PRESS STATEMENT

11th January 2006

CES delighted at continued success of Catholic schools and colleges

The Catholic Education Service (CES) has congratulated Catholic schools and colleges on their excellent results after the publication of the 2006 A-Level and GCSE league tables.  Oona Stannard, Chief Executive and Director of the CES, said ‘academic success is only one part of what we offer in our schools but it is a vital part and I am very pleased at how well we continue to perform.  This bears out the confidence of the numerous parents who choose a Catholic education for their offspring.’

She went on to say: ‘New opportunities also arise and I am delighted at the success of The Academy of St. Francis of Assisi in Liverpool which tops the contextual value-added table.  Setting up the academy was a ground-breaking venture that has patently paid off.  It is testament to the vision and hard work of the Catholic and Anglican dioceses working together to successfully improve the lives of young people in the area.’

Ms Stannard also noted that many already successful Catholic schools feature for most improved GCSE results.  ‘It shows that good schools are never complacent but look to the next challenge and ways of making even more improvement.  Catholic schools are ever mindful that they have been entrusted to develop young people’s God-given talents.  It is a responsibility that they pursue with enthusiasm and vigour.’

Jim Burke OBE, Principal of St. Francis of Assisi, also expressed his delight: ‘We are all extremely proud of the massive improvements which have been made during the first twelve months of the new Academy.  This is all down to the hard work of our students and staff.  We believe these results prove the Academy and its many unique resources are a success for our students. We aim to instil self-worth and confidence in each of them and this has had a major impact and is evident in the results which have now been achieved.’

‘Our inclusion policy means that all students have been mentored very closely and teenagers have been worked with on an individual basis to develop their skills and their full potential’, he added, ‘We now hope to build on this success for next year’.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

The Academy of St Francis of Assisi is a joint foundation of the Anglican and Roman Catholic Dioceses of Liverpool and has a unique specialty in the environment.  The Academy opened in September 2005 and will eventually have 900 students in the 11-16 age range.

Contextual value-added scores measure progress between the ages of 11 and 16.

The most improved criterion assesses the proportion of pupils who gained five A* to C-grades including English and maths, showing schools that improved consecutively each year from 2003 to 2006.

For more information please contact Caroline Alger t: 0207 901 4890 e: calger@cesew.org.uk, w. www.cesew.org.uk.