On Tuesday 24th October, the Government published its latest White Paper, entitled Higher Standards, Better Schools for All. The paper proposes many far-reaching changes to the maintained school sector in England. Some of the most pertinent issues for Catholic education are:

Trust schools
The Government intends to promote the establishment of self-governing trust schools. The trusts would be for not-for-profit organisations, able to appoint the majority of the governing body. The governing body of an existing primary or secondary school would be able to create its own trust or link with an existing trust. We understand that this means that Catholic VA schools could theoretically become trust schools either with a newly designated trust or through the existing diocesan trust deed. It appears that this would then exempt them from the 10% capital contribution that currently falls to dioceses or religious order trustees. It would also be possible to open new Catholic schools as Trust schools, without making a financial contribution to the cost of building them.

We are anxious to explore this more fully, mindful of the fact that the freedoms of Catholic VA schools – e.g. on governance issues, religious education and worship, and the distinctive nature of the schools’ policies – are hard won and precious. We also understand that there would be land and property ownership implications of any change to trust status and these would have to be very carefully explored.

The role of local authorities
Local authorities will be expected to take swift and decisive action in relation to under-performing schools. The powers associated with this must not ignore the distinctive character of the school. For example, it would be unacceptable to us that changes of staff, replacement of Governors or appointment of partners to support the school be done without the support of the diocesan officers and the safe guarding of the Catholic nature of the school. Furthermore, the CES is mindful of the morale of teachers, leaders and Governors; the moves to support schools should be robust but accompanied by compassionate support for those working at the school so that they share the commitment to improvement and action rather than feeling demoralised and cast aside.

Part of the purpose of the White Paper is to make local authorities commissioners, rather than providers, of education. They are to be given a new power to recommend the expansion of existing schools or the creation of existing SEN schools. This will include being able to make recommendations about provision at voluntary aided schools. It will be important that local authorities work closely with Catholic schools and dioceses when performing this strategic function, and we will be seeking assurances from the government about this. Similarly, the new office of the Schools Commissioner will be closely involved in the provision of new schools. We will seek safeguards to ensure that dioceses are fully involved in his planning and decision-making structures.

Admissions
The Government proposes ways to improve parents’ access to school information and help in the admissions process. The CES fully supports transparency in admissions systems. Whilst the White Paper’s intention to provide a network of choice advisors may be laudable, the CES will seek Government assurances that these individuals, who are expected to be ‘independent and unbiased’, are able to deal responsibly with issues around choosing a Church school. Unfortunately, our sector’s experience in recent initiatives in the post 16 sector has indicated that the advice provided is sometimes hostile to the Church sector. Additionally, existing admissions rights for vocational courses must be retained in order to allow young people with different abilities and aspirations to choose the course which is right for them in a Catholic setting.

The CES is pleased to note that the White Paper does not encroach on governing bodies’ rights to be the admissions authority for their schools. In wishing to ensure fair admissions to schools nationally the Government is promoting banding to ensure what it sees as an equitable intake. This proposal requires further study. The CES has already received representation from some dioceses concerned that the introduction of banding could result in some Catholic schools being forced to turn away Catholic pupils in favour of others who fulfil the banding criteria. Equally, the CES also knows of Catholic schools which provide a truly comprehensive intake to pupils from a very broad geographical area based on a banding system but still recruiting to their Catholic criteria.

Home to school transport
The provision of home to school transport to enable children to get to a Catholic school has been an ever-increasing problem for the Catholic sector as some local authorities have been reluctant to provide this service. The intended legislation to entitle disadvantaged pupils to free transport to secondary school is therefore welcome but the detail of what will constitute ‘any of the three suitable secondary schools closest to their home’ where these are between two and six miles away will merit scrutiny. It is only fair that for a Catholic family, a ‘suitable secondary school’ should by definition include a Catholic school even though the distribution of these may also mean that it is more than six miles away.

Increasing parental involvement
The White Paper intends to make it easier for parents to demonstrate demand for new schools and to trigger action. There are also plans to make it easier for oversubscribed schools to expand. Joint ventures of schools will also be encouraged, e.g. a federation of a secondary school with its feeder primary schools. In the detail of this it will be important that the Government ensures that the most assertive and vociferous in society do not obtain the places and type of education they want at the expense of others. We have a particular concern for the poor and disadvantaged in education, irrespective of the Church school dimension.

The proposed action to ensure that parents drive the improvement agenda contains many sensible steps, e.g. requiring schools to provide termly information to parents about their children’s progress. Governing bodies will have a statutory duty to have regard to the views of parents and there is a clear intention that schools should set up parent councils. In those schools where the trust appoints a majority of the governing body there will be a requirement to establish a parent council with an advisory and consultative role to enable parents’ views to be taken into account. Whilst welcoming additional opportunities for constructive parental involvement, it will be important that there is clarity about, rather than conflict between, the respective responsibilities of the council and governing bodies. In the Catholic sector we know that the school leadership team and governing bodies already do much to ensure the involvement of parents, e.g. in discussion of the schools sex and relationships education policy, as suggested by Government in the White Paper. It would be disingenuous to suggest to parents that they have the role that properly falls to governing bodies. Additionally, we would not wish to see the role of the governing bodies of our Catholic schools in any way diluted or brought into conflict with other structures.

Staffing
The government’s plans to ensure schools have better access to a wide range of professionals are welcome in theory. However, it is important that those working in Catholic schools – particularly those in pastoral roles, such as “health and welfare staff” and those dealing with “disruptive behaviour, truancy and [other] pastoral issues” – are in sympathy with the Catholic ethos of the school.

Conclusion
The CES looks forward to studying the White Paper in more detail, and to working with our diocesan colleagues and others to help shape the continued discussions that the CES will hold with DfES officials as the White Paper is translated into the forthcoming Bill. We will continue to work to ensure that the benefits of access to Catholic education in a good Catholic school remain as widely available as at present, and to seek ways of working supportively with other groups in education for the benefit of all.

We would welcome any comments you might have on any aspect of the White Paper. Please send them to Peter Walsh, pwalsh@cesew.org.uk.