CES News (156)
Parents overwhelmingly favour acts of collective worship in Catholic schools
An overwhelming majority of parents support the continuation of collective acts of worship in the country’s Catholic schools, the latest research has found.
The data, revealed as part of the Catholic Schools Census, shows that 99.95% of non-Catholic parents support the provision of collective acts of worship in their child’s Catholic school.
Of the near 290,000 pupils in English and Welsh Catholic schools from other faiths or none, just 0.05% were withdrawn from collective acts of worship, such as prayers in assemblies, Nativity plays and Masses.
Over the last five years there has been an eight per cent increase in the number of pupils in Catholic schools in England and Wales with the current total sitting at 852,321. That is one in every ten pupils nationally.
Paul Barber, Director of the Catholic Education Service commented: “Collective worship is one of the foundations upon which our schools are built.
“Although it is a statutory requirement for all schools, collective worship is an integral part of life in a Catholic school. It is crucial to the spiritual life of the school and to pupils’ moral and spiritual development.
“Throughout the year, Catholic school communities come together to celebrate important events in the Church’s calendar, as well as the start and end of the academic year. Through regular prayer and worship, including Mass, the rhythm of the Church’s year becomes a normal part of school life.
“Whilst it’s important that schools make it clear to parents that they’re able to withdraw their child from acts of collective worship, it is encouraging to see that the overwhelming majority of parents in Catholic schools don’t.
“Too often we are led to believe that there is no longer an appetite for collective acts of Christian worship in schools, but these figures vindicate the continued existence of these practices.”
Notes to Editors
There are more than 2200 Catholic Schools in England and Wales.
The Catholic sector is the second largest provider of education and currently educates 852,31 pupils.
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Muslim pupils are the largest minority faith in Catholic schools
More than 26,000 Muslim pupils are now educated in Catholic schools across the country, according to the latest research.
The figures, which form part of the annual Catholic Schools’ Census, show that one in three pupils who attend the country’s Catholic schools are not of the Catholic faith.
For the first time, the Census has collected data on pupil religion other than Catholicism to get a better picture of the religious diversity in Catholic schools.
The data found that one of the biggest religious groupings was pupils with no religion. This group accounted for more than a fifth of the non-Catholic pupils.
The largest religious group were pupils from other Christian denominations. More than 148,000 of them are currently enrolled in Catholic schools and make up half of all non-Catholic pupils.
Once again, the figures from the Schools’ Census show that Catholic schools are the most ethnically diverse in the country with 21% more pupils coming from ethnic minority backgrounds than the national average.
Paul Barber, Director of the Catholic Education Service, which compiled the Census, commented: “It is great to see Catholic schools acting as beacons of diversity and integration up and down the country.
“Often, parents of different faiths and none value the distinctive and unapologetically Catholic ethos of the Church’s schools.
“It is precisely because we are open about our faith that parents of other religions feel comfortable with the all-inclusive ethos of Catholic schools.”
Notes to editors
There are more than 2200 Catholic Schools in England and Wales.
The Catholic sector is the second largest provider of education and currently educates 852,321 pupils.
There are 287,934 non Catholic pupils in Catholic schools with the breakdown as follows (alphabetical order):
Buddhist – 1,175 (0.41%)
Hindu – 5,855 (2.03%)
Jewish – 276 (0.10%)
Muslim – 26,264 (9.12%)
No religion – 63,062 (21.90%)
Other Christian – 148,018 (51.41%)
Other religion – 15,195 (5.28%)
Religion refused 2,407 (0.84%)
Religion not known – 22,181 (7.70%)
Sikh – 3,501 (1.22%)
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Nine in ten London Catholic schools pay the London Living Wage
Nine in ten of the Capital’s Catholic schools pay the London Living Wage, according to the latest research.
The study, which polled the Capital’s 330 Catholic schools, found that 90% of respondents paid the London Living Wage.
The London Living Wage is different from the national minimum wage and has this week been updated to £9.75 per hour. It is calculated as the minimum amount of money a person can live off in Greater London.
It is considerably higher than the minimum wage (£6.70) and the Government’s national living wage (£7.20) due to the higher cost of living in London.
This announcement coincides with Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, reiterating the Catholic Church’s support of the Living Wage.
Cardinal Nichols said: “The Living Wage is the bedrock of a fair economy and a recognition of the worth of every individual. As such it is a fundamental part of Catholic Social Teaching.
“For more than a century, the Catholic Church has championed the causes of just wages and dignity at work, so workers can not only support their family, but also lead a fulfilling life both in and outside the workplace.
“The work done by the Living Wage foundation is important. In our society there are many who experience real financial difficulties yet work hard in their employment. They and their families will benefit from a true living wage and measures which bring them hope for their children.”
Paul Barber, Director of the Catholic Education Service, which itself is a Living Wage employer, commented: “It is fantastic to see so many Catholic schools in London paying the London Living Wage to all their staff.
“Not only is it basis of a just economy, it is important for young people to see how institutions respect everyone who works for them, right from support staff all the way up to school leadership. This is an essential part of the formation of the whole child.”
Notes to Editors
Catholic schools represent 10% of all state-maintained schools in London.
In total 148 schools responded to the Catholic Education Service’s Living Wage survey.
Respondents came from all 33 London boroughs.
Greater London is covered by three Catholic dioceses, the Archdiocese of Westminster, the Archdiocese of Southwark and the Diocese of Brentwood.
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Catholic Church welcomes Prime Minister’s removal of the cap on faith admissions
Press Statement – 9th September 2016
Catholic Church welcomes Prime Minister’s removal of the cap on faith admissions
We warmly welcome the Government’s proposal to remove the cap on faith-based admissions for free schools and new academies. This will enable new Catholic schools to meet the current parental demand for thousands of new Catholic school places across the country.
Currently, the arbitrary cap on faith-based admissions prevents the Church from meeting the demand from Catholic parents for Catholic places and could cause schools to turn Catholic families away on the grounds that they are Catholics. To do so contravenes not only Canon Law but also common sense.
As the largest provider of secondary schools and the second largest provider of primary schools in England, we support the Government’s aim to increase parental choice through a diverse education system. Catholic schools and academies make up 10% of state based education and have higher numbers of pupils from ethnic minorities and deprived areas and a track record of integrating these groups into mainstream society.
Catholic schools are inclusive, educating pupils from all faiths and none. One third of our pupils are from non-Catholic families. Our schools are particularly popular with parents from the Muslim community, other Christian communities and with high proportions of those who have no faith.
We have a long history of providing outstanding education and look forward to working with the Government to deliver these new Catholic schools.
Notes to Editors
There are 2142 Catholic Schools in England.
There are over 450 Catholic academies.
Pupil Population
- 819,069 pupils are educated in Catholic schools.
- 37% of pupils in Catholic primary schools are from ethnic minority backgrounds (30% nationally).
- 33% of pupils in Catholic secondary schools are from ethnic minority backgrounds (26% nationally).
- 19% of pupils at Catholic primary schools live in the most deprived areas (14% nationally).
- 17% of pupils at Catholic secondary schools live in the most deprived areas (12% nationally).
Performance Data
- 83% of Catholic secondary schools have Ofsted grades of good or outstanding (74% nationally).
- At age 11, Catholic schools outperform the national average English and Math SATs scores by 6% points.
- At GCSE, Catholic schools outperform the national average by 5% points.
- In Catholic schools, 64% of pupils for whom English is an additional language achieve grades A*-C in both English and mathematics GCSEs (59% nationally).
- Catholic schools outperforms the national average by 4% points for disadvantaged pupils achieving the English Baccalaureate.
CES Welcomes New Director of Scottish Catholic Education Service
The Catholic Education Service for England and Wales (CES) has congratulated Barbara Coupar on her appointment as the new Director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service (SCES).
Barbara, who is a member of the SCES executive board, will succeed outgoing SCES Director Michael McGrath, who has been Director since 2003.
The CES would like to pay tribute to the fantastic work Michael has done leading the SCES since its creation and wishes Barbara all the best in her new role.
The new College of Teaching is expected to herald big changes for the teaching profession. One of its trustees, Paul Barber, explains why it is important for Catholic schools
In education, we are used to new initiatives. But occasionally, something comes along which has the potential to have a huge impact, long into the future. The launch of the College of Teaching presents us with one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments.
The college is the new independent chartered professional body for the teachers. Surgeons and solicitors, engineers and accountants, physicians and architects: all have had chartered bodies at the heart of their profession for a long time. Recently, many other chartered professional bodies have been founded: for plumbers and ecologists, secretaries and payroll professionals.
For a variety of complex reasons, the teaching profession alone has lacked a strong, independent professional body, led by teachers, responsible for promoting high standards and supporting professional development. With the launch of the College of Teaching, that is about to change.
In the past few years, a consensus has emerged that such a college is necessary and its time has come. A remarkable alliance, or coalition, has formed in the education world, including subject associations and national educational charities, teaching unions and learned societies in associated disciplines. The idea emerged spontaneously in 2012 at a residential conference run by the Prince’s Teaching Institute. The PTI established a commission, including a cross section of teacher. Following an overwhelmingly supportive consultation with 1200 responses, it published a blueprint for a College of Teaching. This led to the formation of the Claim your College Coalition, which published a start-up proposal at the beginning of 2015 and established a process to recruit an independent, teacher-led board of trustees.
What is the College of Teaching? It is easier to answer this question by way of what the college is not. It is not a regulatory body, and will not have a disciplinary role. That was the role played by the widely disliked General Teaching Council (GTC), which was imposed as on the profession without its consent and abolished in 2012. An example of this distinction in another profession would be between the Royal Medical Colleges (the professional bodies), and the General Medical Council (the statutory regulator).
What’s more, it will not be compulsory. Teachers had to pay to register with the GTC and were obliged to join. There will be a subscription payable to join the College of Teaching, but teachers can decide whether to do so. The college is not a commercial or political organisation. It is an educational charity, so any surpluses will be reinvested towards teachers’ continued professional development, and all activities will be for the good of education. Furthermore, it will be independent: in particular independent of government, driven only by sound educational research in the hands of the teaching profession.
The establishment of the college will ensure the profession has the status, aspiration and routes to promotion recognised by chartered bodies in other professions. Teachers will work in their early years towards a higher professional standard (‘chartered’ or ‘fellow’ status). This will demand rigorous, ongoing professional development and create expectations on employers and new entrants, which will match those in other professions. It will create a platform and structure for career‑long, continuous professional growth of each teacher. The development of the college has been carefully designed to benefit the profession as a whole.
As part of its contribution to the common good, the Church has been at the forefront of every major development in this country’s education system. The Churches created the first infrastructure for educating the vast majority of the poor in the early nineteenth century. We founded the first teacher training colleges, such as St Mary’s College (now St Mary’s University) in 1850 and Notre Dame College (now part of Liverpool Hope University) in 1856. We pioneered the formation and education of teachers, recognising how central this was to improving outcomes for pupils.
The Church, its schools and universities have remained at the cutting edge of the education system, marked by innovation and high standards, not just for the benefit of the Catholic community, but for society at large. That is why the Catholic Education Service was an early supporter of plans for a College of Teaching, and why Catholic teachers, schools and colleges should support its launch and ensure its success for the benefit of the whole education system.
The College of Teaching is now calling on teachers, schools and colleges from all phases and stages to put take part online in The Big Staff Meeting before the end of this term. The Big Staff Meeting introduces the college’s place in the professional landscape of teaching in the UK.
The college needs to be shaped by teachers, and we want every teacher to be well informed on the developing plans and to share views on who should be part of it and what it should offer. All this will be vital part of shaping what the college looks like. By taking part in this national consultation, teachers can contribute their opinion on the scope and benefits of membership that will shape the future direction of the college.
This is an enormous opportunity for the teaching profession to come together to set its own standards. All teachers are urged to share their views by the end of February via an online survey (www.research.net/r/N3L3KMC), talk about it with their colleagues, and get involved.
Setting the record straight on the new RE GCSE in Catholic Schools
CES Director Paul Barber sets the record straight about the recent news on the new RE GCSE
There have been many headlines this week about the teaching of RE in Catholic schools. Many of them have distorted the reality of both the new RE GCSE and what actually goes on in Catholic schools.
Let’s be clear, Catholic schools are not ‘banning’ the teaching of Islam nor are we ‘shunning’ them from our GCSE syllabus. Pupils in Catholic schools will continue learn about Islam and the world’s other main religions and belief systems.
Just because pupils will not be examined on faiths other than Christianity and Judaism, it doesn’t mean to say that the other world religions will not be taught.
The Catholic Bishop’s Conference Religious Education Curriculum Directory, the authoritative document which outlines the teaching of RE in Catholic schools, is clear, a broad understanding of the world’s major religions is crucial to a child’s understanding of their own faith.
In compliance with the local Bishop’s wishes, the vast majority of Catholic schools are currently teaching 100% Catholic Christianity for GCSE RE.
The Bishops have long recognised the need for greater academic rigor in the RE GCSE curriculum which is why they are welcoming the new GCSE and the opportunity to study a second religion. Thus, Judaism was chosen for two primary reasons.
Firstly, we are taking this opportunity to advance the cause of Christian/Jewish relationships, a historic step in building bridges with a community Pope John Paul II referred to as ‘our elder brothers in faith’.
Many of our critics this week have claimed the Bishops’ decision as going directly against Pope Francis’ call for greater tolerance between the faiths. The irony is, by embracing a second religion at GCSE the Bishops are doing precisely what the Pope is calling for.
In fact, we are working with leading figures in the Jewish community to help train our teachers so they can teach Judaism with the same level of expertise that they teach Catholic Christianity. This is an essential part of delivering outstanding RE.
This is exactly the kind of co-operation and mutual understanding that Pope Francis is talking about. Similarly, many Catholic schools have good working relationships with Mosques and Imams who assist in the teaching of Islam at primary and secondary level.
Secondly, we are fully supportive of the new more academically rigorous nature of the RE GCSE, and by teaching Judaism as the second religion, pupils will be able to get a more thorough understanding of Christianity.
Much of the negativity fired at us this week has been down to a misunderstanding about the role of RE in Catholic schools. For us, religious education is at the heart of everything we do. It encompasses at least ten per cent of the schools’ timetables and goes far beyond the ‘compare and contrast’ style of RE you find in other schools.
It is because of this commitment RE, and the importance we place on it, that we’re championing these reforms. To gain a thorough understanding of the more than 2000 years of Catholic theology and culture, the teaching of Judaism is essential. After all, Jesus himself was Jewish.
Changes to any curriculum, especially RE, can be controversial, however our RE advisors at both a national and diocesan level are providing support to assist teachers with this change.
Whilst it is true that some of our schools have a large proportion of pupils from other faiths (across England, 30% of our pupils are either not Catholic or non-religious) the primary role of a Catholic school is to provide a Catholic Christian education.
Catholic schools are the most ethnically diverse in the country and it is this inclusivity along with the Catholic ethos which makes then so successful in promoting community cohesion.
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The Catholic Church reiterates support for the Living Wage in schools
The President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, has reiterated his support for the Living Wage.
A growing number of Catholic schools already pay the living wage to thousands of teaching assistants, catering and school support staff. The move comes following a joint campaign with UNISON – the public sector union representing low-paid staff in schools.
At a local level many Catholic parishes, schools and charities were involved in the original design and development of the London Living Wage through the community organising group London Citizens.
For Cardinal Nichols and the Bishops of England and Wales, the payment of the Living Wage recognises that fair wages are essential to the common good of our society.
He said: “For more than 100 years the Catholic Church has championed the cause of a just wage so that employees can meet the needs of their families.
“It’s encouraging to see that this has now become a national movement with real momentum behind it. In accordance with Catholic Social Teaching, and as part of its mission to support the poor and vulnerable, the Bishops fully endorse the principle of the Living Wage. As a Church we have given a commitment to work towards implementing the Living Wage for all who work with us. This week I reiterate that commitment.
“A just wage is the basis for creating a fair economic system. We now look to the wider business community, public sector and the Government to play their part in securing a just wage for the lowest paid in our society.”
UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said: “This is a huge development for the thousands of school staff who have been struggling to make ends meet and a major step towards achieving fair pay in the country.
“The Catholic Church, alongside UNISON and community groups, is the force behind this movement. The bishops are showing real leadership by encouraging businesses and other organisations to follow suit.”
Linda Amos, Business Manager at St Ursula’s Convent School, Greenwich, commented on why they pay the Living Wage.
She said: “Paying the Living Wage shows that we value our staff, and that includes everyone, from the teachers to the support staff to the cleaners.
“The Living Wage has also given job security to many of our support staff, some of whom had to work two jobs prior to being employed by us.
“Paying the Living Wage means we keep people and our staff turn-over is low. Not only is this good for school moral, but also it teaches our young people how ethical employers should behave.
“Also because we have invested in our staff, they have in turn invested in our school with support staff participating in extra-curricular events such as sports day.”
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More than 400 Catholic schools now academies
There are now more than 400 Catholic academies up and running in England according to the latest figures released by the Catholic Education Service.
This equates to 37% of Catholic secondary schools and almost a fifth, 18%, of all Catholic schools in England now achieving academy status.
Of the 404 Catholic academies in England, 280 are primary, 124 are secondary. Catholic schools currently account for 10% of the total number of state maintained schools in the country.
The Catholic Church has managed schools in England for more than a century and has been at the forefront of education innovation, pioneering many of the academy models in use today.
The Diocese of Nottingham has been one of the most enthusiastic supporters of academies with more than 60% of its schools now converted.
Nottingham Diocesan Director of Education, Peter Giorgio commented: “Academies provide schools with the autonomy to cater for the educational needs of their pupils.
“What’s more academy status gives Catholic schools greater freedom to develop their commitment to the formation of the whole child.”
Paul Barber, Director of the Catholic Education Service commented: “We are really pleased with the great work Catholic academies are doing up and down the country.
“Academy status can prove really effective for schools allowing them to adapt elements such as the curriculum and the school day to secure the best education for each and every child.
“However, no two schools are the same so the decision to convert into an academy must be made by the local diocese, in collaboration with parents and the wider community.”
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Notes to editors:
The Catholic Church is the largest provider of secondary and second largest provider of primary education in England.
There are currently 2156 Catholic Schools in England educating upwards of 813,000 pupils.