Two thirds oppose state-funded faith schools
A poll for The Guardian newspaper has found that 64% of the public oppose state funding for faith schools. A further 8% thought the state should fund Christian and Jewish schools, but not Muslim schools. Barry Sheerman MP, chairman of the House of Commons education select committee, called for a review of whether the growth of faith schools threatens the integration of communities. .

David Cameron, the shadow Secretary of State for Education, rejected calls to ban faith schools, but said that there should be ‘cultural exchanges’ to help children learn about other UK cultures. “It is not just the formal curriculum that shapes children’s values at school. Schools provide opportunities for social mixing. But in some inner-city schools today, opportunities for social mixing are limited or even absent. Government can promote school exchanges that introduce children to other young people from different backgrounds – to make those personal, emotional connections that are at the heart of civilised relationships and a sense of community,” he said.

Quarter of head teacher vacancies unfilled
Around a quarter of headships had to be re-advertised in the past academic year. Professor John Howson, of Oxford Brookes University, who has been compiling the annual survey for 20 years said the position is now “worse than ever, and is likely to get even more severe”. Slightly more primary schools than secondary schools were forced to re-advertise. 40% of Catholic primary schools failed to appoint, as did 29% of Catholic secondary schools (in the previous year, 40% of Catholic secondaries failed to appoint, although this is based on a very small sample).

The CES will publish a full analysis of the figures relating to Catholic schools shortly.

Catholic schools top GCSE tables
Analysis of this year’s GCSE results showed that almost a quarter of the top-performing comprehensive schools in England are Catholic. Provisional figures published in The Times and The Daily Telegraph show that twenty-three of the top 100 comprehensives are Catholic. The CES issued a statement to highlight the success of Catholic schools.

Catholic education in the press
This week’s Times Educational Supplement reported that “Church of England primary schools are admitting up to a third fewer children from poor backgrounds than their secular neighbours”. The article acknowledged that the figures for Catholic schools are “almost the same as the national averages”.

The Tablet, the Catholic Herald and The Universe all carried articles reporting the success of Catholic schools in this year’s A Level results.

For further information on any of these stories, please contact Peter Walsh, pwalsh@cesew.org.uk, 0207 901 4854.