perfection is only found in Christ, so even when we disagree, we need to have faith that through dialogue we can be open to change, as well as invite change in others.

We need to feel ‘hope-filled’ that problems can be solved and solutions will work.

And, in all our exchanges we need to be charitable with others.

Now, I am going to consider three features of the voluntary-aided school system that have benefitted Catholic education over time.

1. Local authority statutory powers and duties regarding voluntary-aided schools The dual system introduced by the 1944 Education Act is regulated by Parliament.

Education law provides the legal framework that underpins the functioning of all voluntary-aided schools, and protects their religious character. Dioceses own the buildings, while education in the buildings

Keynote Speaker 2: Margaret Buck Margaret Buck has worked in all phases of education. Over a long career, she has been a headteacher, a Local Authority and Ofsted inspector, Diocesan Director for the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham. This year she has been awarded a PhD from Liverpool Hope University and her book, based upon her thesis Renewing the Church-State Partnership for Catholic Education: Engaging with the Challenge of Academisation is published by Peter Lang.

is funded by local authorities, in accordance with their statutory powers and duties to maintain sufficient school places for all children in their area, and promote high standards of education. Local authorities must take account of the legal requirements laid on schools, their governors and headteachers. Consequently, local authority services support the execution of their responsibilities to hold the governing body to account (a) for the way the school is run, (b) when a school gives cause for concern, or (c) when the governing body acts in ways detrimental to the performance of pupils.

These duties involve monitoring the quality of education and the outcomes achieved, warning governors, and formally intervening where necessary. These obligations ensure that governors fulfil their responsibilities to (1st) set the strategic direction of the school, (2nd) hold the headteacher to account, and (3rd) use public funds in the best interests of all children on roll.

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The VA system may be considered bureaucratic, but the regulated system defines and protects: how schools work; the roles and functions of those who own, fund, govern and lead them; and the interests of children, families and communities.

Essentially, diocesan authorities have depended on the strength of their local authority partners to do the heavy lifting, to secure the standards required of schools by government. Until 2010, local authorities provided a range of legal, personnel, and financial advice, and pastoral support to schools. Whatever the criticisms laid at its door, for most of 75 years the strategic partnership between diocese and local authority has served the interests of Catholic education well, by supporting individual schools, governing bodies and headteachers to do the best they can for their children.

• Therefore, I raise the question: how are the proven benefits of the VA regulated framework over time replicated when schools become academies?

2. The unity of diocesan bishops in support of voluntary-aided schools The 1944 Act offered diocesan bishops the option of voluntary-aided or voluntarycontrolled schools, and Archbishop Griffin was faced with exercising leadership.

‘Griffin’s victory was … to achieve a united hierarchy, lest one diocese be played off against another by differing LEAs’ (Worlock, 1995, p.105). He did not delegate the decision to the canonical authority of individual bishops. Despite the reported struggle to achieve unity, he astutely managed the debate, and secured agreement that all diocesan Catholic schools would be voluntary-aided (Worlock, 1995).

This policy has served to simplify and strengthen communication about and within the Catholic sector; diocese can speak to diocese and school to school.

Diocesan officers, headteachers and governors can talk to each other, and to their local authority officers, knowing that all their schools operate according to the same legal framework. Essentially, the Catholic Church has been strengthened by a unity of purpose, provision and practice, due to that agreement in 1944 by the bishops, to support a single model of a Catholic school. The unity of the bishops has limited the opportunity for central government to divide and rule.

• A question then: post academisation, how do the 19 diocesan voices in the Catholic sector model unity in the eyes of central government, rather than speak directly to power with the strength of a single voice, in the face of the relentless expansion of secularism?

3. Diocesan education services proportionate to requirements Dioceses have rights as owners of voluntaryaided school buildings, and responsibilities as trustees to appoint foundation governors in the majority, as well as oversee RE and Catholic life in their schools. While dioceses have duties regarding the Catholic character of their VA schools, they are not responsible for holding the governing body to account for the way the school is run.

They have no responsibilities in civil law for monitoring, warning and intervening with respect to all other aspects of provision, finance, and performance and standards in their schools.

Pre-2010, even the largest diocesan services were very modest in terms of staffing and funding. However, most were fit for purpose, structured, staffed and funded proportionate to their responsibilities and functions, focused on areas of interest to the diocesan authorities. At its best, the relationship between diocesan and local authority officers has been one of mutual respect, each prepared to leave professional matters beyond their particular remit to the other, maintaining a dignified public acknowledgement of professional unity, resolving ‘issues’ politically in private, to the benefit of the schools where they shared an interest.

• So, there is a question: how are dioceses ensuring their services are proportionate to requirements post academisation?

Now I will consider three features of academisation that pose challenges to Catholic education.

1. Education as a market place The ideology of neoliberalism has increasingly affected English education since the 1908s, but academisation has set education policy squarely in the market place. It has provided a Conservativeled Department for Education with the ideological opportunity to pursue a small state, cut public spending, reduce the powers of local authorities, and extend

the central powers of the secretary of state (Gunter, 2011); an approach criticised for a ‘staggering lack of trans-parency’ (Mansell, 2016, p.36).

Essentially, at a stroke, neoliberal policies disconnect Catholic academies from local authority maintenance, and in doing so eradicate the long-established partnership between diocese and local authority. With academies, dioceses can no longer depend on LA support and services. Neither can a diocese be assured of mutual relationships of vested interest, such as existed between diocesan and local authority officers, in the interests of Catholic voluntary-aided schools that belong to both the diocesan and local authority families of schools.

While it is perfectly proper to acknowledge that Catholic academies and dioceses offer positive examples of good academy practice, where a diocese elects to take on responsibility for standards, the old relationship between the diocese and the local authority, as strategic partners in the provision of school places, is replaced by a new one of accountability for educational standards by the diocese to central government, as defined by secular measures.

• There is a fundamental question: in such circumstances are individual dioceses prepared to stand alone and accountable in the public market place, in full secular gaze?

2. Fragmentation affecting the Catholic sector Neoliberal policies that support academisation are characterised by deregulation, competition and privatisation, and tighten the control of the secretary of state for education. Academisation causes fragmentation through various mechanisms, and I give three examples.

Example (a) is the political commitment to shrink the state. As schools have converted to academies and local authorities have been required to downsize or outsource, LAs have lost much of their historical and institutional knowledge and expertise.

Bodies funded by government, such as the National College have been ‘repurposed’.

This stripping away of services has left significant gaps in local capacity and capability to support schools.

• Fragmentation raises the question: have dioceses ensured that the full range of support formerly provided by local

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020 authorities or other bodies, is being provided by some other mechanism to their schools and academies, and to the diocesan service?

Example (b) is that academies are no longer framed by parliamentary legislation and regulation, which lay down the role and functions of local authorities, dioceses, governors and headteachers in voluntaryaided schools. Academies are established using English contract law, detailed in the terms and conditions of a contract between the secretary of state and the directors of each academy company. This promotes the formation of local partnerships, but only between the academies covered by the contract. Individual diocesan academy companies are not automatically joined together in any contractual manner; and individually may in fact be isolated when required to work with others unless there is a legal justification for forcing compliance.

In reality, there is a possibility that academisation can create companies that are educational islands in a sea of contract law, subject to ‘climate change’ when there is a new secretary of state or government.

And, unlike the regulation of voluntaryaided schools, these contracts can be changed without parliamentary legalisation.

• The question arises: are dioceses and their schools and / or academies fully conversant as to the implications of basing educational provision on contract law?

Example (c) is the decision of the English Bishops in 2011 to devolve decisionmaking on academies to the canonical authority of each diocesan bishop.

Catholic education may be best served by agreement on principles with the state at a national level to demonstrate what unites the bishops of the English Catholic Church, while bishops remain free to differ on local policy and practice. This permits flexibility in negotiations in accordance with their canonical authority and diocesan circumstances. However, losing the certainty of a national position on the model for diocesan Catholic schools, and, instead devolving decision-making to dioceses is bound to result in differences within and between dioceses. Differences that demonstrate to the state how the Catholic Church can be divided in practice, no matter how tightly English bishops hold to matters of principle.

• So, a question: to date, after 9 years how is the collective wisdom of hindsight

on the part of the bishops, dioceses, school leaders and governors being harnessed and deployed to influence future policy and strategy (not least after the General Election)?

3. Ambiguity as to roles and responsibilities in the Catholic sector Unsurprisingly, from the introduction of the Academies Act 2010, the Catholic sector focused its attention on whether or not to convert. Then, dioceses became embroiled in considering the process of conversion.

I suggest that at the outset insufficient attention was given to detailing the origins in law of the roles, responsibilities and regulation of dioceses, governors and headteachers in running Catholic voluntary-aided schools. Consequently, this foundational baseline information was not readily available in a ‘back-pocket kit’ to arm dioceses and schools to stand their ground about how the Catholic sector had functioned for 75 years, and how to replace what they may be relinquishing, when challenged by civil servants with targets to meet. Neither was the existing matrix of the relationship between roles, responsibilities and accountabilities in voluntary-aided schools available in summary form, to inform and guide the task of re-configuring the same in academies, and underpin their company schemes of delegation.

My experience has been that vague assumptions about the VA system and uncertainty about academies combined to create confusion about who was responsible for what, and to whom they must give an account. This ambiguity left dioceses and schools vulnerable to the assertions and political expediency of civil servants with an agenda for change. After 2010, the unwritten code of custom and practice that had served the partnership between dioceses and local authorities well, did not apply to central government, and it became necessary to confirm the parameters of the emerging working arrangement in writing. In 2016 The Memorandum of Understanding between the Catholic Church and the Department for Education (DfE, 2016c) was produced; a statement of principles and protocols, to be read alongside any relevant DfE guidance. The local, unregulated nature of the working relationship is implied: ‘the RSCs and Dioceses will seek to develop a shared understanding of each other’s approach and ways of working with schools, and where possible, to align them’ (DfE, 2016c, p.5).

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This is not regulation. It is a document to be read with a political lens. Sometimes it pays to point out where responsibility and accountability sit; sometimes it is better not to commit things to print. For example, on one hand, the Memorandum does not say a diocese is accountable in educational law for taking action with respect to secular concerns about performance and standards in its schools and academies, not least because a diocese is not. The Memorandum clearly states the dioceses are not ‘part of state provision of education’ (DfE, 2016c, p.3). And, nowhere in parliamentary legislation is there explicit provision for a diocese to be held directly to account for performance and standards in its underperforming schools. On the other hand, the explicit wording of the text implies accountability on the part of a diocese. This is a requirement to do something about its schools or academies giving cause for concern, and a moral responsibility to have a diocesan policy and strategy for school improvement and effectiveness, however that may be construed (Buck, 2019, p.184). Finally, there is a contingent potential danger that diocesan officers assume they can be held to account for the quality of education, even when there is no justification in law, because that is what the state implies, in its conversations or documentation.

• There is a very basic question at the heart of all this: based on parliamentary legislation, or contract law, or statutory or non-statutory guidance: where are the definitive answers to who is responsible for what and accountable to whom and with what degree of authority, in this diocese, this school, this academy company, or this academy?

Finally, I am going to make some observations about the future under the headings of realism, pragmatism and optimism, which characterise my thinking about Catholic education.

Realism Until a new government is elected in the coming week, we do not know what the future policy will be for education. In 2018, the National Audit Office reported that 72% of secondary schools and 27% of primaries were academies, but there is a wide variation in the proportion of schools to academies, from 93% in Bromley to 6% in Lancashire, and in the availability of suitable sponsors. The CES stated 26% of Catholic schools were academies (CES, 2018). The

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

NAO sums up the situation thus: It is unclear how feasible it will be for the Department to continue converting large numbers of schools to academies.

There is extensive variation across the country, leaving many local authorities with responsibility largely for primary schools. To cut through this complexity, the Department needs to set out its vision and clarify how it sees academies, maintained schools and local authorities working together to create a coherent and effective school system for children across all parts of the country. (NAO, 2018) So how do we imagine cutting through this complexity? We can speculate about the future, but it is highly unlikely that all Catholic academies will be converted back to voluntary-aided schools or that all diocesan schools will become academies in the short to medium term. We facing a mixed-economy of schools and academies for the foreseeable future. Therefore, as much as we may hold views in principle on academies, is there really a battle worth fighting, first in-house and then with government, either wholly for or against academies? Or, do we need to win the war of strengthening the position and voice of the Catholic Church in education speaking to power and in the public square about the future of Catholic education? The latter seems to me more realistic, pragmatic and achievable.

Pragmatism Fact. There are voluntary-aided schools that are a threat to the continued provision of Catholic education, particularly if they are the lone failing secondary school in a town.

There are academy companies that have prevented the closure of a Catholic school where failure has been endemic; genuinely transforming the education of children in that school. But there are schools and academies where these statements are reversed. Essentially, there is no research evidence to prove that academisation per se makes a significant difference to school performance, or narrows the attainment gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children. There is sufficient research to support opinion that changes to structures alone do not guarantee improvement in performance, standards and effectiveness; academies are not a panacea (Andrews & Perera, 2017).

Improvement cannot be assured if dioceses

simply respond to pressures from Regional Schools Commissioners to pursue structural change, which shifts accountability from local authorities to diocesan authorities.

Dioceses must understand the need for complex change with respect to values, culture, climate, attitudes, behaviours and relationships within and between diocesan schools and/or academies, and be able to promote and achieve that change.

Ultimately, attention only to structural change in pursuit of improvement may simply result in local authorities no longer being seen as ‘the problem’, and instead, if dioceses choose to take on accountability and fail to improve performance in their schools, dioceses may become ‘the problem’. This invites the question, if school improvement does not depend on structural matters alone, what may give cause for optimism?

Optimism I reference three sources of optimism. First, the strategic ‘church–state partnership’ between diocese and local authority in the provision of school places, needs to be re-framed as the ‘church-school-state’ partnership that embraces the school as a professional partner in the provision of Catholic education. The Catholic school is not the church, and neither is it the place of interface between church and state with the school being talked about, rather than being included as part of the conversation.

The Catholic school works in partnership with both church and state, and each have distinctive, specialist and complementary responsibilities and accountabilities in the provision of Catholic education. Most compellingly, the school is the place where responsibility and accountability are positioned closest to the children; the school’s work is not in providing buildings or funding, it is in relationships, in the formation and education of children, made in the image and likeness of God, to enable them to experience life in all its fullness. Dioceses need to consider the authority of the professional voice, how it can be given status, listened to, and used to inform action. There needs to be space for debate and encounter, for arguments and difference; thereby establishing and sustaining the dialogue to inform practice (Buck, 2019, p. 228-9).

Next, if Catholic schools (voluntary-aided or academies) are to be authentically outstanding as understood by both civil and canon law, there is a need to build deep-

level collaboration within, between and across dioceses, Catholic schools, and all other schools. I acknowledge the canon of work of David Hargreaves on collaborative practice in a self-improving school system (Hargreaves, 2003, 2010, 2011, 2012a, 2012b). Catholic dioceses and schools need leaders with vision and an intelligent understanding of how to embed cultural norms in schools. Cultural norms that translate Gospel values and the principles of Catholic social teaching into outward facing virtuous relationships, which build communities that work for children. There is a need for professional relationships which are distinctively, inclusively and collaboratively Christ-like in character.

Solidarity should be rooted in concrete governance arrangements. Sub-sidiarity should ensure that the responsibilities and contributions of each school are exercised in the interests of the common good.

Schools must be responsible for their own performance and standards but committed to collective responsibility for the improvement of the quality of education of all members, intent on transforming cultures in schools giving cause for concern, and ambitious for children and young people.

Essentially, the bishops, dioceses and their schools need to draw on Hargreaves’ insights to re-imagine, implement, monitor and keep under review a national education strategy that embraces a Catholic version of a self-improving school system, that sustains a robust, flexible approach to national Catholic educational provision that is implemented locally.

Finally, the educational landscape is complex and there is a need to develop a narrative for Catholic education that is based on research. We need evidence of what works and why, partly to challenge critics (Grace, 1995, 2003, 2009), but most of all to benefit children, staff and communities. We need a coordinated national strategy for research and development, with regular audits of priorities for research, linked with external bodies prepared to provide funding, to support aspiring and experienced Catholic researchers, particularly practitioner researchers. There should be an approved central register of work undertaken in the name of the CBCEW and dioceses, so that any future researchers or project leaders may retrieve the historical evidence and outcomes of what has been attempted, and how, and by whom and when, and with what success. All information should be readily available in the public domain.

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

Conclusion While researching, and in parallel to watching everything worth watching about Brexit, I learned a great deal about framing and presenting a balanced argument that will engage others, by reading the work of other established researchers or people who have something to say in the public square. I won’t mention those I thought were polemic in tone or blinded by their convictions. However, I gained much by reading about Pope Francis, and Professor John Sullivan’s writings.

First, John Sullivan’s work invites the reader into dialogue about the topic under discussion, characteristically exploring concepts in terms of polarities, and considering the strengths and weaknesses of those pole positions. He communicates an appreciation of the complexities of reconciling beliefs and behaviours. This approach enables the reader to join in analysing both sides of an argument, to evaluate the implications of contrasting policy positions, to explore their own ideological blind spots, and to guard against the danger of their own prejudices.

By holding contrasting polarities in creative tension, Sullivan shifts attention from solely maintaining, and potentially hardening, an oppositional theoretical stance. Instead he seeks to achieve balance and an informed understanding of the reality of the complexity of relationships required to live in the world (Sullivan, 2000; 2001; 2006; 2011a; 2011b; 2012; 2013; 2014a).

Second, Pope Francis draws on theological influences that have given him ‘the mental equipment to analyse situations not simply in terms of right and wrong, but as tensions and balances between polar opposites’ and he demonstrates how important it is to maintain the search for truth (Tablet, 2018). Pope Francis provides a fresh understanding, a way of seeing the world with a mind-set to deal with messiness, such as is needed if Catholic education is to move forwards in this unstable context, reconciling tensions between unity and diversity, uniformity and flexibility.

The church in education needs to plan for, lead and implement change that moves away from an assembly model of Catholic education that is underpinned by the tensions between the competing authorities of the voices of the church, state, and the school. Two separate bodies – the church and the state – claim autonomy over specific aims, purposes, knowledge and expertise, and control different parts of the process forming the entity and experience that is Catholic education. They separately pass decisions, directives and documentation down to the school that has to bring them together in the living reality that is Catholic education. Schools can be caught between the competing theology of the church and the ideology of the state, which must be reconciled within the school’s philosophy of education that sets principles, the strategic direction and informs practice.

Diocesan directors, school leaders and governors must have the opportunity to engage in constructive, transformative

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dialogue with each other, and together with the state, if not, all parties may be left suffering the frustrations of unresolved tensions caused by the style of engagement employed between them on matters such as academisation. Dare I say it? A form of Catholic Brexit? Surely, after the last three years of observing Parliament discussing Brexit, we have all learned something about resolving differences in the public square, to shape principled policy, pragmatic strategy and evidence-based practice for the common good and the future of Catholic education?

For further exploration of these issues see: Renewing the Church-State Partnership for Catholic Education: Engaging with the Challenge of Academisation by Margaret Buck.

Published by Peter Lang: ISBN 978-1-78997582-6

1. Indeed, total school spending per pupil fell by 8% in real terms between 2009–10 and 2017–18 (House of Commons, 2019).

2. Andrews, J. & Perera, N., 2017; DfE, 2017: 10; Full Fact, 2017; Greany, 2018; House of Commons Education Committee, 2015, 2016, 2017; House of Commons Public Account Committee, 2018; Hutchinson et al., 2018; NFER, 2015.

3. The ISOS Report Enabling School Improvement: Research into the role of local authorities in supporting local school improvement systems (ISOS, 2018) records nine key conditions are important in establishing effective school improvement systems. While the research was intended to inform LAs, some of the outcomes are equally meaningful for diocesan education services.

Are MATs and Academies a Threat to the Future of Catholic Education in England and Wales?

The first National Conference on Academisation and Catholic Education

Conference Report To access this 78 page report Contact willieslavin@ aol.com

The report is available in electronic format with a printed version available soon.

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Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

St Augustine’s Priory and Space Three London Sixth Form students are national finalists in the UK Space Design Competition, a prestigious annual national science and engineering schools’ competition designed as as a simulation of life in industry.

Three Sixth Form students from St Augustine’s Priory, Ealing Catholic independent day school for girls, have reached the national final of the UK Space Design Competition, a prestigious annual national science and engineering schools’ competition designed as a simulation of life in industry. Open to students from Years 10 to 13, the UKSDC aims to enable students to experience the vast potential and valuable opportunities available

Farnborough Hill pupils celebrate the County’s top independent day school for girls has changed the names of its Houses to reflect inspirational women in the School’s history Pupils mark the occasion with the introduction of a ‘House Book’, a journal in which to record their seven years at the School

Headmistress from 1997 to 2007 paid tribute to Sister Dorothy Mostyn, who taught at the School and wrote ‘The Story of a House’.

Mrs Laura Craven, former English teacher and co-author of ‘From Hillside to Farnborough Hill’, as well as writer of the House books’ foreword, reflected on the life and immense contribution of Mother Syra Roantree who was instrumental in the setting up of the School, first at Hillside and then at its current home of Farnborough Hill.

Alexandra Neil, Head, commented, ‘It is wonderful to be able

Top girls’ school Farnborough Hill has celebrated the Sisters of the RCE this week with a special ceremony to mark the contributions of five of the Sisters to the development of the School.

At the beginning of this academic year the five school Houses were renamed after five RCE Sisters: Bickford, Dutertre, McCormack, Mostyn and Roantree. This was a change driven by members of the Year 7 Social Justice Group who questioned why, in a girls’ school, the Houses were named after male reformation saints who actually had no connection to the School. They felt that the Houses should be named after the inspirational women who had a pivotal role in shaping the School during its illustrious history.

This week each pupil received a journal, a ‘House Book’ which details the remarkable life of their House Patron and gives space to record their own remarkable journey through Farnborough Hill.

The books were presented by special guests: Mrs Ann Berry, Old Girl, former Head of PE and now Governor, remembered Sister Bickford from her own time as a pupil and so presented the Bickford House books. Sister Bickford was instrumental in developing the current school site, adding a large classroom block in 1966. Mrs Alexandra Neil talked about Sister Marie-Anne Dutertre, one of the four Sisters who started the order under Abbé Louis Lafosse in France in 1817. Sister Elizabeth McCormack, Headmistress between 1988 and 1996, gave an insight into her own philosophy of life and gave out her namesake books. Miss Jacqueline Thomas, Sisters Mannion, Rennie and McCormack cutting a cake commemorating the launch of the House Books

Networking Volume 21, Issue 2 Spring Term 2020

through future study, or even a career, in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths).

Crossword p42 Solutions

The three pupils, Angela Shan, Kat Dorn and Naomi Jeffries worked to an extremely demanding brief and produced a video which showed how they would design a transport system on Mercury.

The work involved the three girls working closely together and harnessing their different cross-curricular skills to bring the project to fruition.

Across:

Their expertise in mathematical computations, physics and design enabled them to produce a video which has gained them a place in the national finals to be held at Imperial College on 14th and 15th March, together with four other video competition winners plus the regional heat winners. All together around 200 students will descend on Imperial College to compete over a whole weekend.

Head of Mathematics, Mrs Bennet, commented: ‘We are all so delighted that Angela, Kat and Naomi have won through to the finals of the UK Space Design Competition; they have greatly benefited from participating in this project and are so looking forward to meeting the other competitors in March’.

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1 Chronicles, 8 Gourmet, 9 Cello, 10 Learn, 11 Con brio, 12 Emboss, 14 IPhone, 17 Catania, 19 Abdon, 21 Lying, 22 Letters, 23 Savonarola.

Down:

2 Hausa, 3 Osmonds, 4 Intact, 5 Lucan, 6 Salerno, 7 Holofernes, 8 Golden calf, 13 Butlins, 15 Psalter, 16 Raglan, 18 Negev, 20 Dwell.

Explanations Across:

1 double def, 8 go+Ur+met, 9 CE(L+L)O, 10 le+a+RN, 11 anag of ‘embrocation’ minus anag of ‘team’, 12 em+boss, 14 PI[rev]+hone, 17 C(a+tan+1)A, 19 A+B+don, 21 L(-ull)y+in+G, 22 double def & pun, 23 anag.

Down:

2 H(-a+van)a+USA, 3 OS([-B+M]ond)S, 4 in(t)act, 5 double def, 6 Sale+RN+0, 7 Hol(o+fern)es, 8 anag & pun, 13 But+’in’ in ‘l(-imit)s’, 15 P(salt)er, 16 double def & pun, 18 Veg(-A+E)n [rev], 20 D+well.

legacy of the RCE to celebrate these strong and inspirational women who were instrumental in developing the School to make it the success it is today. I am thrilled their stories will not be lost in the mists of time and we will continue to celebrate their legacies for generations to come. The fact that our girls can write their own Farnborough Hill story alongside that of their House Patron is a marvellous thing and I hope they treasure their books for years to come.’

Sister Bickford sledging down the hill at Farnborough Hill

Special guests in the Grand Salon at Farnborough Hill

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