Responding to Michael Gove’s education reforms, the Catholic Education Service (CES) has called for Religious Education (RE) to remain a priority in schools.

The reforms suggest that greater focus is required in ‘the core academic subjects of English, mathematics, sciences, history, geography and languages.’ The CES will continue to work with the Department for Education to ensure RE is not excluded from this new model, and that standards and rigour applied to examinations in core subjects will be extended to RE.

Father Tim Gardner OP, CES’s RE advisor said “RE lies at the heart of the curriculum in Catholic schools, and is an essential part of the curriculum in all schools. We will work with the Government and other faith groups to ensure that good quality RE remains a priority. We agree that the current RE GCSE requires reform to raise academic standards and the EBacc offers us the opportunity to ensure that RE is a rigorous and academic subject which stimulates and enriches children’s education. We will continue to promote RE as a core academic subject, which should take its rightful place among other humanities such as History and Geography.”

The Department for Education’s consultation on “Reforming Key Stage 4 Qualifications” offers the CES and other education stakeholders the opportunity to respond to the Government’s proposals.

Twenty new Catholic Voluntary Academies opened on 1 July 2012, bringing the total number of Catholic academies now open to 110.

The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have issued a new edition of the Religious Education Curriculum Directory (3-19) for use in Catholic schools.

Five Catholic academies opened this month, bringing the total number of Catholic academies now open to 90.

The Archbishops’ letter was circulated to all Catholic parishes and secondary schools. The letter is a positive affirmation of marriage, as is the Coalition for Marriage’s online petition. As the letter says, Catholics believe that ‘marriage is a high and noble vocation’.

Parents across England and Wales are facing potential bills of thousands of pounds following local authority cuts to funding subsidies for transport to Catholic schools.

The following resolutions relating to Catholic education were unanimously adopted by the Bishops of England and Wales at their Plenary Meeting in Leeds this week.

The Government has decided to mark the 400th anniversary of the completion of the translation of the King James Bible into English by sending a copy of it to every school in England.

Recently published data demonstrates that a higher proportion of pupils in Catholic schools come from the 10% most deprived areas compared to the proportion in schools nationally.

164 delegates, most of them Heads, will attend. Keynote speakers, Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP and Fr Adrian Porter SJ, will explore the universal call to holiness and how this can be made a reality in contemporary life.