In 1941, Polish priest Maximilian Kolbe entered the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz.

A gifted man, Kolbe was the founder of monasteries in Poland and Japan, produced a monthly magazine with a circulation of over one million, and formed an international movement to help bring people to the Catholic faith. Then, a chance encounter with an ordinary soldier, Franek Gajowniczec, led Kolbe to an extraordinary act – walking away from all that he had and could have achieved.

David Gooderson’s powerful play tells the true story of these two men. One became feted across the globe. The other faded into obscurity. This is their story.

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“Kolbe’s Gift” will be a fully-staged by Ten Ten Theatre, including a cast of seven professional actors and a full professional creative team.

The Leicester Square Theatre is a 400-seat theatre in the heart of Central London staging an eclectic range of music, comedy and theatre.

Notre Dame de France Church which sits directly above the theatre, will host a range of related events including a photographic exhibition, a post-show talk and education workshops.

Ten Ten will run Education Workshops free of charge for secondary school students. These workshops will enrich the experience of watching the play for your students.

See the flyer below for more information.

News from The Cathedrals Group

At the Group's 2012 AGM, Janet Orchard gave a presentation on work she and Hugo Whately were conducting, funded by the Culhan St Gabriel's Trust, into initial teacher training for secondary RE teachers. This study has now been completed. It criticises reductions in the numbers of specialist RE teachers trained each year and calls for a richer professional formation that equips teachers to handle moral and ethical judgements in the classroom and enables pupils to understand the significance of religion in the modern world together with the beliefs and values that shape it.

Click here for the report.

Future Leaders is a fully funded leadership development programme for senior leaders working in challenging schools. Participants are committed to closing the achievement gap through the belief that every child can achieve.  In 2006, we launched our flagship leadership development programme in challenging secondary schools in London.  Since then we have expanded the programme to include six regions and we now have more than 300 Future Leaders working in over 200 schools across England.

We realise that the attainment gap starts early and that this issue needs to be addressed at the beginning of a child’s education. With this in mind we have extended our flagship programme to include 25 primary participants from challenging schools in London and the North West to join Future Leaders Cohort ’13.

The Future Leaders programme is for current, qualified teachers, who have the talent and commitment to become headteachers of challenging primary schools within two years. Successful applicants to the programme, which is delivered at no cost to the school or the participant, receive 17 days of residential facilitated training, bespoke career support as they progress to headship, on-going coaching from an experienced headteacher, regular training opportunities, an online social network providing tailored support and best practice and visits to exemplary schools across England. This programme gives participants the skills and resources to lead schools that improve the life chances of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

We are looking for schools to nominate staff and to pass on this information to your senior leadership teams for the opportunity to take part in this fully funded programme, where the participant will remain in your school.  For more information, please see the attached brochures and our website – www.future-leaders.org.uk.  The application window is open until Monday 22nd April.  To apply, or if you have any questions about the programme, please contact us on 0800 009 4142 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Future Leaders are holding two information sessions as follows:

North West       Thursday 18th April        5.30-7pm

Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College, Urban Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA15 8HT

London            Tuesday 16th April         6-7.30pm 

Surrey Square Primary School, London, SE17 2JY

For anyone interested in hearing more, please RSVP by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by calling 0800 009 4142

19 March 2013 

The Cathedrals Group* 2013 Conference and Choirs Festival was hosted in Birmingham by Newman University. 

The highlight of the 2013 Choirs Festival was a performance of the ‘German Requiem’ by Brahms, sung by a massed choir of 350 singers drawn from eleven Cathedrals Group universities. Conducted by Derek Wroughton, Choir Director at Newman University, and accompanied by the Birmingham Chamber Orchestra, the professional soloists were Mark Saberton (Baritone) and Caroline Lester (soprano). 

The Choirs Festival, held in Birmingham Symphony Hall on Saturday 9 March, also featured a variety of choral pieces performed by the individual choirs. Distinguished guests included James Macmillan CBE, the celebrated composer and conductor who is an honorary graduate of Newman University, and The Most Reverend Bernard Longley, Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, who studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Photos of the Choirs Festival will be available shortly in the Feature Gallery of The Cathedrals Group website*.

This year’s residential conference for the Vice Chancellors and Principals of the 15 member institutions of The Cathedrals Group, focused on plans for collaborative projects and activities and how recent changes to the system of higher education created challenges and opportunities for member institutions, their staff and students. External speakers included Steve Egan, Deputy Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England; 

Dr Graeme Atherton, Head of AccessHE and Director of the National Education Opportunities Network; Revd Janina Ainsworth, Chief Education Officer for The Church of England; and Revd Stan Brown, Chaplaincy Officer – Education for The Methodist Church.

Professor Joy Carter, Chair of The Cathedrals Group and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Winchester said: ‘The Choirs Festival has a long history. Professor Grenville Hancox MBE founded this event 25 years ago. In 1988 he came up with the inspirational idea to bring together the choirs from the different institutions to meet each other and share their love of choral music. Since that time the festival has been held in venues around the country and we are delighted to be in Birmingham this year for a very entertaining and inspiring evening.

‘The Cathedrals Group is a group of 15 universities who all share a strong commitment to values. The values of social justice, respect for the individual and promoting the public good. These values are embedded in our histories as Church Foundation institutions. But they are also part of our futures, as we equip new generations of public servants and responsible global citizens. At our conference today we agreed our strategic plan and we look forward to further developing and promoting higher education rooted in our values.’

Catholic Voices 2013 Speakers' Training Programme

Applications are now open for North West England Speakers' Training programme which will run from September to December 2013.

Interviews will be on 26th and 27th April in Manchester, and 29th April in London.

The three residential weekends, each lasting from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, will be: 20-22 September, 18-20 October, and 15-17 November.

For more information about Catholic Voices, their mission and the Speakers' Training Programme please see the Catholic Voices website.

Invitation to the North West England Speakers' Training Programme

Notes for Applicants 

Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for an application form and further information

The deadline for applications is 28th March 2013

John Paul II Foundation for Sport, launched October 2011, aims through sport to enable everyone,  in particular the young, to develop their full potential  across the PIES - the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual aspects of their lives. This is guided by the principles identified by Pope John Paul II and set out in his declarations and writing. 

With this in mind, for the past 16 months the Foundation has been supporting the creation of new sports clubs in parishes and schools across the country. The dream is to free up numerous school sports facilities, particularly in the evenings, weekends and school holidays, to enable local young people to get off the streets to concentrate their energies and so turn ‘gangs into teams’.

The first such club, Sports Squared, opened its doors in September 2012. S2 uses the sports facilities at Sion-Manning School and St Charles VIth Form College, and offers sessions in basketball, dance, fitness, football and trampolining for local children and young adults on Friday evenings.

Sports Squared is making an enormous difference to the community in Ladbroke Grove, London and is living proof just how valuable the work JP2F4S is undertaking. 

For more information or if you would like to get involved, visit www.johnpaul2foundation4sport.org or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The CES has received queries from schools wanting advice on whether they can allow pupils to take part in fundraising activities for Comic Relief and Red Nose Day. These activities are often popular but concerns have been expressed that some of the money raised may be spent on either providing or promoting abortion services. The CES has raised these concerns recently with Comic Relief. Please see below the response from Comic Relief on these matters. 

For 2013 Future Leaders are looking to recruit 75 secondary Future Leaders from our six regions as well as 25 primary Future Leaders from London for the first time. The Future Leaders programme is for current, qualified teachers, who have the talent and commitment to become headteachers of challenging schools in an accelerated time frame (four years secondary, two years primary). Successful applicants to the programme receive 17 days of residential facilitated training, bespoke career support as they progress to headship, on-going coaching from an experienced headteacher, regular training opportunities, an online social network providing tailored support and best practice and visits to exemplary schools across England. This programme gives participants the skills and resources to lead schools that improve the life chances of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Applications are open until 19th February for secondary and 19th March for primary.  To apply, or for more information visit the Future Leaders website or call 0800 009 4142

The Catholic Education Service along with Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN) is supporting Safer Internet Day 2013 (SID2013) on the 5th February. 

Safer Internet Day aims to raise awareness of the importance of online safety and the rights and responsibility that come with engaging with online content. For more information please see the SID website.

Education Sunday this year falls on Sunday 27th January and offers an opportunity for schools and parishes to work together to promote Catholic education in their community.

The relationship between parish and Catholic school has been central in preserving the Catholic ethos of the education. Following the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in 1850 the building of schools was often prioritised over the building of Churches, a clear indication of the Church’s commitment to education and its role in the formation and development of the whole person. These schools were often used as the main place of worship with the whole Catholic community gathering together to support each other. 

There remain many opportunities throughout the year for schools and parishes to come together to celebrate the faith and ensure the longevity and strength of Catholic education, but Education Sunday shines a spotlight on schools. 

This is an opportunity, first of all, for parishioners to give financial, spiritual, practical and political support to our Catholic schools. There is a collection for Catholic education on the Sunday, and worship resources including homily notes and prayers are available from www.educationsunday.org.

But Education Sunday is also an opportunity for schools, their staff and pupils, to share their work, learning and experiences of Catholic education with parishes. 

There are many other ways in which all Catholics can get involved in Catholic education from supporting school fundraising events to becoming a school governor. 

In the ever changing education agenda, there is often need for parish support at a local political level. School transport remains a key issue in many areas with local authorities cutting provision, a move that disproportionately affects Catholic schools which have larger than average catchment areas. To find out more about home to school transport and how you can campaign in your local areas see www.catholiceducation.org.uk/index.php/campaigns/transport-toolkit

Free Schools Meals is another policy area which especially affects Catholic schools given our primary concern for the poor. The annual census data collected from all Catholic schools in England and Wales show that 20% of pupils at Catholic secondary schools in England live in the most deprived areas compared with 17% nationally. Free school meals are available to children from the lowest income families. They provide a hot meal at lunch which is important in providing both health and education benefits to the child and reducing financial burdens on the child’s family.

The CES remains concerned about the low take-up of Free School Meals in Catholic schools. Research from The Children Society show that of 1.5 million children in England who meet the eligibility criteria for Free School Meals, around 200,000 are not registered, and of those registered, a further 300,000 do not eat the meal. In addition to the health, educational and financial benefits to the child and their families, this also had a direct impact on the schools themselves. Changes in funding arrangements also mean that schools receive addition funding (£500 per pupil) based upon the number of children receiving Free School Meals.

The CES will be running a campaign this year to increase the take up of Free School Meals in Catholic schools and will be encouraging schools, parents and parishioners to spread the word on the role that Free School Meals have in ensuring the healthy development of children. Full details on how to claim Free School Meals and who is eligible can be found at www.catholiceducation.org.uk/campaigns/free-school-meals.

The CES together with CSAN (Caritas Social Action Network) are also supporting The Children Society’s Fair and Square campaign, who are petitioning the government for all children living in poverty to receive Free School Meals. To find out more about the campaign see www.childrenssociety.org.uk/fairandsquare.

Education Sunday also remains an opportunity to thanks those in parishes and staff in schools whose work ensure high standards of Catholic Education we have in schools today.