Schools

Education has always been at the heart of the Catholic mission. The approach to education taken in the diocese is that set out in canon law: education must attend to the formation of the whole person in moral and spiritual terms, and at the same time promote the common good of society. Children and young people must therefore be cared for in such a way that their physical, moral and intellectual talents develop in a harmonious manner, so that they attain a greater sense of responsibility, develop an understanding of the right use of freedom, and are formed to take an active part in public life.

Underpinning the education offered by each and every school and academy in the diocese are a number of core principles that define the essence of Catholic schools:

• Have the child at their centre: Catholic schools are designed and run to provide the very best educational opportunities and life-fulfilling experiences, in communities that have the teachings of Christ and his Church at their core.
• Have Christ at their heart: Catholic schools are places where everyone is valued as a child of God, where every individual is enabled to grow in unity with Christ, and to achieve his or her full potential.
• Have a liturgical, sacramental and spiritual life: Catholic schools are worshipping communities whose spiritual identities are expressed most visibly through classroom prayer, whole-school liturgies, and assemblies.
• Are distinctive: Catholic schools, through their clear and visible Catholic identities, will be for many people the place where they first encounter Christ and his Church, and as such are evangelising communities
• Are centres of excellence for Religious Education and the wider curriculum: Catholic schools’ entire curriculum is underpinned by and expresses Catholic beliefs and values, so it is vital that an understanding and knowledge of the Catholic faith permeates all aspects of school life. 
• Are collaborative: Catholic schools actively promote strong and positive links with the wider community, including the diocese, deaneries, parishes, local communities, families, and other schools. Given that parents, or those who act in their place, are the primary educators of their children, links between the home, the school and the parish are especially significant.
• Are essential: Catholic schools are places where every child matters; where safety, well-being, enjoyment, tolerance, respect and dignity are reflected in all aspects of school life; where pupils are cherished for who they are as much as for what they achieve; and where all achievement is recognised and celebrated. 
• In summary, Catholic schools are designed to provide safe, supportive environments where children are challenged to mature intellectually, socially, morally, and physically, and to embody justice, peace, and mercy in the community.

Academisation

The Charity has been promoting a strategy of academisation for all its schools. As at the end of 2023, eight of the planned 12 Catholic Academy Trusts (CATs) have been established, and 50 schools had moved into one of these CATs. Additionally, the percentage of schools engaged in the academy strategy has significantly increased during 2023, from 26% in January 2023 to 45% by December 2023.

The Academy Strategy team are continuing their discussions to form the remaining four CATs in Hackney, Ealing, Barnet, and Enfield and Haringey. The Charity is also supporting the expansion of the existing eight CATs and estimates that another 38 schools will engage in the process of joining these CATs in 2023/24. It remains the Trustee’s ambition to have all diocesan schools either completing or actively engaging in the process of conversion to become an academy by the end of 2025.

Diocesan schools have become stronger and more resilient as they work together in a structured way to find solutions to the many challenges the education sector is facing now, and will no doubt continue to face in the future. The eight CATs have also adopted a collaborative approach to supporting and helping develop each other, and the development of the remaining CATs. An emerging area of work within these CATs is the establishment of a Chaplaincy Strategy to support schools, pupils and parishes to enhance and strengthen the provision of Catholic life and formation across the diocese.

The determination, resilience, creativity and ingenuity of CAT leaders will be key to finding sustainable solutions to continue to provide a rich Catholic education in these challenging times. Diocesan Catholic schools, organised in sustainable geographical CATs, will support strong, secure, self-sufficient and outward-looking Catholic learning communities, integrated into and serving their own communities, and in communion with each other.

A Culture of Excellence

Academisation and the formation and expansion of CATs has been proven to be an effective strategy to strengthen the already-thriving educational provision within the diocese.

There are 204 schools in the Diocese of Westminster: 157 primary schools, 40 secondary schools, five all-age schools, two sixth form colleges and two special schools, educating 93,000 pupils, representing the greatest diversity in the country: nearly 50% from ethnic minority families; 14% are pupils with special educational needs; and 18% receive free school meals.

Of these schools, at the time of writing, 99.5% are rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, which compares favourably to the national figure of 86%. The numbers are similar for the diocesan inspections carried out to assess the effectiveness of classroom religious education and Catholic life of the schools: 93.8% were graded good or outstanding for religious education (6.2% require improvement) and 100% of schools assessed in the 2022- 2023 school year were rated good or outstanding for Catholic life.

On average, schools in the Diocese of Westminster achieved a significantly above average score in both attainment and progress measures: Attainment 8 of 5.5 (Nat Av 4.6) 79% grade 4+ in English and Maths (Nat Av 64%) and overall Progress 8 +0.5 (Nat Av 0, London Av +0.29).

Full Human Potential

The quality and importance of the education provided by diocesan schools is not simply a matter of inspection statistics and results; it is seen in the commitment of the schools to the total human development of their students and the way in which students are supported in their efforts to make a positive contribution to society and in their enduring legacy and the recognition of staff and pupils through external awards and commendations.

Cardinal Pole Catholic School, a mixed comprehensive for 11- to 19-year-olds in Hackney, prides itself on its commitment to providing a well-rounded education that prepares students for the challenges of the modern world. It is also known for its service to a community which faces ever increasing complexities. Whilst Hackney has seen increased gentrification in recent years, the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) score of 1 means that the local area is one of the 10% most deprived areas in England. To address these challenging circumstances, the school works exceptionally hard with families of pupils to offer outstanding pastoral care to each year group, including full time in-house mental health support, to ensure students can receive quick and proactive intervention when needed. In recognition, the school was shortlisted in the Secondary School of the Year category for the prestigious TES Schools Award 2023.

In Brent, Newman Catholic College encourages pupils ‘to be compassionate and responsible citizens and work together across their differences’ to contribute to the common good. For several years, the school has run a number of initiatives to serve the community. In addition to supporting a number of food projects locally, staff and pupils join forces every Friday to run their very own Newman Foodbank, providing direct assistance to their neighbours. Since 2019 the school has been accredited as a School of Sanctuary, committed to being a safe and welcoming place for all. The school believes that its pupils, who speak over 60 different languages and come from many nationalities, need to learn about the conditions that forcibly drive people from their homes in order to understand their local community and the wider world. In the 2023 the accreditation was accompanied with glowing feedback: ‘Newman Catholic College is truly a unique institution that goes above and beyond to support your students and wider community and foster a culture of belonging and respect.’

Early in 2023, St Gregory’s Catholic Science College, also in Brent, was ranked by The Times in the top 25 non-selective state schools in the country for its A-Level results. In 2022, 79% of students achieve A*-B grades in their A-Level examinations, the best results in the school’s history and a remarkable achievement given the two years of disruption to education caused by the pandemic. The school was also recognised by the Schools, Students and Teachers Network in the 2023 Educational Outcomes Awards as among the highest performing secondary schools in the country. It was also ranked among the top 20% of schools nationally for student Progress and in the top 10% of non-selective schools for Attainment. In addition to this outstanding academic performance, during school holidays and most days after school, students still found time for serving others in the local community, mentoring younger pupils, raising money for local charities, running the school’s own food bank, and working with local organisations to improve and maintain some of the community green spaces near the school.

These are but three examples of schools who demonstrate an active love and commitment to promoting the common good in their community. In recent years, a growing number of schools have been participating in the Caritas Ambassadors programme, which leads pupils through the themes of Catholic social teaching and encourages them to imagine what the world and their community could look like in a decade, and to put their learning into practice by developing their own project to benefit their community. In 2023, 45 schools took part in Caritas Ambassadors and initiated a varied range of projects that included litter-picking, outreach to older people, supporting food banks and homeless people, creating an allotment and working to reduce plastics.

In June 2023, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, over 200 pupils and their teachers from 14 of these schools came together for a celebration of social action in Westminster Cathedral. Praising the materials produced for the programme, one teacher said that after going through the programme, children ‘will challenge injustices and will do something to make their local area a better place’. During the celebration, two pupils from St John XXIII School in White City, remembering all who were affected by the Grenfell Tower Fire in 2017, poignantly summed up what Catholic social action means to them: ‘God created us as one and calls us to support our brothers and sisters. We often share our joys with our friends and family, our successes with those close to us, but as Catholics we must also strive to share the pain of the stranger and display the love that God has for us all each day.’

Celebrating Together

Catholic schools have long been rooted in their communities, educating local children and serving the common good. Several of these schools celebrated significant anniversaries in 2023.

• In June, Cardinal Nichols celebrated a Mass with staff, pupils and alumni for the 150th anniversary of St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School in Puckeridge. He drew the attention of the children to the halo around the head of their patron saint, a mark of the light of God’s presence, which the children should aspire to bring into the lives of all whom they encounter.
• Celebrating 150 years was also St Dominic’s Catholic Primary School, along with the Parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Homerton.
• Cardinal Nichols visited Welwyn Garden City in June to offer a Mass of thanksgiving on the 70th anniversary of Our Lady Catholic Primary School.
• The celebrations continued in June with a Mass of thanksgiving on the 50th anniversary of St Margaret Clitheroe Catholic Primary School in Wembley.
• Also in June, Bishop Sherrington joined staff and pupils of Our Lady of Grace Infant School in Dollis Hill for their 50th anniversary celebrations. He commissioned the school’s Mini Vinnies, the youngest members of the St Vincent de Paul Society who follow in the steps of Christ and St Vincent de Paul in their dedication to eradicating poverty through practical assistance.

An Environment for Thriving Education

School buildings fit for purpose help to form the foundation of excellence in education. Buildings that are well-constructed, safe and in good repair create an environment where the whole school community can thrive. The Trustees have a plan in place for investing in the future of Catholic school provision through maintenance and regeneration of school buildings. This is a long-term initiative that is currently progressing through the initial phases.

One of the challenges that has emerged in recent years has been the past use of reinforced aerated autoclaved concrete (RAAC) in schools across the country. RAAC was a cheap and popular building material used in the construction of public buildings from the 1950s to the 1990s. Less durable than standard concrete, it was meant to be replaced after 35 years. That many buildings with RAAC continue to be in use, well beyond the replacement date, was recognised as a serious issue in 2023, when the government committed to taking action to remove RAAC from schools.

The Charity was already aware of the existence of RAAC in certain schools. In 2022 building consultants retained by the diocese identified and remediated RAAC in one primary school and presented compelling evidence of risk in another primary school which resulted in the school being included in the government’s School
Rebuilding Programme.

In September 2023, the Department for Education (DfE) requested information about the existence RAAC in all schools across the country. Having identified all school buildings constructed during the period when RAAC was in use and compiled the information in its central asset management database, the Charity was ready to provide a prompt and robust response to this request. As a direct result, the DfE deployed their retained specialists to over 60 Catholic schools and academies in the diocese to assess the buildings for RAAC.

At the time of writing, there are eight schools undergoing remedial work to remove RAAC. The initial phase of mitigation, intended to protect the pupils and staff from harm while a detailed remediation plan is developed, has been completed without disruption to pupils’ education. In three of these schools, full remediation has been approved by the DfE and work is progressing on site. In February 2024, the DfE released a further list of schools that would be awarded grants for remediation work and, in some instances, a complete rebuild of the school. Four (three diocesan and one Religious Order) were included in the list of schools which will be rebuilt entirely. Another four schools were awarded grants for remediation work.

A Vocation to Teaching

Teachers and heads in our diocesan schools are committed to doing the best for the pupils in their care. For most, teaching is much more than a job; it is a lifelong vocation. Even in retirement, it is not unusual to see them using their expertise in the service of their community. Kate Griffin, who was for many years a successful headteacher, is one such exemplar. For over a decade, she has generously shared her time and expertise in the service of education in the Dioceses of Westminster and Plymouth at executive, governance and trustee levels. She has also served nationally on the Management Committee of the Catholic Education Service, and internationally as the first Briton elected President of the International Confederation of Principals in 2008 and 2009. In recognition, Pope Francis conferred on her the Damehood of the Pontifical Order of St Gregory the Great. Dame Kate continues to serve on the Diocesan Education Commission.