The Catholic Education Service for England and Wales (CESEW) and the Catholic Independent Schools’ Conference (CISC) are unsurprised that Ofsted has recognised the “strong evidence of the positive impact [that independent schools with a religious character have] on pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development and being a good citizen”.
We are strongly committed to ensuring that spiritual, moral, social and cultural (SMSC) education is of the highest quality in Catholic independent schools, as in other Catholic schools. We are confident that many of our schools are beacons of good practice in these areas and this is confirmed in inspection reports, both from Ofsted and the Independent Schools’ Inspectorate (ISI).
When teaching about sensitive or contentious issues, teachers in Catholic schools emphasise the importance of respect for and understanding of others and the importance of listening to and reflecting on other people’s points of view. Pupils are reminded that as we are all made in the image and likeness of God, every encounter is a meeting with Christ. This is the touchstone for our work in SMSC development, as it is throughout Catholic education.
Our teachers use great discernment and wisdom in the selection of teaching strategies and resources so that they will, for example, always uphold the dignity of the human person and recognise the importance of community.
Given the imperative of good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development we welcome the call for action to clarify the SMSC regulations and we hope that the Catholic sector will continue to be well represented in these discussions.
ENDS
Oona Stannard
Chief Executive
Catholic Education Service for England and Wales
Joseph Peake
Chairman
Catholic Independent Schools’ Conference
To contact the CESEW please call 0207 901 1900.
Notes to Editors:
The Independent Schools’ Inspectorate (ISI) inspects independent schools and is regulated by Ofsted. It has commended the high standard of SMSC in Catholic independent schools; of the 61 schools inspected in the second cycle (in which SMSC was assessed), 47(77%) of Catholic independent schools were judged to have outstanding SMSC education and 60 (98.4%) were judged to have SMSC that was good, very good or outstanding. During the first cycle of independent school inspections (prior to 2006), ISI did not specifically assess the quality of SMSC.
In particular, in individual school inspections, ISI has praised the “excellent” links that Catholic independent schools have with their local communities. In many of the inspection reports, ISI notes the involvement of pupils in charitable activities involving the local community, often through Catholic charities such as the St Vincent de Paul trust or Cafod.
Catholic independent schools contain substantial percentages of non-Catholic pupils, demonstrating that these schools welcome pupils from a diverse range of faith traditions whose parents wish them to be educated in accordance with the Catholic faith.
The full ISI inspection reports for Catholic independent schools may be found, along with other independent schools, on the ISI website: www.isi.net | 
